Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore

DOA2: Hardcore
North American cover art
Developer(s)	Team Ninja
Publisher(s)	Tecmo
Director(s)	Tomonobu Itagaki
Producer(s)	Tomonobu Itagaki Yasushi Maeda
Designer(s)	Hiroaki Matsui Katsunori Ehara
Programmer(s)	Takeshi Kawaguchi Hiroaki Ozawa
Composer(s)	Makoto Hosoi
Series	Dead or Alive
Platforms	PlayStation 2, PlayStation Network
Release date(s)	PlayStation 2 NA: October 25, 2000 (DOA2: Hardcore) JPN: December 14, 2000 (DOA2: Hard*Core) EUR: December 15, 2000 (DOA2: Dead or Alive 2) PlayStation Network JPN: August 22, 2012 NA: March 24, 2015
Genre(s)	Fighting game
Mode(s)	Up to 4 players simultaneously

Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore (Japanese: デッドオアアライブ2, Hepburn: Deddo Oa Araibu 2: Hādokoa, abbreviated as DOA2: Hardcore), known in Europe as DOA2: Dead or Alive 2, is an expanded version of the fighting game Dead or Alive 2, developed by Team Ninja and published by Tecmo in 2000 as a launch title for the PlayStation 2 in North America. DOA2: Hardcore includes extra stages and costumes over the original Dreamcast version of DOA2. It is also notable for being the first game in the Dead or Alive series to feature dubbed American English voice acting in addition to the Japanese voice acting from the original Dreamcast version, and was the only game in the series to do so until the release of Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 in 2006. DOA2: Hardcore is also the last game in the series to be released on a PlayStation home console until the release of Dead or Alive 5 in 2012, as the franchise would be exclusive to the Xbox brand of consoles from DOA3 onwards until the departure of series creator Tomonobu Itagaki in 2008.

A further expanded version, titled Dead or Alive 2: Hard*Core, was released exclusively in Japan.

Gameplay

See also: Dead or Alive 2 § Gameplay

The gameplay is unchanged from the Dreamcast version of Dead or Alive 2, however the Japanese Hard*Core version of the game features an additional turbo mode, similar to that of numerous Capcom fighting games such as Super Street Fighter II Turbo and Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes.

Plot

Characters

See also: List of Dead or Alive characters § Introduced in Dead or Alive 2

Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore features a total of 14 playable fighters, plus the unplayable Kasumi X. Two new characters were introduced in DOA2: Hardcore, both of which are unlockable and cannot be used in story mode or in the arcade version. The ten returning characters from the first DOA game are Ayane, Bass Armstrong, Bayman (unlockable), Gen Fu, Jann Lee, Kasumi, Leifang, Ryu Hayabusa, Tina Armstrong, and Zack. The four newcomers are Ein, Helena Douglas, Leon, and Tengu (unlockable boss; previously unplayable in DOA2).

Story

See also: Dead or Alive 2 § Story

Set less than a year later after the original tournament, a tengu known as Gohyakumine Bankotsubo, or just Tengu, threatens the human world's peace and stability. Kasumi's brother Hayate, previously injured by Raidou, returns from being an unwilling subject of DOATEC's bio-weapon experiment Epsilon as "Ein". Eventually, Ryu Hayabusa (from Ninja Gaiden) defeats Tengu, winning the tournament.

Development

See also: Dead or Alive 2 § Development and release

The graphics and gameplay were enhanced and based on a better game engine than the one used in the first game, which allowed the characters and stages to appear less angular and more detailed. A popular and commonly discussed feature, one credited to Tomonobu Itagaki, was the level of graphical detail Tecmo put into the animated breasts of the female characters, as Tecmo went so far as to create a physics engine dedicated entirely to the animation of the female characters' breasts.

Dead or Alive 2 used the song "Exciter" by Bomb Factory in its opening sequence. Also used as a background track was "Deadly Silence Beach" and "Clumsy Bird". Both tracks can be found on the self-titled mini-album Bomb Factory and on the Dead or Alive 2 Soundtrack. The Japanese version uses a different Bomb Factory song for its intro, "How Do You Feel?".

Two soundtrack CDs were released in 2000 by Wake Up in Japan: Dead or Alive 2 Original Sound Trax (KWCD-1001) and Dead or Alive 2 Original Sound Trax (KWCD-1004). Several Japanese guide books for the game were published by SoftBank (Dead or Alive 2 Perfect Guide, Dead or Alive 2 Perfect Guide Dreamcast Ban, Dead or Alive 2 Hard Core Perfect Guide) and Dengeki (Dead or Alive 2 Kōshiki Kōryaku Guide, Dead or Alive 2 Kōshiki Kōryaku & Girls, Dead or Alive 2 Hard Core Kōshiki Kōryaku Guide).

Release

Tomonobu Itagaki and his team were only given two months initially to produce the first PlayStation 2 port of Dead or Alive 2, which was only released in Japan. At the end of this, one of his managers asked to borrow a copy to play, but instead sent in to a production factory. Itagaki was upset by not being able to finish the game on his own terms and fell into a depression during which he briefly considered quitting the industry.

The original Japanese PlayStation 2 version of DOA2 was heavily criticized for having graphics that were significantly inferior to the Dreamcast version of the game. The Dreamcast version was not released in Japan until September 28, 2000; as a result, the North American Dreamcast version became a popular import title in both Japan and Europe.

Itagaki and Team Ninja were still dissatisfied with the release versions of DOA2, and continued enhancing it on both the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 markets as they worked towards their vision of the ultimate fighting game. On October 25, 2000, Tecmo released a last major update titled Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore for the PlayStation 2, which was based on the Japanese and second update of DOA2 for Dreamcast, featuring new playable characters, new stages and extra costumes, and introduced the "Gallery" option.

The Hardcore release features many changes compared to its predecessor. Graphics were altered to appear more realistic, lessening the "anime" look. Some fighting animations were elaborated upon and some were cut. New stages were added (eight more than the Dreamcast update). More character outfits were added. Survival mode now only took place in the "Danger Zone" arena. Overall gameplay speed was increased. The entire game, including cut scenes, runs at a full 60 frames per second (in the Dreamcast version, the game runs at 60 frames/second, while the cut scenes ran at 30). A special "Items Collection" feature and menu section was added to appeal to video game collectors. New artworks were added compared to the first update. A CG Gallery section, featuring renders of the female characters, was added. The player history files were enhanced and now included statistics on how often the player used each character and tag battle pairing. Several special moves were added, but left undocumented. English voice-overs were added in the U.S. and European PlayStation 2 versions, in addition to the original Japanese voice-overs.

Tecmo also followed up on the release of DOA2: Hardcore in the USA and Europe with the release of DOA2: Hard*Core in Japan. This last version saw some minor updates, including new cut scenes, a few new costumes, and a new turbo speed option.

The Dreamcast version has been updated two times, first for the European market with new stages, costumes and cut scenes, and the second time for the Japanese market with a Limited Edition cover art featuring Kasumi and Ayane on the cover along with a standard cover art version with Kasumi, Ayane and Leifang on the cover. This updated Dreamcast version featured two new playable characters, two new stages, stage multipart extensions, new costumes, new cut scenes and the "Gallery" option was introduced. It was later updated with eight new stages, some new costumes and extra gallery artworks and released as Hardcore edition on the PlayStation 2. The new release extended the success of DOA2 in North America and Western Europe, and Dead or Alive became Tecmo's flagship series.

The first PlayStation 2 versions for North America, Europe and Japan were updates of the Dreamcast editions, with a few new cut scenes, costumes and stages added on each localization. Comparing the first and the last home versions of DOA2, namely the Dreamcast American edition and the Japanese Hardcore edition, there are many improvements including an enhanced gameplay and a doubled number of stages and costumes.

DOA2: Hardcore was originally planned to be ported to the Xbox video game console, for which its sequel, Dead or Alive 3 was an exclusive launch title for, but the port was scrapped due to frame rate problems (the Xbox version would have run at a potential 120 frames per second, unlike the Dreamcast and PS2 versions which ran at 60). Instead, DOA2 was later remade altogether as part of Dead or Alive Ultimate and released for the Xbox in 2004.

On August 22, 2012, a software emulated version of DOA2: Hard*Core was made available as a downloadable game on the Japanese PlayStation Network. The North American version was released to the PlayStation Network on March 24, 2015.

Reception

Reception
Review scores Publication Score AllGame Famitsu 34 / 40 Game Informer 9 / 10 GamePro 5 / 5 Game Revolution B+ GameSpot 8.9 / 10 IGN 8.7 / 10 PSM 81% Aggregate scores GameRankings 87.4% Metacritic 91%

DOA2: Hardcore was received well by critics, however the game was criticized by some for its English voice acting and inferior graphics to the original Dreamcast version of the game, as well as that of Tekken Tag Tournament, which was also a launch title for the system. The game was also criticised for its less responsive and overall inconsistent controls in comparison to the Dreamcast version. However, the game was also praised for its additional content over the Dreamcast version, as well as the Japan-only original PS2 version.

See also

• Dead or Alive Ultimate
• Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate
• Dead or Alive 5 Last Round

External links

• Official website
• Tecmo website: DOA2 Hardcore
• Dead or Alive 2 at MobyGames