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Review: Dead or Alive |
It’s good to see Tecmo climb the ranks of fighting game greatness to be able to battle it out with Sega and Namco. As an avid player of the Dead or Alive series from the start, it’s great to see these characters, whom I thought would never be known beyond those dank import store walls, become somewhat more recognised as the series progressed.
If it has not become one of the more popular fighting game series, it is at least responsible for a surge in female ninja cosplay, hentai and the tissue shortage of 2001. To celebrate the greatness of this series, we’re going to go back to where it all began ‘ the Sega Saturn.
The Sega Saturn was a spectacular failure, there’s no denying that. This can probably be blamed on the system’s first generation software, which included rushed conversions of Virtua Fighter and Daytona USA. Fine games to play, but just didn’t look in the same league as Tekken and Ridge Racer on the PlayStation.
The Sega Saturn’s second generation software, however, showed what the Saturn was really capable of. An excellent high-resolution version of Virtua Fighter 2 was the most stunning 3D fighter yet to be seen and Sega Rally Championship was one of the finest racers of that time. The Saturn was then home to some of the finest games of that generation. Numerous 2D fighters, great arcade conversions, epic RPGs and amazing original titles (Nights comes to mind). Despite all this, the Saturn was lagging too far behind to take any of the PlayStation’s glory.
It may not have been a success but its highly acclaimed software has given it a cult following that still continues today. These great games continued to be released right up until the Saturn’s untimely demise, many of which remained Japan only titles. Dead or Alive was one of these titles and I’m now going to reveal why it was such a crime to keep it from our Western shores.
Hooray for boobies!
Before I continue with this review, there’s one thing I have to get off my chest (see what I did there?) first. This game is all about sex appeal, or at least it’s marketed that way. In the post Tomb Raider and Ms Pacman era, game developers can sell even the worst titles by the bucket load simply by emphasising the fact it has hot female characters in it. Dead or Alive’s box art, for example, has only pictures of the female cast members on the front cover – despite there being more male characters in the game.
In the game itself, the female characters have bloody huge bouncing breasts. Apparently Tecmo had an entire team working on this part of the game alone (or just loads of people volunteered to do the research for it). With the slightest movement of the character, they bounce around wildly like they have a mind of their own (and there’s even a bouncing breast option in the options menu!).
Usually a game marketed this way uses features such as these to disguise the fact that the game is pretty poor. However, in Dead or Alive’s case, there’s one of the finest 3D fighting games of the 32-bit era hidden behind it all. I’m not saying they shouldn’t have used sex appeal to sell this game, it’s just such a great fighter that they didn’t have to.
One of the things that makes this came so great is its graphics. They’re absolutely stunning for a 32-bit title. The game is easily on par with Saturn Virtua Fighter 2 for its high-resolution and smooth 3D graphics. As with all 3D games, however, they’re certainly showing their age now, but at the time they blew most other games out of the water in this department. The stages themselves also have a high-resolution look to them. The arenas are basically just a square area on the floor with scaled sprites used to simulate a 3D background (think Virtua Fighter 2 again) but the effect works well and to have proper 3D backgrounds would mean we’d probably have to loose the beautiful hi-res graphics.
This is a SEGA SATURN producing these! If only graphics such as these were seen when the machine was launched, the PlayStation could have had a much tougher fight. It’s such a visual treat that it’s worth checking out just to see how good a Saturn game can look.
The game’s not all eye candy … well we can still marvel at it a little longer though. The hot cast:
Kasumi
Seen as the game’s main character, Kasumi is some sort of ninja assassin with huge breasts. She’s also one of the best characters to play as with some excellent kick attacks and combos that are very easy to pull off.
Jann Lee
Sorry, there are actually male characters in the game. Every fighting game needs its Bruce Lee inspired character, and Jann is Dead or Alive’s. Breast size slightly smaller than Kasumi’s but is one of the game’s most powerful characters.
Lei Fang
Slightly overshadowed by Kasumi in this game (she makes a triumphant return in the sequel, though) and is a slightly harder character to master. Likes to move her arms a lot.
Bayman
Bayman is the game’s tough military guy. Most effective in close range when using throws. Not liked very much and will be sacked by the sequel.
Tina
Another grappler character, though more popular than Bayman for some reason. Unfortunately Tina is yet to become the great character she will be in the sequels at this point, probably due to her poor fashion sense and the fact she runs around in a circle before each fight.
Ryu Hayabusa
Tecmo fans look! It’s that guy from Ninja Gaiden! Quite a tough fighter to get to grips with but, when mastered, absolutely lethal. Some awesome devastating throws.
Zack
Tries to be Wesley Snipes from Demolition Man in a bra. An easy character to use, but ultimately not very good against tougher opponents.
Gen Fu
The game’s stereotypical Chinese old man kung fu fighter. A lot like Shun from Virtua Fighter 2 really (except less/more drunk). Not that great to play as he keeps breaking his hip.
Raidou
The game’s tough boss character. You can’t play as him yet so why do you care?
Not all are particularly inspired, but you grow to love them (in more ways then one). The worst thing about the characters is you don’t really get to learn much about them during the game. There’s no exchange of dialogue between them and no character specific endings. All you learn is that they all like to fight each other, except Lei Fang who likes dancing, from the intro sequence (which has aged terribly by the way). But then fighting game stories just suck, so it’s probably for the best.
Play with me…
The controls for the game are very simple. There’s a punch button, a kick button and a counter button. The first two are self explanatory, but the third is unique in that it allows for more strategic gameplay than with previous 3D fighters ‘ yes an extra button can do that.
If an opponent, for example, launches a kick in your direction, pressing the counter button will allow your player to stop the move before it connects. Essentially you will grab you opponents leg, leaving them vulnerable for a counter attack or a throw. You can still block attacks (by pressing away from your opponents) but, to play this game at an expert level, this is a technique you’ll really need to master. Though really, it’s just a case of pressing the button (and a direction on the d-pad) at just the right time.
A good use of combinations in the game is the best way to be able to avoid counter attacks. For most characters, combinations can be done quite simply, requiring only a string of punches and kicks. You have to be able to fool your opponent, though, who may be expecting to counter a high kick so you surprise them with a sweep. Although a similar control method is found in the Virtua Fighter games, the simplicity of Dead or Alive’s controls make it an easier game to get into, yet just as rewarding to master.
However, to make the gameplay that little bit more interesting, each stage has a ‘danger zone’ around the ring. If you or an opponent falls or is thrown in the danger zone, then an explosion will send them flying up in the air and deplete part of their energy bar. Fights in the danger zone can be more interesting than within the standard part of the arena because you have to be extra vigilant of attacks – one fall can result in a devastating blow to your energy. The game also has a juggling system that works well here. If your opponent is sent flying, you can carry out a combination on their falling body before they land. There’s nothing more satisfying in this game then sending your opponent flying into the air and then juggling them out of the ring for a ‘ring out’.
There are a couple of minor problems I found with the game, by the way:
The main problem is this still plays very much like a 2D fighter with 3D graphics. Though you need to remember this is a game that pre-dates the dodge button and full 3D movement. This wouldn’t be such a problem if you could at least jump a little higher ‘ getting to the other side of the opponent is difficult to do by choice. I’m not going to complain, though, because it still does most things better than other fighters of that time.
The other problem is simply the fact you must fight the characters in a set order and, when playing in hard mode especially, it can become quite frustrating. As I consider myself quite good at the game, I can defeat most characters with relative ease. However I then get to a character such as Gen Fu, who will be about the seventh fighter, and I can’t defeat him without a seemingly endless number of attempts. It’d be nice to be frustrated whilst fighting another character at that point, such as Zack or Lei Fang but, as those two are always your first fights, they’ll never be characters that’ll give you much bother. It’s just a shame your opponents aren’t selected randomly.
Play Modes
When buying a game such as this, we’re usually more than happy with an arcade and vs mode. But game developers always throw in those extra play modes that we hardly ever touch. Dead or Alive’s are quite original (note: lie).
Arcade – play the game as if it’s the arcade version. You’ll use this one the most unless:
Vs – if you have a friend then you’ll mostly play this mode.
Survival – see how good you really are by seeing how long you can last with a single energy bar.
Time Attack – like the arcade mode with added timer.
Kumite – select to fight either 30, 50 or 100 opponents, although not all at once. Kind of like survival.
The game also has the usual options giving you the ability to adjust things such as the difficulty, number of rounds and time as well as a secret, more customisable, option screen that we’ll go into later. Oh and don’t forget to turn on the ‘bouncing breast’ option.
Sound, innit
The Sega Saturn doesn’t have the greatest sound chip ever. Samples in most games often sound a little rough, and Dead or Alive is no exception. On the plus side, there’s some great arcadey voice samples and sound effects. I particularly love the danger zone explosions and the female announcer (which I can’t see working in other fighters but is perfect for this). They’re just all a bit muffled and take a bit of getting used to if a Saturn isn’t the only machine you own (and if it is, then I love you).
The music is perfect, though. I wouldn’t listen to any of these tracks independently, but they just fit in the game so well with the best tracks, in my opinion, belonging to Kasumi, Bayman and Raidou. In fact, if you’ve played any of the sequels, you’ll notice a distinct music style throughout the series that originates here ‘ or it could just be me.
When all the sound is put together, it sounds like you have a top arcade machine in your home. It looks it too. The overall package produces one of the finest and most impressive fighters on the Saturn and is one of those ’special’ titles that you just have to own.
Secrets
Just when you thought the game couldn’t get any better, it does – slightly. Playing through the game allows you to unlock a couple of extra features, most of which are extra character costumes.
Sounds kind of dull but, when you see them, you’ll be more than satisfied. Think Kasumi in sailor uniform, Lei Fang as a maid (which you’ve probably been doing for quite some time now) and Zack as a Tellytubbie (oh baby!) and you’ll get the idea. Some of these costumes are really impressive graphically too. I mean realistic (hey, they’re good) moving clothing on a 32-bit 3D title is quite impressive.
You can also change the size of the stages too. Meaning you can make a huge play area, a larger danger zone or make the arena so tiny that one hit will knock you out. As the game is already so great, you don’t need much to keep you playing.
Saturn Vs PlayStation
If it’s one thing Saturn owners love more than anything, it’s trying to convince everyone (including themselves) that they didn’t waste their money on a dead machine. This one’s for you, Saturn owners.
In the PlayStation version, the main difference is that the stages have been replaced and changed to Tekken-esque ‘going on forever’ flat floor with a static image for the background. Therefore there are no ring-outs and there’s an infinite danger zone. It just doesn’t look as good and fans of the arcade probably won’t be satisfied with this conversion at all. So yes, because of that, the Saturn is officially a better machine than the PlaySation now.
Though to be fair it depends what you’d prefer ‘ more arcade like with better graphics or more extra features. The PlayStation version has more characters and a few more unlockable secrets ‘ it just plays like slightly different game and perhaps fans of the coin-op will prefer this Saturn version.
Ye Ende
Amazingly there’s a 3D fighting game on the Saturn that’s as good as both Virtua Fighter 2 and Fighters Megamix ‘ and it’s not made by Sega! Don’t be put off by the fact this is an import title ‘ the only Japanese text is on the character select screen. Everything else, including all option screens, are in English. It just makes it all the more baffling why this wasn’t released out of Japan. Anyway if you’ve got a Saturn then get this. I have nothing more to say.
