Electronic Gaming Monthly: Dead or Alive Ultimate

Good: Superb environments, online play is fun when it works

Bad: Lag rears its ugly head, where are the new online modes?

Bouncy: Those angular DOA1 jugs still look as ridiculous as ever

EVAN: While fighting games seem perfect for online competition, they rely so heavily upon millisecond timing that any lag whatsoever can prove disastrous. DOA series creator Tomonobu Itagaki is clearly a gambling man, but no amount of audacity can overcome a random hiccup on the Internet just as you begin a combo. It’s no deal-breaker, but DOA suffers from an intermittent case of the laggies.

Ultimate repackages a graphically enhanced version of DOA2 with the (untouched) original DOA, launching them both onto Xbox Live. The revamped DOA2 sports even crisper graphics than DOA3 and a bevy of new stages. These provide what is arguably the most compelling part of the experience, offering up huge arenas and loads of environmental objects to smash your bikini-clad opponents into.

Sadly, combat itself hasn’t changed significantly, meaning that DOA’s gameplay still sits notches below the genre’s heavyweights—Soul Calibur, Virtua Fighter, and Street Fighter. Battles lack the finesse of these counterparts, and online play cannot make up for the fact that button-mashing trumps skill more often than it should.

XBN—CHE: In a perfect world, all of our fighting games would feature hot chicks, deep yet accessible gameplay, plenty of unlockable items, and—most important of all—a comprehensive online mode that emulates the abusive ebb and flow of playing in an arcade. Luckily for Xbox owners, Ultimate delivers admirably on all of the above, save for one: the depth. The series excels in flashy, brutal melee that’s easy to pull off, but you never get the sense that the roster of characters is very balanced. Which is why, although it’s spectacular to look at and fun to play for short bursts of time, I never felt the urge to devote much time to mastering a game that rewards spastic button-mashing. Fun and very polished, but just not hardcore enough (for me).

1UP.COM—DAVE: Developer Team Ninja’s built the perfect system for playing fighting games online—a versatile matchmaking interface, great spectator features, a tougher reversal system, and network performance that doesn’t get in the way of a competitive match.

As for the fighting games you play with it, though—it's been a long wait for something we first tried five years ago. At full price, this is a good buy for longtime fans who want online competition, but it’s not as exciting as an all-new game would be.

Publisher: Tecmo

Developer: Team Ninja

Players: 1-2 (2 online)

ESRB: Mature

www.tecmogames.com

The verdicts (out of 10)

Evan 7.0

Che 7.5

Dave 7.5