Hmmm Dead or Alive Ultimate is it the ultimate one out there? well DOA 1 looks umm exactly the same and a revamped 2!!
*note the following review is for DOAU2 not the first...sorry but the first sucks compared to the second*
graphics
ahh Dead or alive 3 the game that officially brought the DOA girls into the spotlight (DOA Xtreme beach volleyball) and also was the first DOA game to hit the xbox. of course the main attraction to this game was the fantastic graphics as is this; the environments are beautiful and of course, interactive, and the character models are great. the movements are smooth, and the hits are of course painful *thinks of Jann Lee's foot smash and grind Bass Armstrong's face into the ground* Unfortunately, polish could have been used in some of the holds and counter holds as arms and legs seem to 'slip' through the neck or stomach, but everyhting happens fast enough to not see it so thats ok.
the backgrounds are multi leveled causing more damage when the opponent is thrown down a slope, or a church or a certain Great Wall of China. yes its all good. :)
Gameplay
Tag matches, the most fun mode ever in a fighting game, it allows for two players to team up against 2 more to produce fast paced matches and some painful looking combos that involve both characters. otherwise the standard 'story' mode...arcade mode with some quick cutscenes that have a...storyline... Survival, which allows you to fight and fight against endless waves of opponents while collecting items that fall from the opponent's body that you put into a collection. then the standard timed mode, and versus of course. a new addition is online mode. i have yet to try it out but it is supposed to be outstanding.
sound
the music selection is pretty good, but custom soundtracks would most definitely been welcomed *Beating down Ayane with Kasumi with Dragula playing in the background...ahhhhh*
of course, punches, kicks, flesh hitting the walls...and elephants all sound amazing.
i miss zachs appeal move from DOA3 when he does that 'wohooooo' thing with his arms waving...it cracked me up, but they took it out :(
controls
this is where button mashers often die against the experienced players. the reversals are great to use against the opponent and really piss your opponent off. there is a great sparring mode which allows you to learn the moves. unfortunately there is no 'video mode' that shows what that particular move looks like... *nod to virtua fighter* some moves are not in the sparring mode and will have to be found out by the user.
replay value
this WILL keep you coming back for more, this is a guarantee. the complete number of costumes (more for girls than guys of course) collector items in survival mode and versus and online mode will keep you playing, trust me
And for all you multiplayer people out there, the tag matches kick ass. its fun to play others when you and yoyur partner have just worked out a strategy and are kicking the other kids sorry butts. everytime you do a counter move and it just turned the tide of the match so that you won, ya just gotta let out that WOOOOOOOHOOOOOO I kicked UR ASSSSS!!!!! and it makes you wanna play again and again.
Characters
i needed to add this, they let you unlock a few characters sure, but to make this really ultimate, the characters from DOA 3 should have been in here too. that would have made this really good. that is a nother downside
overall this is a most wonderful addition for the DOA universe