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Review

Dead or Alive Dimensions (3DS) Review

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It’s interesting how in the past month I’ve had a lot more playtime on my 3DS with fighting games than I ever did with my original DS. With such a great launch title, Super Street Fighter IV, and not a whole lot else following that, a lot of gamers have been hungry for more games to tide us over until the bigger releases come by. Steel Diver was great but didn’t offer much bang for your buck, and Puzzle Bobble Universe really failed to deliver. So, following countless unexplained delays, we finally have DEAD OR ALIVE: Dimensions for our 3DS. Does the 3DS really need another fighter so soon? Read on to find out.

Dead Or Alive Dimensions has been released to commemorate the fifteenth anniversary of the franchise, specifically drawing in all of the best elements of the series to create the “perfect” package that not only is filled with fan service for fans of the series but also to create the perfect product for those looking to get into the series. The game covers the story of all four Dead Or Alive titles, with specific emphasis on showing a few moments in the storyline that were previously never seen before. The general idea behind these games is that a large corporation, DOATEC, are trying to create the perfect human based weapons through various means including clones. Many people attend and participated in the Dead Or Alive tournaments usually as a means to their own ends, but typically this is the goal of DOATEC too.

It’s hard to properly explain the story of all the games in one succinct paragraph, but for the most part the narrative is interesting but also particularly cliché. You’ll find evil clones, resurrected long lost brothers/sisters and of course revelations that a certain character is related to another character. And for some reason everyone wants to slap everyone at any given time. It’s all very melodramatic, and, dare I say it, “Japanese”.

The story manages to check every box in the cliché box but it’s still a great way to push along the main crux of this game – the Chronicles mode, more on that later though. The characters in particular are likeable and believable enough, although sometimes you really do wonder whether these characters are schizophrenic or not with their constant shifts in motives and personalities. The terrible characterisation of the some of the cultural minority characters will also make you cringe uncontrollably during some scenes.

Graphically speaking, Dead or Alive has always been a very clean looking series with almost perfect porcelain doll looking characters and rich, vibrant environments. Dead or Alive Dimensions, however, doesn’t fully live up to its predecessors, but it’s still a great looking game. Character models are particularly well modelled (with extra detail given to characters’ breasts – a good or a bad thing depending on what you’re into) although the texture work on clothing and such is sometimes blurry and it looks strange to see such low detailed clothes on a good looking model.

Animations are fluid and they all mesh well together when certain characters counter certain moves. Backgrounds look great and feel alive, with most levels having quite a bit of activity being carried out while the players fight, something different to the previously released Super Street Fighter IV. There is particular aliasing though, with some really sharp and rough looking edges on some of the characters. Also, some of the physics on clothing and jewellery sometimes doesn’t react properly and it doesn’t look as realistic as it has been in previous games.

In terms of the 3D effect, Dead or Alive Dimensions doesn’t throw so many 3D effects at you but the effect is noticeable. Unfortunately, the game runs at a rather low framerate when the 3D is turned on, however turning it down gets the game running at a silky smooth 60fps. For a game so fast, we commonly turned off the effect for battles, and it’s nice that it works in real time rather than having to go to the menu to manually turn it on. Many of the effects are properly utilised and seen in the Chronicles mode’s cinematics, where shurikens and kicks will appear to be coming right at the player, including during some winning poses post match. During actual battles, though, it’s just easier to keep it off. Since the cinematics themselves run at a slower framerate too, there’s really nothing to lose when turning the 3D on during cinematics. But, if we haven’t made it clear, the 3D is great when you’re watching cinematics, while the actual gameplay is better suited to 2D.

Dead or Alive’s fighting system is built around the “triangle” system. Each kind of attack is effective against another kind, while at the same time each kind has its own “weakness” too. Imagine rock-paper-scissors. Strikes are punches and kicks, and these correspond to two buttons, one for each. Strikes are effective against throws, and throws are effective against holds. Holds are a kind of counter, and are effective against strikes. This four button system is particularly simple and this is probably one of the best things about Dead or Alive, it’s extremely simple and easy to get in to. The crux of the game is both countering and chaining together combos, and doing both feels quite good. That being said, touch screen controls allows the player to pull off complex combos with the touch of a screen but it’s quite limited feeling and you’ll probably prefer to mimic the moves yourself instead.

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Unfortunately, players who are a little bit more advanced or prefer something deep may find little to satisfy them, with most of the game amounting to countless dial-a-combos. Still, the game itself is incredibly fast paced and fun because of the simple control scheme and it’s definitely one of those games that almost anyone can get into, whereas a game like Street Fighter takes a while to master.

The Chronicles mode is definitely the main attraction here, although veterans of the series may pick out particular problems with it. Chronicles mode takes the player through the story of all the games, revealing a few unseen plot points in the process, but most of the cutscenes are unfortunately just picked up straight from other games and thrown in to Dimensions. It’s a nice touch that they’re all in order chronologically so players can understand the full story, but sometimes it does feel a little cheap.

There are also random fights with characters that had nothing to do with the previous scene, so the whole thing feels like a little bit of a mess narratively. Still, it’s a nice re-tread of the story and definitely will appeal to both new and old fans alike, particularly since it teaches the player the mechanics of the game, as well as offering helpful box-outs to explain not only certain storylines that may have been missed on the bottom screen, but also to explain more complex words for younger players. It’s both informative and a bit condescending at times, but it’s definitely appreciated with a convoluted yet clichéd story like this one.

The game itself features heaps of modes to get through, including an arcade mode, a survival mode, a tag team mode and of course, a photography mode. Most of these modes are well implemented, but the one that is sure to cause the most controversy is the tag mode. Playable either online or offline, players looking to tackle the Tag Challenge mode offline will have to share the control with a computer controlled character – literally. To tag in, the player who isn’t playing must tag in, the human character actually has no control over the second character. This does sound bad on paper, but fortunately the CPU isn’t too much of a control freak and if the player is tagged out, they can instantly tag themselves back in. Still, a mode where we could control both characters would be nice. Online functionality is included and unfortunately it’s a bit of a ’hit and miss’. There were times when it worked great, but sometimes the framerate just dropped abysmally. Interestingly, turning the 3D down to get the fuller framerate also works online too. Generally though, it’s good but not better than Street Fighter IV.

In terms of unlockables, Dead or Alive Dimensions has quite a few although some of them are great and some are just plain awful. Only about eight characters are available from the get go, and this is a huge pet peeve of mine with fighting games. To unlock them, the player must complete Chronicles mode and unlock them along the way. This isn’t a huge problem overall, since Chronicles mode won’t take any longer than three or four hours to complete, but it’s still a bit of an annoyance. There are literally hundreds of figurines to collect too, which can be photographed in 3D and placed in a diorama-esque setting, but the photos cannot be exported to the SD card, as they are encrypted. Finally, the player has the ability to unlock costumes too, with each character having between one to two extra costumes to unlock, all of which are unique and interesting looking.

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StreetPass and SpotPass functionality is included, where figures and the likes can be unlocked by passing other 3DSes that have played the same game. SpotPass is also used in an interesting way, downloading free costumes to the console as well as ghosts of the developers playing. These battles are particularly challenging and a nice use of the SpotPass feature. Unfortunately, there’s no download play available, so everyone who wants to play locally will have to invest in the game first.

Finally, the game features fully voiced cutscenes and battles, with this being one of the only games in the series to properly use English voice acting rather than Japanese. The voicework is fairly competent though some of the forced accents and really terrible inaccurate stereotypes will grate some people’s nerves. A fully Japanese voice track is also featured, though fans will notice that many of the characters have been confusingly recasted and don’t sound the same either. Finally, the music is up tempo and very suitable for most of the game’s cutscenes, though sometimes we wish that Aerosmith, who were featured in every other game were still here during some of the memorable DOA3 and DOA4 scenes in Dimensions. Still, you can’t win them all.

All in all, Dead or Alive Dimensions is a competent fighter that manages to fill the gaps that Super Street Fighter IV managed to leave behind on the Nintendo 3DS. Still, it’s not without its flaws and it does feel a little bit more rushed than it could’ve been with a bit more polish, which is odd since it was delayed quite a bit before it came out. Still, the package offered in Dimensions is definitely one that’s more accessible than other fighters available on the system. If you like the genre, I cannot hesitate to recommend it. If you want to get into the genre, this is a great place to start (heck, it’s where I started all those years ago). But if you’re not into the genre at all, this probably won’t appeal to you and the somewhat creepy/awkward obvious focus on the girls might put you off completely.

Graphics 8.0

A lot of work has gone into the models, but some of the texture work is quite shoddy. Framerate is great when the 3D is turned off, but the framerate during both 3D and online can be a bit disappointing.

Gameplay 8.0

A simplistic four button system makes Dead or Alive Dimensions a great fighter for any player of any level of experience. Learning the “Hold” counter system is fun, though the long winding combos may put many players off.

Sound 7.5

A good combination of techno and melodramatic music adds weight to fight scenes as well as some of the more emotional story sequences. Voice work is hardly bearable due to the awful forced accents, but a Japanese voice track may save this for some.

Tilt 8.5

Chronicles mode is a nice romp through the Dead or Alive story, but incredibly short at 3-4 hours, and most of it is rehashed from previous games. Plenty of online and offline modes means this package feels quite substantial, especially with a 25 character roster and so many different figures to collect.

Value 8.0

Dead or Alive Dimensions reminded me of the series that sparked my interest in fighting games, having played nothing since 2005s Dead or Alive 4. Still, the lack of proper true new content was a bit of a letdown.

Overall

Dead or Alive Dimensions is a very competent but simple fighter that is sure to appeal to anyone of all ages, but its important to consider just what you want out of a fighter before diving in. Still, its hard to imagine anyone who likes the genre not liking this entry, as I have no problems recommending it.

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About The Author
James Mitchell
Avid gamer since I was as young as three years old when I received my first NES. Currently studying full time and consider myself a balanced gamer. Enjoy games on all systems, from all genres, on all platforms. Sometimes feels like he's too optimistic for this industry.

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