LONDON: Here’s something fun for a Friday: If you miss the heady days of over-the-top fighting games from the early 90s, then Superinteressante magazine has a neat little surprise for you this week. Science Kombat is a free-to-play browser game that pits eight science heavyweights against each other in a one-on-one brawl. You can choose from Einstein, Tesla, Pythagoras, Hawking, Turing, Darwin, Newton and Curie (it would have been nice to see more female scientists on the roster), and each comes with their own set of science-based power-ups. Stephen Hawking can create black holes to inflict damage on your opponent, while Curie harnesses the power of radium-coated hands to unleash a fireball reminiscent of Ryu’s Hadouken.

Aside from signature moves, you have basic weak and strong attacks – Newton is pretty brutal in this department, brandishing a telescope to lamp opponents over the head with. If you don’t have time to play, Diego Sanches, the animator for the game, has a gallery of all of the moves as GIFs.

Gameplay is pretty basic, but there are some nice little surprises in the game – not least the end boss in tournament mode. According to the website, the game is also going to be ported to mobile platforms – so there’s still an opportunity for the roster to be rounded out a little more. But all in all, it’s well worth a few minutes of your time, especially if you’ve ever wondered who would win in a fight between Einstein and Darwin. For what it’s worth, my money’s on Chuck.