The best version of the best game lives only on US PS2s.
The third version of Tecmo's awesome Dead or Alive 2 comes to US PS2s as DOA2: Hardcore and it's everything fighting game fans could hope for. Twice as many costumes, two new hidden characters, more moves, new levels, better graphics and tons of new modes. The original Dreamcast game blew us away, and there are so many improvements to this version it'd be impossible to list them all. The new tag team levels (there are four of them) are just one of a hundred reasons we're playing a ton of DOA2 this launch.
Tecmo has some strange ideas about porting titles. First of all, it completely ignores the simple idea that ports should be hastily assembled things, exact in every respect to their original counterparts. It's not even like Tecmo only changes the basic interface or some graphical glitches. No, Tecmo has to go and completely reinvent the wheel every time. So the Japanese PS2 version of the game has way more stuff in it than the original US Dreamcast version had. And the US PS2 version has way more stuff than the Japanese version. We can't even conceive of what the Japanese Dreamcast version will include -- probably a live strip show and a minigame involving a llama.
For the moment we'll ignore the Japanese PS2 version -- the number of people playing it as an import is small enough to be negligible -- and look at the improvements from the original Dead or Alive 2 to Hardcore. Let's start with the graphics, shall we? Each and every facet of the original graphics engine has been either rebuilt or tweaked heavily. The characters now have over twice as many polygons per character and move with a fluid grace. The lighting is equal to nothing seen before in any fighting game, with realtime effects, gorgeous colours and some of the best mood lighting we've ever seen.
Hardcore's not just about making the old stuff look better, either. There are over 15 stages now -- Team Ninja's being a bit secretive about hidden levels -- and many of the old haunts have new areas to them. Five of the areas can now be used for tag team battles -- as opposed to the one in the original -- and the variety is great. There are heavenly courtyards, industrial slums with huge mud pits and a frightening electrified stone courtyard.
Sometimes translators don't quite have a handle on things. The original battle cry of Tengu, the final boss, was translated on the Dreamcast as "Everything is my... Bogus!" This was changed for the PS2 version to "Everything is my delusion." This is not only less confusing but explains the cool effect where Tengu makes the world all blurry until you start winning.
To further enhance this new butt-thrashing experience, Tecmo has also included two new characters and a total of 70 costumes for all the characters, which is twice as many as in the original. The new characters are Bayman, one of the fighters from the first Dead or Alive, and Tengu, the end boss from Dead or Alive 2. Each of the original fighters also has new moves, combos and throws.
In addition to all the levels, moves, characters and costumes, there are 10 different modes to play with and explore. These are story, Time Attack, Versus, Tag Battle, Survival, Team Battle, Sparring, CG Gallery, Watch and Collection. Not all of these are play modes, obviously, but they're all fun. There's also a cool option to have the voice acting done in the original Japanese or new, badly done English.
The fighting engine itself is still brilliant, the characters wild and the action fierce. Nothing has been subtracted from this game, but so much has been added. Anyone that hasn't played Dead or Alive has to pick up this game, and most fans of the first game will still want it.
The Bottom Line: The absolute best version of one of the best fighting games around. |
