[Review] Dead or Alive: Dimensions

[Spring*]

• Dead or Alive: Dimensions' cast of impossibly proportioned females makes it all too easy to dismiss it as a form of mere titillation, rather than a serious fighting game. Yet underneath its busty exterior lie fast-paced 3D battles that eschew complex button combinations in favour of agile reversals and counterattacks. It's a battle system that's easy to pick up, and offers plenty of depth. There are a host of exciting new modes to play through too, all of which are wrapped up in great-looking visuals that take advantage of the 3DS's powerful hardware. While Dimensions is sullied by a story mode that’s more difficult to penetrate than a copy of War and Peace, and online play that's mired in lag, there's fun to be had in this slick and exciting fighting game.

• More tactical options are available by making use of Dimensions' many multilevel arenas, which are set across a range of beautiful-looking environments. Whether you're fighting in a blossom-filled garden, on a snowy mountaintop, or in the fiery depths of hell, you're treated to some impressively detailed visuals. Towards the edges of most arenas you can knock your opponents off using a well-timed combo, causing them to fall gracelessly to another beautiful area of the level and lose health. This, coupled with Dimensions' swift combos, reversals, and the ability to juggle your opponents in the air, results in a refined battle system that's fast and fluid and has tactical depth. 

• 3D or not, Dimensions is a great-looking fighting game with heaps of content to explore. Its fighting system offers a unique and more accessible alternative to that of Super Street Fighter IV, while still giving advanced players plenty to dig into. Its limited online play and impenetrable story might deter those after a more complete fighting experience, but executing well-timed combos and knocking opponents off ledges to their doom is so much fun in Dead or Alive: Dimensions that you'll be too busy throwing punches to care..

• Once you've completed Chronicle mode, there's still lots of content to play. Arcade mode is split into six different courses, starting on the easiest difficulty and moving up to the most challenging. Your goal is to complete them in the fastest time possible, setting an offline record for others to beat. Survival mode is similarly split up into rounds of increasing difficulty, along with an increasing number of fights to play through. These start at 10 fights moving all the way up to an epic 100 fights on True Fighter difficulty, which is a real test of your endurance and skill..