Dead or Alive (franchise)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by S&T Kawaii Love (talk | contribs) at 00:34, 5 August 2004 (→2000). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Jump to navigation Jump to search

Dead Or Alive is a videogame series from Tecmo. The story and characters are the creation of Tomonobu Itagaki and developed by a team of programmers from Tecmo called Team Ninja.

History

Itagaki was dissatisfied with the way modern games were played, he missed the old arcade style of play and had another vision for the fighting genre. He worked at game company Tecmo for a long time and was given the opportunity to make a fighting game to be called Dead or Alive.

1996

In this year the first "Dead or Alive game" was released. As an Arcade only in Japan.

1997

Dead or Alive was made into a game for the Sega Saturn and was released in the United States and Europe. It had been a success in Japan, but it more or less failed in the West. This is perhaps because of Tekken, which was already a popular fighting series for the Playstation.

1998

The Playstation version of Dead or Alive was released. It had a lot of new graphics and much was changed as the game continued to develop. Sales were brisk.

2000

The Dead Or Alive 2 game was released for the Dreamcast and Playstation 2. The promised sequel to Dead or Alive 1. The graphics where enhanced and there was a better gameplay. The game and the famous stages where not pointy anymore but more rounded and more detail for the 3Dimensional environment. Also the story had a continued sequel to the first game which was loved alot by all gaming fans. Most famous where the moving upper chests of the female characters. A very unique feature indeed and invented and made by Itagaki himself. The game became quickly very populair mainly in Japan by this.

Tecmo continued enhancements to the game because Itagaki and Team Ninja where still dissatisfied with the current game. Still working on the vision that they had of the ultimate game. Af few month later in Decembre they released "DOA2 HARD ･ CORE ' (PS2)". So there where now 2 DOA games for the playstation 2. DOA2 HARD ･ CORE being the beter and updated. This was the ultimate game that Itagaki had in his mind. It has alot of changes comparred with it's predecessor.

  • 1 All Characters, pictures and moves where somewhat changes and made more human.
  • 2 The throw into walls, and fall from cliffs effects where perfected and extended. Some where removed.
  • 3 There were more costumes added
  • 4 Survival mode now was only in the Danger zone and not also in other levels.
  • Faster Gameplay
  • A Special "Items Collection" was added for hardcore gamers, also some CG Pictures.
  • Updated Records file with character percentage and tag moves
  • Extra special moves(not mentioned in manual and game) added

It was a great success, but this time, also in North America and Western Europe. Dead Or Alive became the Tecmo flagship title.

2001

Dead or Alive became DOA and was matched with Tekken Tag Tournament. It was widely played in Japan. Tecmo meanwhile was busy thinking and and creating another sequel to Dead Or Alive 2. At That time Microsoft approached them, and there was a talk. Microsoft approached them with a deal to create the next title for their recently developed Xbox. The reason for this is that the Xbox videogame console was still in developmend at that time and Microsoft needed exclusive games for it. One of the main focusses was on the fighting genre just as the Tekken series was for the Sony Playstation. The deal was successfull and Tecmo decided to make the next game called: "Dead Or Alive 3" exclusively for the Xbox. This to frustration of Sony who also sought a deal and knew the Dead Or Alive series had great potential.

2002 The Year of Dead Or Alive 3

The deal Microsoft made with Tecmo was to create only games for the Xbox game console. This was and still is, widely criticised by DOA fans. The latest version of the game at that time "Dead Or Alive 2 Hardcore" was for the Playstation 2 so most DOA fans had this console. The main criticism was that Tecmo had been bribed by Microsoft and some concluded that Tecmo felt profit was more important than the game itself. This resulted in many DOA fans refusing to buy an Xbox from the arrogant Microsoft.

In 2002 the release of Dead or Alive 3 was announced in Japan first and later also in US and Europe. It was a great success. The game had nice graphics which where never seen before in a fighting game. Also the famous "Tecmo gameplay" with the use of the simple "Kick" "Punch" & "Hold" buttons made it so easy. The story however had nothing to do with the DOA2 game whatsoever. But some new elements, who mainly focussed on the DOATEC corporation itself, where added. Making the story evolve somewhat. Many were also surprised by the performance of the Xbox console. Another big reason for the success was that it was one of the few great titles available for the Xbox at that time. There simply where no other great titels. In contrast to the consoles of Sony and Nintendo which already had a huge collection of games.

2003 Current Development

In 2003, Team Ninja developed Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, also known as DOAX, and are now creating Dead or Alive Ultimate (DOAO) which is a remake of DOA1 and DOA2 for the Xbox. It will be made using an improved game and graphics engine. There will also be an opportunity to play online via Xbox Live making it the first online console fighting game. However, this feature will be at an added cost and it is not certain how many gamers will be willing to pay for it. Fortunately, the online option is an extra and not required for offline play.

Characters

  • Kasumi (DOA1, DOA2, DOA3 and DOAX) A runaway shinobi (ninja) in search of her lost brother Hayate.
  • Ryu Hyabusa (DOA1, DOA2, DOA3) A ninjutsu expert and good friend of Hayate, in DOA2 he comes across his lost friend and kills the Evil Tengu. He joins DOA3 to again fight evil, this time in the form of Genra, another evil being created by DOATEC.
  • Bass Armstrong (DOA1, DOA2, DOA3) A professional wrestler who wants to stop his daughter Tina from winning the DOA Tournaments.
  • Zack (DOA1, DOA2, DOA3, DOAX) An American fighter who joins the DOA Tournament for no other reason than to win big, big cash.
  • Gen Fu (DOA1, DOA2, DOA3) An old martial arts master, he fights in DOA to obtain money to cure his sick granddaughter, Mei Lin. After DOA 2 however another sum of money was needed and so he joins again in DOA3.
  • Brad Wong (DOA3) A man who joins DOA in search of a riddle from his old master Chen, who told him to "bring the legendary drink called Genra". After three years of wandering on his journey he finds himself in a fighting tournament.
  • Hitomi (DOA 3 and DOAX) A young girl who want to show her fighting skills at the tournament.
  • Tina Armstrong (DOA1, DOA2, DOA3, and DOAX) The daughter of Bass Armstrong, she wants to win the Tournament to become a famous model.
  • Bayman (DOA1, DOA2, DOA3) An extra character in DOA2 and full character in DOA 3. He is a former commando and joins the DOA 3 tournament to retaliate against Donovan for the attempt on his life by a sniper.
  • Leon (DOA1, DOA2, DOA3) Made a promise in the desert to his dead wife. She said that he was the strongest person in the world, so he joins the DOA Tournaments to fulfill her expectation.
  • Helena (DOA2, DOA3, and DOAX) The daughter of Fame Douglas, former leader of DOATEC. She joins DOA2 in search of the murderer of her mother and joins DOA3 in order to find the truth about the conspiracies within DOATEC.
  • Christie (DOA3, and DOAX) A British assassin who wants to take Helena on and keep an eye on her.
  • Jen Lee (DOA1, DOA2, DOA3) A young martial arts expert who joins the Tournaments to show his superior Jeet Kune Do fighting abilities, and in the meantime, defeat evil scum in the form of Tengu and Genra.
  • Lei Fang (DOA1, DOA2, DOA3, and DOAX) A young woman who joins the tournament to test her skills against Jan Lee.
  • Ayane (DOA1, DOA2, DOA3, and DOAX) Akunoichi with murderous motives. She takes part in DOA to take on Kasumi and find her love Hayate.
  • Hayate/Ein (DOA1, DOA2, DOA3) Kasumi's and Ayane's brother. He was captured in DOA1, after which his memory was temporarily lost. This was done with the magic and hypnotism of the Tengu during his time in the German forests. He joined DOA2 in order to find out more about himself. In DOA3 his memory is restored and he is the leader of the Mugen Tenshin Style.


Extra DOA2:

  • Tengu (DOA2) is a mythological creature from Japanese folklore. In DOA2 he wants chaos to reign over the world but is stopped. He can be played as an extra character and has some some new moves and a new outfit.

Some Criticism about Tecmo

Many fans have been annoyed with Tecmo's treatment of the series and are not happy with the amount of hype surrounding it.

Some feel Tecmo view it as one big moneymaker wanting to milk the franchise for all its worth. For a DOA collector it is now almost impossible to collect all the DOA paraphernalia. Although the graphics and gameplay are greatly improved, for a DOA fan that has bought the very first version of the game and seen the company and all the merchandise around it grow, the question is "in which direction will Tecmo go and what will come next?"

Game releases in series

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dead_or_Alive_(franchise)&oldid=5006956"