Dead or Alive 2
 

 
STORY:  A great leader was killed at the end of the 20th century. His name was Fame Douglas, and he was renowned as the sponsor of the legendary Dead or Alive World Combat Championship. Since his death, and in the absence of his charisma and leadership, the world has become chaotic. Yet something appears to be transpiring. Amid this chaos, it is announced that the "Dead or Alive Championship 2" will be held. However, Douglas's passing has taken with it the purpose and significance of the tournament. Even worse, the promoter of "Dead or Alive Championship 2", who is fond of conflicts and jealous of the string, is responsible for Douglas's death. The new promoter is more than a corrupt mastermind, but a man of pure evil. His involvement in the tournament has brought a sense of terror to the world, resulting in the infamous Tengu disaster that occurred at the end of the 20th century. The climax of the disaster is about to begin with a roaring battle.
 
 

   
REVIEW:  Dead or Alive 2 was originally released on October 19th, 1999 in Japan arcades, running on Sega's NAOMI arcade system. The arcade version features 12 playable characters, with Story Mode and Time Attack available. Survival mode and Tag Battle can also be unlocked with a code using the arcade version's service menu. An update to the arcade version entitled DOA2: Millennium was later released in January 2000, making Survival and Tag mode available from the start and adding new school uniforms for Kasumi and Ayane. This would be the last arcade installment of DOA until the release of DOA5: Ultimate, thirteen years later.


Tecmo and Team Ninja's second installment to DOA brings forward an innovative step in the 3D fighting genre (one that would later become one of the defining aspects of the series) - "Multi-tiered" stages. Arguably the main draw of DOA2 is the fact that the fighters have the ability to knock each other off of high areas / platforms, or slam their opponent straight through a guardrail or wall, only to continue fighting on a lower level. Although it's completely unrealistic for a human to survive such a fall and continue fighting like nothing happened, the focus on stage interaction and multi-tiered stages distinguishes DOA2's gameplay, offering flash and excitement that other fighting games don't have. From smooth character models to impressively detailed backgrounds, DOA2's polished graphics engine also provides plenty of next-gen eye candy. And yes, the humorously and impressively overly-exaggerated "bouncy boobs" effect has returned from the first game. One can't say it's not entertaining. I can respect a healthy looking female! Nothing wrong with that.
   

  
Team Ninja fleshed out DOA's character designs visually and evolved their original movesets quite a lot from the original game. The console version of DOA2 adds Story Mode into the mix, which can be summed up as a handful of short (and sometimes awkward) cutscenes. While the DOA cast is certainly a "shiny" group of people, their personalities still leave much to be desired. To put it bluntly, the girls of DOA seem to be more interested in showing off their hot bods and sexy outfits than fighting. (Was this game designed by men with one-tracked minds? Probably.) |
 
 
All of the fighters of DOA have fairly nicely-animated fighting styles and movesets with depth. DOA2's roster only comes up slightly short when compared to some other 3D fighters out there. In my personal opinion, TEKKEN Tag Tournament's character variety and movesets keep me entertained and playing for longer (many years longer) and if I had to choose... well, I'd stay with TEKKEN. However, I can enjoy both games as an experienced 3D fighting game player. It's not hard! Just learn how to sidestep. A small annoyance for me? Several of the featured martial arts styles of DOA2 aren't represented as well as they could be (and many fan-favorite martial arts styles are sorely missing from the series all together).
  

  
DOA2's gameplay in general is respectively solid, whether you're comparing it to other 3D fighting games or good ol' classic 2D fighting games. The in-game action also flows noticeably smoothly (perhaps even a little too smoothly at times), offering a very unique and eye-catching visual experience. Returning from DOA1, the famed Counter System has returned — providing a surefire way to counter a kick or punch with a flashy reversal attack. It only requires a basic fundamental level of timing, so even a novice player should be able to pull off Counter techniques with ease. On that note, from a competitive standpoint I'd say the counter system is a bit overly easy. There are High Counters and Low Counters, so if you're not attacking or throwing, you're probably countering your opponents attacks! There are just too many moves that are easily countered, so it makes for a frustrating and eventually repetitive gameplay experience... but if you're into it, enjoy it for what it is!
 
 
I played quite a bit of DOA2... and I'd go as far as to say DOA2 almost teaches poor 3D fighting game fundamentals, simply because counters in most other 3D (and 2D) fighting games require more precise inputs and timing — perhaps coming off as "too difficult" for players only familiar with DOA mechanics. Counters are easy in DOA, simply put. The Counter techniques themselves do look pretty cool however, especially since each character has his or her own unique hard-hitting throw or counter-strike techniques. There are also some cool combo possibilities in DOA2, but when counters can be used at any time and so frequently, the actual gameplay becomes a bit monotonous and overly dependant on countering... in my experience, anyway.
 

  
In the Dreamcast version of DOA2 (released Feb. 29th, 2000), players can fight 1-on-1 via Story Mode or try out the entertaining Tag Battle Mode which allows for 2-on-2 tag team fighting (enabling some ultra cool tag team throws). The Dreamcast version also introduces Team Battle, Sparring, and also features a surprisingly addicting Survival Mode. About a month later, DOA2 was released on March 30th, 2000 as a launch title for PlayStation 2 in Japan. The Japanese PS2 version adds 3 new stages (Crimson, Koku An and Prairie) along with some new unlockable costumes. Unfortunately, the PS2 version was inferior to the Dreamcast version due to lower resolution, more aliasing, and bugs / freezing issues within Versus mode. DOA2 was eventually succeeded by the sequel, DOA2: Hardcore.
  

Page Updated: July 17th, 2025 Developer(s): Team Ninja Publisher(s): Tecmo Designer(s): Tomonobu Itagaki Platform(s): Arcade, Dreamcast, PS2  (As DOA2 - Hardcore) Release Date(s): Oct. 19th, 1999           Arcade January 2000               Arcade - DOA2: Millennium update Feb. 29th, 2000           Dreamcast Mar. 30th, 2000            PS2 July 14th, 2000            Dreamcast Sept. 28th, 2000           Dreamcast Characters:  Kasumi, Ayane, Ein, Leon, Lei Fang, Tina Armstrong, Bass Armstrong, Zack, Hayabusa, Helena, Gen Fu, Jann Lee, Tengu Featured Video: Related Games: Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore, Dead or Alive, Dead or Alive 3, Dead or Alive 4, Dead or Alive 5, Dead or Alive 5: Ultimate, Dead or Alive: Dimensions, Dead or Alive 6, Last Bronx, Virtua Fighter 3, Soul Calibur, Soul Calibur 2, TEKKEN Tag Tournament, TEKKEN 4    Gameplay Engine  8.0 / 10 Story / Theme  6.0 / 10 Overall Graphics  9.5 / 10 Animation  9.5 / 10 Music / Sound Effects  7.0 / 10 Innovation  8.0 / 10 Art Direction  7.0 / 10 Customization  7.0 / 10 Options / Extras  6.5 / 10 Intro / Presentation  8.0 / 10 Replayability / Fun  8.0 / 10 "Ouch" Factor  9.0 / 10 Characters  7.0 / 10 BOTTOM LINE  8.3 / 10  Review based on Dreamcast version       Final Words: I played the original DOA1 at arcades for only a short while, but I unexpectedly fell in love with the Dreamcast version of DOA2. (I originally rented the game and quickly decided I needed to add this one to my permanent Dreamcast fighting game collection.)   1999-2000 was good times for us 3D fighting game lovers. DOA2's Survival mode in particular was a really fun single-player experience (especially when you got really good with a character and could destroy the AI competition). Also, this game's tag-team throws never seem to get old! While Dead or Alive 2 wasn't the most technically sound fighting game out there in 1999-2000, it was one of the better ones... and definitely a unique and an entertaining next-gen 3D fighter for its heyday. The counter and combo system offered intuitive gameplay that any 3D fighting game player can easily get into. The cool stage designs in particular were one of the most defining aspects of the game, in my eyes. Overlooking some of the unrefined and annoying gameplay / balance quirks, DOA2's animation quality was top stuff for the time... especially the stage transitions and collision animations that bring the always-appreciated ouch factor. The variety of cool tag-team throws are also quite satisfying to discover, which vary depending on your specific team of characters. A cool level of detail that makes the roster feel whole! I remember trying to get some of my TEKKEN and SoulCalibur friends into DOA2 on the Dreamcast — and we had fun playing it for a while (although our local arcade didn't have the game). While DOA2 has its strengths, the somewhat small character roster feels a bit lonely. Also, the overall "weird" artistic vibe and soft aesthetic of the game lead to my eventual boredom with the title. If the dev-team put more emphasis on authentic martial arts and more likeable (male and female) character designs, DOA2 might've retained my interest for a much longer period of time. At the end of the day, DOA2 is a fun and accessible 3D fighter for its time — and probably one of the coolest singular installments of the series. DOA2: Hardcore was a nice surprise and decent upgrade to the title, as well. ~TFG Webmaster | @Fighters_Gen        Click Here for all Background Artwork!   Click Here for all Box Artwork! Click Here for all Screenshots! FOLLOW    ON:                             TFG NEWS CHARACTERS GAMES