Dead or Alive 2

"A challenging fighting game for serious players...."

I do not care if people agree with me or not, but to me, this is one of the best fighting games I've ever played. I'm the kind of person that does not anticipate games, despite how good they are, simply because I've played so many games that it takes a lot to impress me, but I found myself in anticipation for the day this game was to be released, and had it preordered. I was a big fan of the original Dead or Alive for PSX, and was hoping to get pretty much the same reaction from its sequal. So far, the game has not disappointed me. Well, enough of my raving, let's get down to the review, shall we?

Graphics (10/10)
Stunning graphics, Tecmo makes use of what I would expect from a dreamcast game. The backgrounds are spectacular, from the richness of detail in the nature scenes, or the simple things, such as the splashing of the water you occasionally fight on. The multi-leveled stages are executed beautifully and as far as I can tell, there is absolutely no slowdown. Polygons are almost non-existant, you pretty much have to look for them to see them. And of course, the characters are fully detailed. The cut-scenes between matches make them seem life-like, and the transition between cut-scene to fight is smooth. One last thing, the slow-motion effect when you win a round by knocking your opponent into an explosive impact is just cool.

Sound (8/10)
The music for this game isn't too bad, but to me, it just doesn't seem to have that ''presence'' in the fight. Some fighters, I can easily sit back and just listen to the music from the stages, such as Soulcalibur, or SF Alpha 3, but it's no biggie, not a major concern, just a small gripe. I do, however, love the voice-overs, and am glad that they kept it in Japanese with subtitled. As an anime lover as well, I cannot stand dubbed material. I like the sound effects as well, the more painful moves actually sound more painful, and those bone-breaking noises, well, *shudder*.

Control (9/10)
Play control is great, but can be difficult to master. At first glance, it seems simple. Four buttons: punch, kick, free/special, and free move. However the possibilies for combos are huge. Also, depending on when you press a button can result in different moves. For example, if you tap up/forward, and punch immediately afterwards, you get one move, but if you delay the punch, you get a whole different attack. The free move button for 8-way running can seem awkward at first, but I suppose it is simply playing the game a lot and practice before it becomes like second nature.

Challenge (10/10)
Simply put, this game is just hard to master. It is definitely not a game for button mashers to get lucky in at intermediate level play and up. The AI, even at normal level, will mop the floor with you, if you don't know what you are doing. What's great about this game, that I enjoyed in the first game as well, and what I feel sets this game apart from other fighters where you just beat on eachother, is the counter system. If the opponent throws an attack, you can actually grab their arm or leg and attack them right back. Countering is hard to master, because basically you have to do the right counter for the right kind of attack (ie hi counter on hi attacks, mid counters to mid attacks), and to do this proficiently in advanced play only comes from practice and close observation of the other fighter. Well, maybe a little luck as well.

Overall (9/10)
I guess one of my major gripes about the game is that it just leaves me wanting more. More characters, more stages, and ESPECIALLY more costumes. One of the things that made the first DOA so good was that fact that you could unlock more costumes for every character. So far, I haven't been able to figure out if you can do that in this game or not, but until then, grrr. I do like the multiple options they have for fighting, such as VS mode, and various tag modes such as playing with or against a friend. Overall, though, I feel like this game was kinda rushed out to the market, and that Tecmo didn't put all that could have been put into the game. The storyline in general is very weak, and it just doesn't have enough options for one-player single play, although battling against friends is great. However, I do still think that it is a great game, and has been one of the few fighters that I have actually considered seriously learning and striving to reach advanced play. My recommendation: this is definitely a game for serious fighters looking for a new challenge.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/16/00, Updated 03/16/00