Dead or Alive Ultimate

"DOA2 with the quality of DOA3, oh... and DOA1 too!"

DOA Ultimate consists of two separate games on two discs: Dead or Alive and Dead or Alive 2. Whereas the first Dead or Alive is a straight port of the original Saturn game, DOA 2 is completely reworked graphically. DOA 2 was a great Dreamcast game and now it gets to take it's time in the sun for the XBOX.

Gameplay: Personally, I love the fighting mechanics Team Ninja put together for DOA 3 on XBOX, and subsequently on Ninja Gaiden. Once you begin to understand the flow of a battle it's not hard to realize each character has a rhythm that makes their attacks extremely hard to stop. However, as with all DOA games, there is a safeguard to prevent players from using constant attacks to murder you in a fight. The counter is a four point system that is very simple to understand from a pick up and play perspective. It's so easy that you will be pulling off counters by the end of your first time through the arcade mode if you've never played a DOA game before. Each character is very accessible for beginners, but also they all have some good depth in the moves that makes it worth the time to spend playing for 20 hours or so. On top of the great single and multiplayer modes, there is an online feature that lets you play against people from all over the world. Online is a whole new world of fighting, so once you feel like you are getting tired of fighting against the computer or your buddies right next to you, hop online and fight it out with someone whose fighting style you don't know. It's a great change of pace and the set up is the best part. It literally feels like the arcades, where other people can sit and watch people fight and wait in line to fight the winner or loser. Gameplay I have always felt is the strength of DOA games, and DOA 1 & 2 Ultimate are no exceptions.

Graphics: As if anyone had to tell you that a Team Ninja game was going to be absolutely amazing graphically. DOA 2 is one of the most attractive games on the XBOX. The arenas are breathtaking in size and what is going on inside of them. From the petals and leaves to the fire and changing of seasons, the arenas offer a great diversity of splendid graphics. DOA 1 is simply put, a really nice looking Saturn game, which isn't saying much anymore. DOA 1 has obviously similar arenas and character models, but they sport detail that any Saturn fan would tell you is amazing given most game characters on the system were lucky to get two polygons for a forearm. Simply put, DOA 2 is somehow more attractive and amazing than DOA 3, while DOA 1 is hard to judge since it's a straight port of a Saturn game.

Audio: The sound in the game is taken from the originals, though in DOA 2 there are some new tracks added which are nice to listen to. Unfortunately you cannot use your XBOX to listen to your own tracks, though the music in the game never gets old as it doesn't try to hype up many situations and rather just puts on a nice background rhythm to listen to while you fight. Even if you stay and fight for hours at a time the music won't drag on like in some games, because it doesn't try to make itself noticeable. DOA 1 has all the old tracks it featured on the Saturn, and really, they're not much. Even for the Saturn, the tracks are pretty bland. Although the music isn't meant to be soothing, after time you will probably tire of the it and wonder how we used to listen to that stuff in fighter games before. Overall, you will play DOA 2 significantly more than DOA 1, so it really doesn't matter that the music in DOA 1 can get old, since DOA 2 has some really great sound additions.

Overall, DOA Ultimate is just that... the ultimate package for the DOA series. DOA 2 is an extremely great game that has been brought up to the current system's standards and offers the best online fighting experience, possibly some of the best online experience in any genre. This is the type of game that you might as well drop the money on, since there is so much to do and play that you'll want to spend 20-30 hours playing it by yourself, with your friends, or online with total strangers like yourself.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/04/04