Well, you can sympathise with these people to some extent. After all, those who weren't already fans of Capcom's 2D view of things are unlikely to appreciate the added depth that parrying and dashing has brought to the Street Fighter series, or the non-replenishing life bar of the Darkstalkers games - they see them as bells and whistles on a fairly staid one on one fighting system, and the extra characters onscreen in the Vs. games as a one-off-not-particularly-well-thought-out-five-second-interlude. Well, those people obviously haven't played JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Based, perhaps unsurprisingly, on a Japanese manga, the game is like no other Capcom 2D fighter, and while it's highly unlikely to gain Capcom any new fans, it's almost certain to impress those of us who are already converts and are looking for something a little bit different.

Loosely based on the Darkstalkers fighting model (quick twitchy gameplay, no waiting between rounds) and with a two-on-two-but-both-at-the-same-time style all of its own, it's one of the most original fighters to have come out of the Capcom stable; it out-weirds the Marvel vs. Capcom games by some considerable distance and, if it was more widely known, would go some way towards convincing people that Capcom are capable of original thinking while retaining the overall feel of their established format. The game includes two versions of the arcade machine - the original JoJo's Venture and the follow-up JoJo's Bizarre Adventure; the differences between the two seem to be negligible, amounting to little more than extra characters and extra animation. In any case, one game is more than enough. Both games have all the standard features, these being the arcade version, a survival mode and a training mode. To all intents and purposes, when you start the game, you could be playing any Capcom 2D fighter - pick one from a roster of good-looking characters, watch a fairly typical story unfold as you start; until you start moving, everything appears as it should be. Once you start moving, the differences between this and other fighters become patently obvious.

'Stands' are what make this game unique. The 'Stand' is a psychic ally to the main player who performs most of the player's specials - during normal play, you'll see each character's 'Stand' appearing around the main character and performing their specials for them. What makes this game really different, though, is the way you can switch the focus of your game to your Stand. A press of the A button will cause your Stand to take up position in front of your main player and absorb any damage being put your way; the Stand has its own life bar, and when it's depleted, your Stand will vanish for a second and your player will be left defenceless for a short time. However, this is not the main use of the Stand. A quarter-circle forward followed by the A button will cause your Stand to be launched aggressively at your opponent, and will become the character you control while the main player takes up position at the back of the screen. The tactical change this brings to the usual Capcom style is immense; in this mode, while your character is generally more powerful than it otherwise would be, you have to remember to watch out for your main character, stranded and motionless at the back of the screen, and an easy target for an enemy who can sneak past your Stand, or, worse, send his own stand out to attack. The Stand can also be used in a one-off attack; a half-circle back followed by A will allow you to input a sequence of commands which the Stand will execute in super-fast time a second or so afterwards.

To be honest, it's virtually impossible to describe how well this style of gaming works; it sounds outlandishly complex, and will be difficult to come to terms with for the first few games, but a little perseverance will result in quickly getting used to this new technique, and most players will be pleasantly surprised by how well it works and how refreshing a change it is from Capcom's usual fare. To add to the enjoyment, the graphics are beautiful - huge, well drawn and very well animated manga style sprites fight it out in front of classic 2D fighting styled backdrops, Supers are accompanied by suitably over-the-top effects, featuring the by-now usual portrait of your character followed by eyeball melting pyrotechnics. The soundtrack is standard Capcom filler, very much in the style of Tech Romancer, and the sounds and samples are excellent; it makes a nice change not to hear one 'Hadoken' while you play.

There are a couple of unusual stages to the game which break up the action; one is a sideways scrolling platform type game set in the desert where you control your character as normal against multiple weak enemies before you reach the end; another is a stage where the character you're fighting against routinely turns his Stand into a red globe and attacks you at high speed - this is essentially a reflex tester, although you're still required to dish out the standard punishment when the character reverts to his usual form. These stages are a nice diversion, but can be irritating when you're enjoying the usual fighting action.

The roster of characters is unusual to say the least; a disproportionate number of them seem to be named after famous musicians, one of them is a dog (yep, a dog… just a dog, nothing more and nothing less) and another is a bird. All the characters feel very different to play, which will improve the longevity of the game for those who like to get used to every character a game offers. While all the characters play differently, the control system is a breeze to get used to, although we would expect nothing less from Capcom - its four-button layout means that maximum enjoyment can be had from the standard DC pad, with the triggers only needing to be assigned to chouhatsu and 'L+M+H Attack" combinations.

Problems with the game are relatively few; the front end is slightly clunky and was obviously designed before Capcom developed its new style of interface as used in Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and Capcom vs. SNK. Some fighting game purists will be irritated at the non-standard stages, which have the potential to annoy when all you want to do is get on with the game. It also has to be said that the game will be too strange for some to come to terms with; I can't stress enough how different this game is to others, and those who enjoy the occasional game of Street Fighter without being fanatical about it might well be left cold by what's on offer here. For the rest of us, who have already signed our souls over to Capcom and are prepared to spend whatever money we have on whatever old rubbish they choose to throw our way, this is one of the most rewarding and unusual fighting games you'll ever play.