If you're looking for a fighting game that is more stylistic than realistic, Guilty Gear X2 might be the one for you. Anime characters use magic and swords to become victorious.

The anime is lovely, with bursts of smoke and blasts of light highlighting the combat. The background on this side-scroller is stationary, with the exceptions of an occasional walking cat or twitching plant. There isn't as much blood here as in other games, but of course the aim of beating another character into submission is rather violent :) The game has a teen rating.

Rock music blasts in the background as you fight in one of several gameplay options. There are arcade-style sequences of battles, or the MOM instant-battle to earn points. There's a mission mode to go through a series of assigned tasks, and story mode to learn more about a particular character and his/her background.

The game has a great selection of girls, guys and robots to choose from, which is nice to see in a fighting game. Anime fans will also love the artwork you can see throughout the game, to give inspiration for your own drawing projects.

Perhaps the only real complaint I have with this arcade-style anime fighting fest is the music. The loud, repetitive blasting gets very wearying after a while. If they'd used a great band, it could really have added to the experience. As it is, the music begins to give me a headache and while I'm enjoying the game, I can't take the music any more.

Still, I know some people who don't mind the music at all, so depending on your personal tastes you might like or dislike it. Luckily, the game lets you set the volume for background music, voice and special effects separately. Just change the settings to suit your taste.

Highly recommended for anime fans who enjoy fighting games! Maybe a new version will come out with a variety of music options, to suit all styles of players.

Buy Guilty Gear X2 from Amazon.com