Reviews: The Bible Game and Street Fighter Alpha Anthology for PS2

So I could do it justice, I did try actually to play The Bible Game -- honest! But when it comes to honesty, Street Fighter Alpha Anthology is way ahead of Crave Entertainment's use of the Old Testament to make a quick buck, and it was a great relief to exercise my fingers on the real thing. Because, let's face it, the challenge games in TBG are just variations on the usual theme. You may appear to be destroying Goliath, Pharaoh's snakes or the Tower of Babel, but you are still raising Cain -- though it's only pixels on a screen. Crave managed to get advertising space -- sorry, an item -- on Fox News, extolling the virtues of a game children can be left to play without their parents worrying. And according to the accompanying press release: "you can feel good about kids playing video games". I for one don't feel good about kids wasting their time with bland tripe.

TBG takes the form of a TV game show, Do Unto Others, and the catchphrases such as "let there be light" lend it an air of authenticity, but that's where the entertainment ends. Trivia questions with minimal scope for learning are interspersed with fairly useless mini-games requiring minimal use of the keypad. And the "wrath of God" makes you lose all your points. Anyone for a lesson in humility?

With SFAA on the other hand you just have a jolly good fight. Surely this is what God made arcade games for! Good old Ryu and Ken are on hand to fight their way through battles that really test your keypad skills -- and when you get blown away by a guy called Sodom, the irony is complete. Just as it says on the tin, all the Street Fighter Alpha games are on one disc, as well as Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix, so you can play away to your adrenal glands' content. Graphics and moves naturally get more complex with each new game. You actually work up a bit of a sweat, so I reckon it could even be used as an aerobic aid -- which is more than I can say for TBG.

As The Bible Game stands more chance of being banned by Left-wing councils that do not want to give offence to non-Christians, its marketing potential is high. But play it and you won't want have anything to do with those boring Christians. Me, I'm off to get beaten to a pulp by a schoolgirl in a sailor suit. Anyone for a lesson in humility?

The Bible Game is published by 505 Gamestreet with an RRP of £29.99. Street Fighter Alpha Anthology is published by Capcom and is available from Amazon or HMV Online for £14.99. Bytes Online scores: TBG 3/10, SFAA 7/10.