Copyright © 1996-2000 Tecmo, Ltd.

Welcome to Fighting Game Month here at EX! Just last issue we reviewed STREET FIGHTER EX 3, and DEAD OR ALIVE 2 for the Dreamcast. This month we've got four more fighting games for your viewing pleasure! Suffice to say the game market can't support this many fighters over such a short period, but luckily they are spread out over two different console systems. More importantly is the fact that PlayStation 2 owners finally have an innovative fighting game that is worthy of the system: Tecmo's DEAD OR ALIVE 2. While lucky U.S. Dreamcast gamers have reveled in DOA2 for a while, such cannot be said for their counterparts in Japan. In a strange twist of fate, DOA2 was not released for the Japanese Dreamcast. Instead, Japanese gamers had to wait until now to get the game on the PlayStation 2. Fortunately, this version contains everything the Dreamcast release has and more, with extra stages, costumes, and better lighting effects.
In what seems like the impossible, a second "Fighting Game Revolution" emerges with the advent of DEAD OR ALIVE 2. It provides the most fun and refreshing game play for a fighting game since STREET FIGHTER II was released years ago. Filled with beautiful, real-time 3D graphics, a tight game play, and dynamic environments to fight in, this is the fighting game to get.
I can go on and on about how fun and refreshing this game is, but since we just reviewed the Dreamcast version last month, you know what the greatness is all about. But perhaps the biggest question stewing in many people's minds is exactly how does the PlayStation 2 version compare with the Dreamcast release? No doubt some will take this comparison as a direct correlation between one system's "power" versus another's, but hopefully none will take the comparison and blindly generalize about an entire system.
The PS2 version includes everything from its Dreamcast counterpart, plus a few more costumes for the majority of the fighters, with Kasumi and Ayane getting the most additions. Kasumi gains a black shinobi (ninja) costume and a "winter high school girl" outfit, while Ayane gets those plus Tecmo's DECEPTION 2 costume. In addition, Tecmo gives Helena a nice "cameo costume" from the lead heroine of DECEPTION 3. But it's not just the ladies who have new costumes; guys sport them as well, with Jann Lee and Ein's being fan service for the female gamers. The characters feature higher polygon counts too, with smoother and better defined polygonal bodies. Also, while there are some very slight slowdowns in the Dreamcast version, there is none in the PS2 port.
The most important additions however are the new fighting stages. There are three of them: a desert stage with lots of elevation changes (long slopes and uneven fighting terrain). A stunning rooftop stage which looks like you're fighting on the roofs of Hong Kong, complete with a beautiful and realistic early sunset. And a traditional Japanese dojo stage, with sliding paper doors that you can kick your opponent through to the Japanese rock garden below. On top of that, all the original stages are retouched and revamped in various ways. For example, in Demon's Church, once you kick your opponent out of the stained-glass window onto the abandoned churchyard underneath it, the air is filled with dust, giving the arena a dust-haze visual effect. It really looks like you're fighting in a dust-filled old building. In the stunning Snow Storm stage, there is an actual blizzard blowing now, sending swirling snow and harsh wind across the stage while you fight. Finally, Dragon Hills receives the biggest change. In the Dreamcast version, it was cool enough that you can kick your enemies off the balcony down to the one below, and then kick them off that one as well. Now, you can send your opponents through the boarded windows that were previously just walls, and dump them into a gigantic Dragon Temple! All these are preloaded into the memory of the PlayStation 2, with no wait time during the fight! Overall, it is the very subtle changes in the lighting, the way the sunlight or moonlight realistically bathes each fighter, along with the various environmental effects that make the PS2 version stands out.
On the downside, there are a couple things that hamper the PS2 port: some rare crash bugs and flickering, and a lack of anti-aliasing. Reports from Japan indicate that Team Ninja (Tecmo Japan) had only about four months to do this port, which explains why some bugs are still present. This doesn't totally mar the game experience, but it does get annoying at times when you're playing Versus mode and it locks up occasionally. The other big problem is the lack of anti-aliasing, or as some sites put it, a "field-interlacing problem." Either way, you can see jagged edges that appear along almost everything in the game, and some areas of complex lines tend to have their images blurred. While annoying at first, once you get into the game, these problems are soon forgotten, as the sheer graphical beauty of the game shines through.
In the end, Tecmo Japan's DEAD OR ALIVE 2 for the Sony PlayStation 2 is the best fighting game on the market to date. I always wondered if another fighting game can come along and be as refreshing and exciting as STREET FIGHTER II, and that game has come in the form of DEAD OR ALIVE 2. From the dynamic flow of the game play and the simple yet responsive controls, to the beautifully constructed 3D fighters and the amazingly interactive fighting arenas, this is the game to beat. With so many fighting games out on the market today, many gamers may be quick to dismiss this as "just another fighting game," but give DOA2 a try. This isn't just another fighting game; it's the next revolution for the fighting genre. Welcome to the revolution.

Rating: 9.7 / 10

Sony PlayStation 2
3D Fighting
1 to 4 Players
SLPS 25002
¥ 6800
Available now in Japan
Where to buy