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Dead or Alive Ultimate
 Developer: Team Ninja / Tecmo
Publisher: Microsoft
Category: : fighting
Platform: X-Box
Might look like: Dead or Alive 1 / 2 /
Date posted: 24 April 2005
Written By: Bjorn
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A 'long' introduction
Dead or Alive. Right now this series, which has been running for several years now on different consoles, are as famous as Soul Calibur, Virtua Fighter and any other Tekken / Streetfigher games. There are a lot of gamers who swore to stick with DOA and nothing else.
However since this series has evolved from version to version and from one console to another, it may be a good idea to give you somehow a short introduction of this fighting universe.
Dead or Alive goes far back and was ported on many consoles. It all started in 1996, when Tecmo and Team Ninja decided to bring eight of their own fighters in the arcades. Big difference was, aside from being built on the same hardware as other fighting games such as Virtua Fighter, that this time most of the fighters were girls! Indeed, female fighters with all the necessary touches. The arcade game was a huge success because most gamers liked the female fighters instead of playing always with males it was one year later introduced to the Sega Saturn.
And from that time, it all started until this very last installment. "Dead Or Alive Ultimate". That's Tecmo's latest game in the DOA series and it's finally out, only on Microsofts X-Box.
Ultimate ... 2 discs
The previous DOA title, named 'Dead or Alive 3' was THE fighting game at that time for the X-Box. It was succesful in almost all countries where it was released and it surely pushed the X-Box almost to its limits. I bet that most of you that like fighting games have probably already played this title. Bought it, rented it or just borrowed it from it friend. You must agree with me, DOA 3 was a damn fine game! It was so close to 'Soul Calibur II', which we also loved to death, but Team Ninja / Tecmo made sure it wasn't just a SC2 clone.
When Halo was released on the X-box, hell broke loose. Halo was definitely number one and DOA 3 was somehow pushed back into the background. We still find it a shame that it didn't received that much of attention.
Now today, almost the same thing. Halo 2 was released and thank God that was end of last year (yes we didn't reviewed it because we were hooked on it for months and then realized that it was too late to bring up a review) so this new DOA game which was, believe it or not, released LAST month here in Europe, gets all the attention that it deserves. This "new" 2 disc DOA game, going under the name "Dead or Alive Ultimate" is somehow a redefined and remade game. However that is not exactly true. The game offers you 2 discs. One with "Dead or Alive 1 Ultimate" and the other with, yes, "Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate".
So what's going here? Simple, the first discs, Ultimate 1 is actually a FULL port of the Sega Saturn game. Same 'old' graphics, same sound and of course the same great gameplay. The only thing that has been added with this version, is the LIVE compatible play. That's an option that many of you, who goes LIVE, will enjoy. We see this Ultimate 1 as a bonus game to the other discs and probably only for those DIE-HARD fans.
  
The second discs is Ultimate 2 and exactly you guessed it right, it has been already released on the Sega Dreamcast and the Sony PlayStation 2. However, this X-box version is still superior in graphics and sound. The overall interfacte of DOA2 has been changed and when compared to DOA3, it's very similar.
It features a story mode, survival, tag and team battle, versus and sparring mode, time attack (lovely!) and of course the watch mode and for those LIVE gamers, yes this game has been enhanced with ONLINE capabilities.
We are sure that only retro gamers (which we love!) will play DOA 1 Ultimate more and that most of the gamers will be focused on DOA 2 Ultimate.
What's NEW ?
Looking at its first disc, "Dead or Alive 1 Ultimate", basically ... nothing. Like I already pointed out, this is an identical port of the Sega Saturn game, which was at that time just fantastic, with only ONLINE play added.
Regarding its second disc, "Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate, which is an upgraded version of the PS2 game Dead or Alive 2 Hardcore, much is added and upgraded.
We firmly believe, as well as many others, that this game is built on the DOA 3 engine that was released some time ago on X-Box.
Character models (15 in total), damn those girls, are the best we have seen in any fighting game and it seems Team Ninja has the expertise to pull this one off.
Costumes, new ones added are simply stunning and it looks like this game might push the X-Box hardware again to its limits. More on these costumes because it seems they're rather important in this DOA game. Each one of the 15 characters starts with 2 available costumes. You can unlock a new costume each time you run through 'Story Mode' (go through Time Attack for unlocking those secret Characters). Each girl has therefore 13-20 costumes available while the boys have around 6-10.
Even the final, final, final boss, Tengu can be unlocked later on to play with and he has 3 different costumes. Now this adds the game longevity a lot since, once unlocked all costumes, you can really perfect your fighter character to its max. And when you go ONLINE, everybody will see and envy you!
Graphics are top notch with a masssive amount of detail and environments are beautifully rendered thanks to its engine. The fighting arenas really aid the graphics and Team Ninja has included a lot of diversity in them. It's for you to find out! We assure you that there are some surprises that many of you'll adore.
Team Ninja also reworked the movies for each character and the story mode makes a lot more sense then in any previous title.
Ultimate combat system
Anybody who played any previous DOA game, on the Dreamcast, PS2 or X-box, knows that controlling your character is a breeze. Even performing combo's is not that tricky. Still, if you want to go play more advanced then a little practice is definitely needed.
On the other hand, while pressing Start/Pause, you can go straight in its "Moves List" where you'll see all the moves, combo's and special moves of each character. Nice if you don't want to press 5 buttons at the same time without knowing what you're basically doing or what move you are performing. I won't say much of the characters moves because it all has been said and seen in previous DOA games.
  
The thing I personally liked was the 'counter system' of Dead or Alive. Really this has to be the greatest and most easiest counter system I have ever seen. Every strike can be blocked ... and reversed but it requires precision, good timing and of course pressing the right buttons. It may look hard but after a good hour, you'll know what do do.
It's absolutely great to reverse your opponents attack and then throw him through a window which will let him fall down to another sub-level. There you can continue the fight but he'll surely lost a lot of strenght.
Sound & Music
Music is unfortunately the same as always like in the previous titles and we were hoping on some "new" tunes and additions. Still, I'm sure people gonna love this techno-rock soundtrack with all its bells and whistles but well, we have heard it before.
It would be nice if Team Ninja included a custom soundtrack mode in this Ultimate edition. Strangly enough, the previous game, DOA: Xtreme Beach Volleyball DID have this option well implented so why wasn't it for Ultimate? We have absolutely not a clue!
Sound effects are good and I always loved the Japanese audio. Effects are nicely done and sounds natural.
Give it a go ONLINE!
The main addition to both games, Ultimate 1 and 2 is of course being LIVE compatible. I'm sure a lot of gamers will simply buy this edition for just online gaming. FYI it does its job GOOD. We have tested both games with ONLINE play and if your ISP doesn't have too much lag, it is highly enjoyable.
Just practice a lot before you go online, otherwise your opponent could end the match in a few seconds. Practice is the word here.
Conclusion
Simply astounishing! This new Dead or Alive game offers 2 games for the price of one. Many gamers will just play the first disc once, the ported Dead or Alive 1 Ultime since it hasn't been upgraded to todays standard in graphics and sound but people who played this game in the arcades or other console will surely enjoy it.
Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate is the winner here since it's a totally upgraded 'DOA2 hardcore' game. Built on an almost new engine and with new environments, hundreds of costumes, unlockable goodies, online play, we're sure this game will be played most and is definitely worth-your-cash.
If you are a DOA fan, or just get sweaty hands while playing a decent fighting game, then this game is the one you need.
Right now, this is our most played fighting game on X-Box.
-Bjorn
Ratings
Manual:
/ % |
Graphics:
98% |
Music & Sfx:
87% |
GamePlay:
92% |
|
This game scores
 
on our 5-point Rating System
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