After a few seconds, a red eye appears and glances around the screen. Finally, the screen fades into view and we see that the red eye actually belongs to a dragon statue which now serves as the main backdrop for the fight. The background animations vary from the subtle to the simply stunning. Whether it's your fighter's shadow whizzing by as a spotlight illuminates a small area of the stage, or a steaming train thundering past as two combatants square off, they're sure to get your pulse racing. The backgrounds are fantastic and provide a nice change of pace to the relatively staid ones present in so many fighters these days.
Character animations are for the most part, fantastic.
By now I was pretty sure that I'd seen pretty much everything that the genre had to offer in terms of special effects, but boy was I wrong. Special effects light up the screen in a symphony of fire, with arms, legs, and fighters flying in every conceivable direction. Brilliant stuff that is simply breathtaking. Amazing lighting effects, smooth animations, and some truly excellent design are guaranteed to catch anyone's eye. Graphically speaking, there really is very little to find wrong with this title.