Dead or Alive Ultimate

A parade of bouncing breasts this way comes, and for Xbox aficionados, it can mean only one thing: Team Ninja��s Dead or Alive has returned for yet another round of hand-to-mammary combat. Tecmo has packed together a graphical remix of Dead or Alive 2 and the original game in the series and has done just as the title suggests, finally putting the buxom fight online for the first time. And while Dead or Alive Ultimate boasts the dramatic flair of its predecessors, it regrettably inherits all of their faults as well.

While the inclusion of the original Sega Saturn version of Dead or Alive provides perfunctory nostalgia value, the real meat comes in the form of an updated Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore. The game is most successful in doing what the series has always done best; graphically superior to even Tecmo��s own Dead or Alive 3, Ultimate is yet another technical showpiece for Xbox. Lush, interactive backgrounds steal the thunder this time around, providing an impressive variety of scenic backdrops to fight against. Stages have become even more interactive, adding to an element all but absent from other fighting games��the notion of exploration as players run amok through large, multitiered levels, beating the virtual tar out of one another. It��s yet another small step closer to the beat-em-up, drag-em-out ideal first hinted at in the original Sega Dreamcast version.

Gameplay will also be familiar to anyone who has encountered an Alive game in the past five years. While it��s certainly solid, it remains a far cry from that of the reigning champions��Soul Calibur 2, Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution, and the indomitable Street Fighter series. All of the pieces of the puzzle are in place: a large repertoire of moves, a decent number of characters (though fewer than expected), and plenty of action. But the gameplay simply lacks the depth seen in the aforementioned titles, sacrificing grace and refinement for in-your-face attitude. Matches simply fly forward with reckless abandon, too often disintegrating into dreaded button-mashing rather than being the elegant, strategic ballets of violence the genre aspires to.

The fighting genre has long been a particularly apt candidate for online competition, but it has been stifled due to a single ever-present technical challenge��lag. The persistence of lag in the world of online play has always been most problematic for fighting games, which rely heavily on an immediate, precise connection between controller input and character response. The best fighting games are tuned to the millisecond for balance and control and would be all but ruined by sudden miscues caused by lag. Xbox Live��s dedicated servers would seem to be the most viable forum for overcoming this hurdle; sadly, in Xbox Nation��s experience playing the game online, not even Xbox Live��s dedicated servers are solid enough to eliminate lag from the equation.

All play modes are available online and should please those looking to bring the Alive experience onto Xbox Live��provided the connection is a good one. Aside from a few minor innovations, however, these modes are remarkably unadventurous. After the excellent Ninja Gaiden, more is expected from Team Ninja; Ultimate is an above-average brawler and can certainly provide entertainment when consumed in short spurts, but it simply lacks the sophistication to become a contender for the fighting-game throne.

Oh, and the breasts? They jiggle a lot.

PUBLISHER: Tecmo // DEVELOPER: Team Ninja // PLAYERS: 1-8 // LIVE: Yes // MSRP: $49.99 // ESRB: M

07 OUT OF TEN

Watch Mode

While only two players can do battle in Dead or Alive Ultimate simultaneously, the game attempts to replicate the arcade experience by giving the odd man out a ��watch mode,�� whereby he can watch the match currently taking place, controlling the camera in the process. As the game supports up to eight players in its online play modes (tournament, kumite, survival, winner stays, etc.), the ability to watch other people duking it out and even give commentary via a Communicator headset is a very welcome addition.

Copyright © 2005 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Xbox Nation.