Anyone who remembers the first X-Men title will probably wonder why Activision has bothered to release a sequel, X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 for the PlayStation.

Last year's release fulfilled all the requirements of a game to tie-in with a summer blockbuster, shoddily developed and almost no fun at all to play.

It followed hot on the heels of the Hollywood film which, conversely, was the best thing to happen to the action-hero genre since Tim Burton's Batman.

What we have here is less of a sequel than a remake.

Gone are the 2-D characters and hum-drum game play to be replaced by a fighting game which is up there with the best of them.

Players choose from one of the Marvel characters, popularised in the famous comic books, such as Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Cyclops, then battle to the death with a friend or the computer in a variety of settings.

There are 14 characters to choose from, all with their own strengths and weaknesses, and special moves which require great dexterity.

Cyclops can shoot down his opponents with rays from his eyes, others can fire weapons at their hapless foes and one can even drop bombs.

Bonus characters, rumoured to include Spiderman, become available as players progress.

Activision says the first title was a big seller, topping the PlayStation charts last summer, something I find totally inexplicable.

However, for those who made the mistake of forking out first time around, there is the advantage of many of those painstakingly-learned special moves being incorporated in this version.

Better still, there are training modes to allow players to hone their skills and a difficulty level sufficient to have you coming back for more.

This isn't a ground breaking fighting game - no title has really revolutionised the genre since Street Fighter II back in the early Nineties - but it is probably as good as we are now likely to see on the ailing PlayStation.

Worth a look.

Price: £29.99.

Contact: www.activision.com
Feel good factor: 7 out of 10.