DoA comes to the Nintendo portable arena.
Developer: Team Ninja
Publisher: Tecmo KOEI
Release Date: May 24, 2011
Score: 4.5 / 5
After playing all the other Dead or Alive titles, I was thrilled to see it take on a new life with the Nintendo 3DS.
Dead or Alive Dimensions has so many cool features, it’s hard to prioritize; we’ll start with the basic game interface. The game uses the accelerometer in the menus giving you the ability to tilt, turn, and twist the 3DS to view the stages at different angles, which is an interesting feature. The options menu gives you a few different options to play with. You have an “Audio” option, which only allows you to adjust the system voice; as you play through the game, you are able to unlock different character system voices. You also have a “Language” option, which is great for me. All the other Dead or Alive titles I’ve played have had Japanese voices with English subtitles, which should be the default in my opinion; however, the default for DoA Dimensions is English voices.
There is a “Controls” option, which allows you to choose between two different preset configurations, or create your own custom control type. You are also able to create a nickname to be used with online play. You will definitely want to adjust the network settings to have the best game experience, as you will unlock different character costumes every day you turn the game on. Adjusting these settings will also allow you to receive challenges from online players. The final option is “Delete Save Data”; I don’t think an explanation on what this does is needed.
The game offers several different game modes for you to play through, the first of which is a “Chronicle” story mode. Playing through this gives you a little bit of back story for a few key characters, and also unlocks a lot of other playable characters (there are a bunch, fair warning). I was looking forward to the story mode, but was left wanting more. You only play through as a few different characters with play tips, and the story mode was really short. I would have liked to see different story lines for each main character, or at least more of a story line.
Another game mode is the “Arcade” mode. Pretty self explanatory, though it is different from most. You start off in Course 1 with a difficulty level of easy. As you complete courses, new ones are unlocked, increasing in difficulty as you go. Complete all six courses to unlock a new fighting stage. There is a “Survival” mode with different stages as well; you start out fighting ten opponents, and the difficulty and number of enemies as you complete them. Be ready for a long and frustrating battle on the very last course. New to DoA is the “Tag Challenge”. Here you are able to team up with one other character (played only by the computer, which is disappointing) and complete different missions. Completing each mission increases the difficulty level of the next mission and also unlocks the different system voices. Beating this will unlock the final two playable characters.
If none of these modes catch your eye then you can always choose “Free Play.” Here you are given the chance to adjust the fight options such as the difficulty level, the number of rounds, round time, and how much life each fighter has. After setting the fight options you are able to select your favorite fighter, costume, your opponent and opponent costume, and finally the stage on which to fight. If it’s been a while since you’ve played a DoA title, or if this is your first time, you can always go to “Training” and brush up on your skills against the computer. What’s that, little Jimmy? You want to have your butt kicked? Then invite your friend over with their 3DS and Dimensions game and engage in a “Local Play” battle. I find this game mode very cool but, alas, I have no one to play with. Fortunately, the “Internet Play” mode allows you to find opponents across the internet, in case little Jimmy is grounded and can’t come over. Also utilizing the Internet is the “Throwdown” mode, which allows you to take on fighters you’ve fought before using StreetPass.
You are also able to view the figurines you’ve unlocked throughout your play in the “Showcase” mode. You are able to change the background behind the character and, using the built-in accelerometer, angle, zoom, and take a 3D photo of all your favorite characters. As you play through the game, you unlock different poses for each figurine, so do not fret over having the same pose for all your favorite characters. You can view all the photos you’ve taken in the “3D Photo Album” mode. The final mode is the “Fight Record” which allows you to view your stats and records saved throughout your game play.
My final analysis of the game is: it’s great! Aside from having a short story mode and not allowing you to play the second character in the “Tag Challenge” mode, I don’t have a real reason for people to not buy this game. Dead or Alive lives on!
Thanks to Tecmo KOEI for providing us a copy of the game!
