Dead or Alive 2

"Best beat 'em up on Dreamcast"

Gameplay – 10/10

Dead or Alive 2 is the sequel to the original beat ‘em up game. It looks fantastic on the Dreamcast with some great detailed characters and fighting arenas. Every character, of which there are 12, has a huge amount of awesome moves at their disposal and it will take you ages to master them all. You've got the basic punch and kick buttons but you have a counter button too. If you hit the button and a direction depending on where your opponent strikes you, you'll block their move and perform an attack on them instead. Learning the timing of countering is critical if you want to succeed.

There are a lot of modes to play too. You've got the basic story mode where you select a fighter and battle your way against people until you complete their mission. The story mode gives you cut scenes in between the fights so you can see how the story progresses. You have the sparring mode which is basically a training mode to practice your moves. There's the tag team mode where you choose 2 fighters and fight matches against 2 other people, with the ability to tag at any time and perform awesome tag team attacks. There's time attack where you have to beat all your opponents as fast as possible, and there's survival where you just keep fighting for as long as you can. There are so many modes to keep you happy and there are 5 different levels of difficulty too so you can test your skill out on very hard to see if you're a master yet.

The multiplayer modes are great. You can either do tag team matches and team up or you can fight each other to see who's best. Needless to say, Dead or Alive 2's multiplayer is awesome.

Naturally, the game has some tasty looking girls in there to keep the guys happy and let me tell you a little secret. The higher the age you set in the game's options menu, the more the girls' breasts will bounce. Believe it or not, this is truth, and I can't complain. Kasumi is one fine fighter after all…

You'll spend a lot of time beating the game with every fighter and then there are the higher difficulties to master. Plus there are tons of costumes to unlock for every character.

Controls – 10/10

Punch with X, kick with Y, counter with B. Holding A will allow you to move around the arena freely, rather than sidestepping about. Blocking is done with R. You can fit in some massive combos with just the punch and kick buttons and grab moves are done by holding 2 buttons together. Beat ‘em up fans will be right at home with the control set up, with the Dreamcast controller being perfect for this game. There's a customizable control method though, so if you aren't happy with the default, feel free to change it to your liking. Overall though, the controls are perfect for this game.

Graphics – 10/10

Some of the best looking graphics on Dreamcast. DOA2 really stands out above all other fighters with its beautiful graphics. The fighting arenas are great with some fantastic backgrounds. You can smash through almost anything, from brick walls to wooden fences and jump down to the level below where you threw your opponent. Bricks and wood fly everywhere. The whole game looks great.

Sound – 9/10

Nothing really to fault here. The music goes in well with the fights but you won't exactly be humming along to them. After all, this is a fast-paced all-out fighter so you'll be concentrating on the battles. The music is just there for the effects really, though without it, it would noticeable and very boring. Plus there's a music test if you ever want to listen to them again.

The voices are all in Japanese. No English here, although subtitles appear at the bottom so you understand. I prefer Japanese speech to the bad American voicing we sometimes get so I'm happy with this game. Having the option to switch between American and Japanese is always nice but I'm not bothered at all here. And it's nothing for you to be bothered about either. The character's voices are great.

Overall – 9/10

One of the best beat ‘em ups I've played and you won't be disappointed. If you love playing as big breasted girls (or muscled men) kicking the hell out of each other in a beautiful looking video game, then you'll need to get Dead or Alive 2. It's one of finest looking beat ‘em ups ever made and plays like a dream.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/28/05, Updated 08/31/07

Game Release: Dead or Alive 2 (EU, 07/14/00)