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If ever there was a maxim for fighting games, it's: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

But, in an explosive arrival, Tao Feng flouts the conventions of all the fighters that have gone before, like an upstart street fighter taking a poop on Bruce Lee's hallowed grave.

TAO, THAT HURTS
Tao Feng's innovations range from the flashy, like launching attacks from poles in the fight arena, to the fundamentally gameplay-changing. Rounds, in the traditional sense, have been ditched, and there is no time limit to bouts either. Instead, you are forced to wear down your rival's three energy bars in fights to the death.

When one character goes down, the fighter that laid on the smack continues the next part of the fight with the same amount of energy as he had at the end of the last part.

Excessive blocking and being hurled into the breakable scenery will also cause damage to limbs. Break your legs and you move slowly, losing half your kicking attack power. What's more, expendable Chi energy can be used to regenerate your limbs and health, so bouts swing back and forth between winner and loser far more than any other fighter of this style.

Throw in amazing-looking special effects, adventure modes and loads of bonus games and this could well prove the must-have Xbox-exclusive fighter the machine needs.