It's been a busy week, so I decided to go back to fighting games. I also haven't done a Dreamcast game in a while, so I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone.
I'm not sure I would consider Dead or Alive to be that obscure a fighting game franchise. When I covered Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, I thought a lot about "tier levels" of fighting game popularity and how all of the series' would rank (strictly based on popularity here, not quality). SF and MK would obviously be at the top, but what about all the dozens of other franchises? Maybe that's a discussion for a different day, but today we are talking specifically about DOA, a series I would put towards the upper middle of that tier list. It definitely can't touch the big two, it's certainly not on the level of stuff like Tekken or even Virtua Fighter, though I would put it in the category below those. While the original came out for the PS1 and the second was an early title in the 6th generation, I feel like the third game, an original XBox exclusive, was the title that got most people into the franchise. It was heavily marketed as a killer app for the then-brand new console and its creator was very outspoken during and after its release.
But let's just get it out of the way. We all know what the DOA franchise has come to be known for over the years, and its not an intricate combo system, sick counter moves or well, anything that has to do with fighting. I know, that you know, that I know that you know, what I'm talking about. Let's put it this way: after the release of DOA 3, the team at Tecmo released a follow up called Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball. It is exactly what it sounds like, a game featuring the characters from DOA competing against each other in a beach volleyball tournament. Mysteriously, none of the series' male fighters were interested in competing in this tournament. Interesting. The game allowed you to unlock plenty of items for the ladies though, including swimsuits, revealing swimsuits and really revealing swimsuits. Yeah, if you didn't get it before, you do now.
One of the biggest issues I have here is how focused the game is on countering attacks. That's probably just personal preference, but I really don't like fighting games that punish you for being aggressive. I have no problem with fighting engines that punish players for being stupidly, that's okay. But stupid and agressive are very different and this just takes it too far. Playing against the computer is frustrating when they simply counter everything you do and the final boss is just ridiculous. I think there was one time he beat me without a single offensive move. And its not like I was mashing buttons either. Honestly, I feel like I did better when I was mashing because I was just able to pump out so much more damage. I also found it difficult to block anything, I could never really tell when attacks were supposed to hit high or low. The same was true of horizontal or vertical attacks, there were moments where I felt like circling was a waste of my time and that I should just only come straight forward. I will say that the 3D movement was very fluid and I rarely had a problem with getting my fighter to go where I wanted them to. Hit detection was solid for strikes, but it was awful for throws and there were times where my throw animation definitely went right through my opponent.
The characters weren't all that interesting, most of them are fairly generic fighting game tropes, a ninja, a wrestler, a soldier, etc., etc. While they weren't as hyper sexualized as they would become in future entries, the female fighters don't wear much and it seems like they were more focused on the physics of their clothing than the physics of the actual fighting. There were spots in some arenas where their skirts would just randomly blow up, I don't know if it was intentional or it was a glitch, but I would bet on the former. The female Ninja Kasumi is probably the most recognizable character, though all of the female characters have had some level of mainstream gaming exposure. Even still, their design was largely uninspired. The same was true of the move sets, none of the characters feel all that different, outside Tina and Bass, the wrestlers. I also had a major issue with the lack of move lists, I couldn't find one anywhere in the game. It isn't even available in training mode, which made DOA2 a bear to figure out.
That being said, there was a lot to like here too. I think the stage design here is great, all of the arenas are interesting and they look great. You can deal extra damage by pushing enemies into the wall, so the layout is relevant to each fight. Some stages are claustrophobic and force you to use and avoid the wall, while others are wide open to make you adjust your strategy yet again. I like that some of the stages have breakthrough or knockoff points, which can completely change the way you go about fighting. This is something I think more fighting games should do, it makes each stage feel bigger and gives the player something to look for. Unfortunately, it's rarely relevant because by the time you find these points, the round is usually almost over. Characters take a ton of damage here so rounds are almost always short. Still, the idea is great and I don't know if I've ever seen it done in another fighting game besides DOA and Clay Fighter 63 1/3 (which I might play at a later time, unfortunately).
I also have to give them credit for the graphics. It's no secret the Dreamcast was a powerful console and it shows here. The character models all look great and were very expressive for their time. The textures are very smooth and the backgrounds are all well done. A lot of care was taken to make the details really look good, particularly with water and snow. This is one of the better looking 6th gen games I have played. Sound was okay too and the voice acting was pretty good as well. There are no English voice actors, but I would rather have them get good Japanese voice actors and add captions than bring in laughably bad English speakers. The game had a few different modes, with story, arcade battle and various team competitions. The team stuff was fun, but really it all boils down to all the modes are just more of the same.
But hey, if I'm going to play a fighting game I want to actually be fighting, right? Overall, DOA2 wasn't bad, but it was far from my favorite fighting game. The unique arenas and strong graphics help, but the simple fighting system and overreliance on timing based counters keep it out of the upper echelon for me. I can't say I didn't have fun, but I'm not sure I would ever go back and play this today. I have never played the original, but I have played the sequel and I will say I found DOA3 to be far superior to this game. That doesn't make DOA2 bad though, it just means there are better options.
6.75/10
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