If you’re still rocking a PS3 and are a fan of the Dead or Alive series then you’ll probably be quite pleased with this latest bit of news.
Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore has recently been rated by the ESRB, indicating a re-release on Sony’s PlayStation 3 home console.
The ESRB rating makes note that the game features violence and suggestive themes, both of which are a staple of the series and the man reason fans of the franchise flock towards every new release.
For those not in the know, Dead or Alive 2 started out life on the humble arcade machines that we used to feed our pocket money into before it got ported to the SEGA Dreamcast and PS2.
Dead or Alive 2 then went on to be ported for Microsoft’s first foray into the console market, the original Xbox.
After the initial release of Dead or Alive 2 Team Ninja weren’t quite satisfied with the final product so they continued work on the boob-laden brawler and re-released it as Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore in the developers native Japan. Some of the improvements have been listed below, though whether each and every one of them makes it into the final PS3 version remains to be seen and there’s the possibility that there are further improvements for the PS3 re-release.
- Characters, pictures and moves 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.
Did you ever play Dead or Alive 2 back in the day? Would you be willing to part ways with your hard earned cash for a PS3 version? Let us know down in the comments section below.
via ESRB
