Genre : Fighting
Publisher: Tecmo
Developer: Team Ninja
Release Date: October 24, 2004

Buy 'DEAD OR ALIVE: Ultimate': Xbox

The problem with reviewing Dead or Alive Ultimate is that it’s been done before. It’s a package deal; for your money, you get a near-perfect arcade conversion of the original Dead or Alive and an expanded version of Dead or Alive 2. Both of them have new additional netplay, while DOA2 is sporting a couple of new playable characters, a bunch more extra costumes, a whole new set of backgrounds, and a generally updated look.

I’m not going to talk much about the original Dead or Alive because, frankly, it hasn’t aged well at all. Considering that it came out around the same time as Tekken 3, I remain utterly flabbergasted that it did well enough to mandate a sequel. It’s a slow-paced, generally uninteresting fighting game that’s notable mostly for the bizarre jiggle effect on characters’ breasts (it looks like a computer model of tectonic activity, it is simultaneously hypnotic and unnerving), and the explosive “Danger Zones” on each stage. It’s pretty skippable.

You’ll probably spend the bulk of your time playing Dead or Alive 2. It’s a far better game; it’s got quite a few more character costumes, a number of which come from Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball and the recent Ninja Gaiden; almost all of the backgrounds are brand new and visually spectacular; and you can unlock Hitomi from DOA3. If you’re at all interested in the DOA storyline, as obscure as it is, there’s a new opening movie that shows a series of scenes from Kasumi and Ayane’s childhood, casting new light on why Ayane hates Kasumi so much.

The best reason for veteran DOA players to grab this is to unlock everything, which turns DOAU into a booster disc for DOA3. Other than that, it’s DOA2, with all that implies. If you already played the hell out of the game back when it was released on the Dreamcast or PlayStation 2, the only reason to buy this is the netplay.

For those of you who might’ve missed out on Dead or Alive before now, you’re looking at the first games in a series that’s controversial in its own weird way. It’s been my experience that serious fighter fans either like DOA, with all its baggage and quirks, or they hate it like rats.

The problem that a lot of people have with DOA, I think, is that compared to Tekken or Virtua Fighter, it’s built backwards. When you start playing one of the latter games, you’re limited to simple punches and kicks, with an occasional lucky throw. It takes a lot of practice before a match looks good, which is part of what gives it its depth.

Dead or Alive, however, starts off flashy and gets less so as you practice. Someone who’s never held a controller before can pick up DOA2 or 3 and within seconds, they’ll be pulling off all manner of flipkicks, hammerlocks, giant swings, and acrobatic combinations. While doing so, they will see panties five thousand times. This is a draw for some and a drawback for others; I mention it in the name of accuracy and truth. Moving on.

What makes the series unique, besides its notoriously fanservicey female cast, is its counter system. You can instantly reverse almost any move into a painful counterattack. (Fighting games had done this before DOA, but DOA was among the first, if not the first, to make it a standard part of every character’s arsenal.)

The system’s still got its share of bugs in it in DOA3, but in DOA2, they’re right out there in the open. Counterattacks do so much more damage than anything else – quite a few characters have 80-100% damage combos that start with a counter, like Leon and Bayman’s multipart grabs – that there’s almost no point in trying to do anything else. The game isn’t about attacking the other guy and trying to avoid being countered; it’s about getting him to attack you and countering him.

As a result, the better you get at Dead or Alive 2, the less visually interesting a match can get. People start playing it safe, sticking out simple punches and kicks, and everyone’s trying to outthink each other, get in for a throw, or land sneaky combos. It never gets dull, either to look at or to play, but it’s not quite the game it was when you first picked it up.

It’s also really frustrating if you’ve been putting a lot of time in on other 3D fighters, or if you like to go on the offensive as much as I do. DOA is many things, but it’s distinctly its own game, and should be judged on those merits. Comparing it to a Tekken or Soul Calibur is comparing apples to oranges; they are both distinctly fruits, but they aren’t the same kind of fruit at all.

That same feature makes CPU opponents in Dead or Alive among the cheapest bastards in fighting games today. The computer is really good at sticking out counters at a fraction of a second’s notice, so fast that you can’t actually see the counter animation. It also loves to use nearly inescapable hitstun combos that start off of really simple moves, like how Hayabusa can shave 90% off your life if he lands two standing punches.

This ordinarily wouldn’t be remarkable, but Ultimate’s secrets require you to put in a lot of time against the computer. In both games, getting all the extra outfits and characters requires you to beat Story Mode about a hundred and fifty times with every character; alternatively, you can play a lot of DOA2’s Survival Mode, which wouldn’t be difficult if you didn’t have to rack up fifty wins in a row. Neither option is particularly attractive.

Fortunately, the netplay makes up for the lack. It’s a bit on the laggy side, but DOAU online is still quite playable. You can use a virtual arcade lobby system to observe other players’ matches in one-on-one or tournament formats, and with Xbox Live voicechat, it’s about as close as you can realistically come to an online arcade, complete with a crowd of anonymous goofballs providing a running commentary. All it lacks is that trademark mephitic arcade reek, and on second thought, that cannot be seriously referred to as a “lack.”

You do have to wait to play in the DOAU lobby system, which could be considered a flaw. Most of the available modes, unless you deliberately restrict your game to a single other player, will involve your cooling your heels and watching a few other matches while you wait your turn. Like I said, it’s just like the arcade.

I like the Dead or Alive series a lot, but I’m not blind to its faults. Dead or Alive Ultimate brings the first two games to the Xbox warts and all, with a boatload of extra content that’ll take hours to unlock. Live subscribers and fighting-game fans should be sure to grab a copy, but if you didn’t like DOA or DOA2 before now, this isn’t going to change your mind.

Score : 8.2/10