The original Ultimate Fighting Championship console game was not only a critical hit (at least on the Dreamcast) and fun to play, it also served as my introduction to mixed martial arts combat. I enjoyed the variety of fighting styles and superb graphics -- not to mention the large number of real fighters (over 20), which was impressive for a first iteration.

That fairly successful game came by way of a small publisher (Crave) and smaller developer (Anchor). For reference, Crave's latest game is called Purr Pals and Anchor hasn't released a game since 2003 (Pride FC for PS2). So what will a large publisher like THQ and an experienced wrestling developer like Yuke's do with UFC 2009 Undisputed?

The first in-game visual information to address that question comes by way of a trailer released last week. The minute-and-a-half clip features light heavyweights Forrest Griffin and former champion Quentin "Rampage" Jackson in a series of grapples, takedowns, and counters.

Initially, I was surprised by the television broadcast style of the footage. It will be interesting to see if the camera angles shown are really playable. Some, such as those views shot from an in-crowd camera and from the mat, would be difficult to play with. However, the majority of the footage seems to uphold a television feel while providing a good viewpoint for the carnage. In fact, it's possible to see cameramen circling the action -- perhaps each cameraman will act as a different playable camera angle. Adding to the realism are official announcers Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan and, of course, the Ring Girls.

One might worry that Yuke's may just slap a facelift on its next-gen WWE game and call it UFC. However, the moves shown in the trailer seem to set it apart from traditional professional wrestling.

In terms of fighter models and likenesses, they are on par with other next-generation fighting/wrestling games. To me, "Rampage" Jackson looks closer to his real-life counterpart than Griffin. Yuke's even nailed the looked of Jackson's trainer Juanito Ibarra, and official cutman Jacob "Stitch" Duran -- although at first glance I thought it was Edward James Olmos. Like many other next-gen games approaching the "Uncanny Valley," there's still something off-putting and unnatural about eyes and body movements outside the fighting.

One might worry that Yuke's may just slap a facelift on its next-gen WWE game and call it UFC. However, the moves shown in the trailer seem to set it apart from traditional professional wrestling. While I am not the ultimate expert on ultimate fighting, what is shown lacks the "over the top" quality of typical pro wrestling and grounds the action in realistic martial arts. The tricky part will be converting a realistic yet complex set of moves into a control scheme that makes the game manageable to play.

The quality of UFC games seems to have an inverted relationship with the organization's popularity. Back in 2000, when the original game hit the Dreamcast, few outside the dedicated fans had heard of mixed martial arts. Today, UFC is as popular as ever, yet each new attempt at a video game translation comes up short of the mark. While it's hard to gauge from a brief trailer, UFC 2009 Undisputed looks like it could offer an interactive experience that's as exciting as the sport is popular. If the game falls up short, then perhaps we'll need to wait until UFC is less popular again before another quality title comes out.