Dead or Alive 4

Posted Jan 13, 2006 by TBO.com

Updated Sep 20, 2007 at 03:55 PM

System: Microsoft Xbox 360

Publisher: Tecmo

Reviewer’s rating: B

ESRB rating: Mature

Game type: Fighting

Kind of like: “Dead or Alive Ultimate”

Best feature: Bold new look!

Worst feature: Same old game.

The bottom line: In 1985, we spent countless hours putting off our homework to instead play “Yie Ar Kung Fu” (catchy name, eh?), a new fighting game for the Commodore 64 home computer. It was cool. You could punch. You could kick. You could jump off the wall, crouch under your opponent’s flying fists and deliver a roundhouse kick upside his head.

Twenty years later, surprisingly little has changed. “Dead or Alive 4” is the newest version of that game.

Yes, the graphics are better—much better, especially on a high-definition TV set.

And the gameplay, which now takes place in multi-tiered 3-D arenas, has become more sophisticated. Each character has an array of complex moves to unleash, and you can also counter by catching your opponent’s arm or leg during an attack. Computer controlled fighters are smart enough that mindless button-mashing will only get you so far.

Tougher still are human opponents. As in “Ultimate” for the “old” Xbox, you’ll find plenty of willing combatants online, where we experienced only minor lag issues.

Bells and whistles aside, though, why would anyone spend $399 for an Xbox 360 and another $60 for what’s essentially the same old game? Perhaps it’s because roughly half the “DOA” characters are attractive women whose dainty costumes can barely contain their gravity-defying bounty.