Dead or Alive (video game)
| Dead or Alive | |
|---|---|
 European arcade flyer | |
| Developer(s) | Team Ninja |
| Publisher(s) | Tecmo |
| Director(s) | Tomonobu Itagaki Katsunori Ehara Takeshi Kawaguchi |
| Producer(s) | Tomonobu Itagaki Yujin Rikimaru Yutaka Koga |
| Designer(s) | Motohiro Shiga |
| Artist(s) | Hideyuki Kato Shinichiro Komori Yasushi Nakakura |
| Writer(s) | "ASAMIN" |
| Composer(s) | Makoto Hosoi |
| Series | Dead or Alive |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Sega Saturn, PlayStation |
| Release date(s) | Arcade 1996 Sega Saturn
|
| Genre(s) | Fighting game |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players simultaneously |
| Cabinet | Upright |
| Arcade system | Sega Model 2 |
| Display | Raster, 496 x 384 pixels (Horizontal), 8192 colors |
Dead or Alive (Japanese: デッドオアアライブ Hepburn: Deddo Oa Araibu) is a 1996 fighting game by Tecmo and the first entry in Team Ninja's long-running Dead or Alive series. It was released first in arcades, followed by home ports for Sega Saturn (Japan only) and Sony PlayStation (all regions) in 1998.
Gameplay
The gameplay of Dead or Alive was unique at the time of its debut because it featured different choices in gameplay than other 3D fighting games (at least at the time).
Its most defining features were its speed and countering system. Dead or Alive put an emphasis on speed, and relied more on simplistic commands and reaction time. Furthermore, its countering system was the first in the fighting genre to utilize different commands that corresponded to each type of attack. There are two kinds of holds, an Offensive Hold (OH) and a Defensive Hold (DH). The latter are executed by holding back or forward on the directional pad along with the guard input to either force away or counter-damage an opponent.
The game also introduced an environmental system of the "Danger Zones" that surround the outer edges of the fighting arena (depending on the options, it can also completely consume it) and can send a character in the air so the opposing player can execute a juggling air combo. However, this can be avoided with a Ukemi (defensive roll).
Characters
The game's playable characters are Ayane (PlayStation version only, Kasumi's half-sister), Bass Armstrong (PlayStation version only, Tina's father), Bayman, Gen Fu, Jann Lee, Kasumi, Leifang, Raidou (boss character, unlockable, Ayane's father), Ryu Hayabusa, Tina Armstrong, and Zack.
Development
According to Tomonobu Itagaki, he was dissatisfied with the way modern fighting games were presented at the time, he missed the old arcade style of play and had another vision for the fighting game genre. Having worked for Tecmo for a long time, Itagaki was eventually given the opportunity to develop a fighting game. The game, the first Dead or Alive, was released in 1996 as an arcade game for the Japanese market. It had been a success in Japan, but not in the West.
The original game, which ran on the Sega Model 2 arcade board, had polygonal modeled backgrounds. The Sega Saturn conversion uses bitmaps and parallax scrolling in the same fashion as the Saturn version of Virtua Fighter 2.
Release
The original version of Dead or Alive was released in arcades in 1996, utilizing Sega's Model 2 arcade board[1] (it was also the first time Sega licensed their hardware to a third-party company; in this case, Tecmo). It was later ported to the Sega Saturn in Japan on October 9, 1997. The game was never released for the North American nor European Sega Saturn consoles. It was released in the United States and Europe for the Xbox on October 26, 2004, and February 18, 2005, as part of Dead or Alive Ultimate.
On March 12, 1998, Tecmo released Dead or Alive for the PlayStation in Japan. This version included two new characters (Bass and Ayane), a different graphics engine, a slightly revamped fighting engine and new background music (BGM). The PlayStation version was released in North America on March 31, 1998, and later in Europe on July 1998.
Tecmo also released Dead or Alive++ for the arcades in Japan. This version was based on the PlayStation version with an even slight updated gameplay that later expanded for the sequel, Dead or Alive 2.
Reception
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Dead or Alive was met with a positive reception. In 2011, Complex ranked it as the seventh best fighting game of all time.[10]
Remake
In 2004, Tecmo released Dead or Alive Ultimate, a revamped version of the Sega Saturn version on the Xbox along with an updated version of Dead or Alive 2 in the same package. It was basically the original game ported to the Xbox, making graphics smoother, sound from stereo to surround, and adding Xbox Live online gaming. This game along with Dead or Alive 2, Ultimate became the second fighting game with online play.
References
- ↑ "The History of Dead or Alive". IGN. 02-08-2004. Retrieved 2007-10-08. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ↑ "Dead or Alive for PlayStation". GameRankings. 1998-03-31. Retrieved 2013-12-22.
- ↑ "Dead or Alive for Saturn". GameRankings. 1997-09-10. Retrieved 2013-12-22.
- ↑ "Dead or Alive for PlayStation Reviews". Metacritic. 1998-03-31. Retrieved 2013-12-22.
- ↑ MacDonald, Ryan. "Dead or Alive Review". GameSpot. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
- ↑ Jeff Gerstmann (2013-10-10). "Dead or Alive (1997) Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2013-12-22.
- ↑ "Dead or Alive - IGN". Uk.ign.com. 1998-03-27. Retrieved 2013-12-22.
- ↑ House, Michael L. "Dead or Alive - Review". Allgame. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
- ↑ "The Video Game Critic's Playstation Reviews". videogamecritic.net. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
- ↑ Peter Rubin, The 50 Best Fighting Games of All Time, Complex.com, March 15, 2011
External links
- Tecmo page: Saturn, PlayStation
- Dead or Alive at the Killer List of Videogames
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