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One of the better launch PSX2 titles

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 23 / 27
Date: October 28, 2000
Author: Amazon User

DOA2:Hardcore is overall a very nicely done game. The PS2 version shines in its background graphics and the beauty of the characters, personally I prefer the lighting of this version over the DC version, but that's a more subjective view. Gameplay is simply just plain fun. The good balance of characters offers the perfect solution to the fighting style of your choice. Multiplayer gaming is great, as tag (2vs2)battle, team (3-5 vs 3-5), and vs. modes should keep at most 4 people occupied for a while.

What this game seems to fail gracefully is its single player story mode. Although we all know that there will never be a good story plot in arcade fighting games, Namco could at least put some more rewards and depth into single player challenges. To me, simply getting cosmetic changes to my characters and etc. just doesn't motivate me that much to spend my time into it. This game in its single player story mode could never be on par with DC's Soul Calibur, which offers a much richer and in depth single player gaming experience. The other single player modes of this game is interesting, but as I mentioned, the depth is just not there (sorry DOA fans).

The control of this game is very good (thanks to the PSX controller), but not great. The full analog support on the Dual Shock 2 has its ups in the ease of use with the joypad section and higher sensitivity in the buttons(which makes making combos A LOT easier), but its downs is evident in the direction pads (u will rarely get a chance to use them, except for jump, crouch, and defend) where the users have to get used to switching back and forth. Learning curve of this game's controls should be around 60~90 minutes for casual gamers and shorter for hardcore experts.

DOA2:Hardcore is a better presented game over its Japanese counterpart, as improvements in gaming is evident. This game is FUN and great to play with friends, but be forewarned, the single player experience MIGHT let you down if u have played DC's Soul Calibur. But, it should be YOU who should decide the fun value of the single player modes. This game is definitely worth your $$, and is definitely the better PS2 launch title on the market.

The Great One

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 17
Date: November 16, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I have played every fighting game ever made on every system and I am the Hardest of Hardcore and this is the best I have ever played. The graphics and the combat system, which is its heart and is unique from every other fighter in the world, make this game the great one.

If you own a PS2 and don't even like fighting games you should buy this, especially if you are a guy because the women rock!

Tekken Tag vs. DOA2

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: February 09, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game is most definately superior to Tekken Tag. Eever since the first Tekken I have been a faithful consumer. I own every Tekken game out there, but even I must say DOA:2 blows it away. The fighting style is looser and more customizable, the combos are what I'm talking about if you don't know. Graphics are much better, environment are multi-leveled and excellent looking (the electrified walls were an excellent idea, bravo man). I don't know what to say, Tekken Tag was exactly like Tekken 3, the tagging is just in and out no tag combos so it gets boring and you go back to 1 vs. 1 and leave 2 vs. 2 alone. I played Tekken Tag at my friends house and rented it before buying it, both times around i found myself complaining and bored wondering why there werent any improvements over #3 other than the graphics. At one point I even put in Tekken 3 because it plays faster. DOA:2 is amazing, fast paced, loose styles, nice characters, hot women, counters are excellent... the story mode does ... though, it may as well just be practice for 2 player (who plays a fighting game all by themselves?!). Buy it, GREAT GAME! Would have been 5 stars but I have to boo the story mode, i found reading the back of the booklet more in depth and that was a FAQ not even a story.

A miracle for fighting game fans

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: January 26, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The basic feelings with gamers is that the Playstation 2 launch games are under par for what the system can reportedly do. If Tecmo's Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore is "under par" then I hope there are a LOT of "under par" games released on the PS2 because this game is spectacular.

DOA2:H is the best alternative to Tekken Tag Tournament without resorting to buy another system (the Dreamcast) for competitors such as Soul Caliber. DOA2:H is more user friendly for people who don't fit in the religious Tekken fan following. The moves can be executed with relative ease and combos are not "set in stone". For example, most Tekken combos have precise button sequences. DOA2:H's combos can be executed by just linking certain moves from you own imagination and they feel more like your own personal tactics rather than a memorized sequence.

The graphics in the game are great. Everything is clean and well-defined. Player look anatomically correct (more humanlike than Tekken's "blocky" characters and not cartoony like Street Fighter's anime inspired characters.) If anything, I wish there were more fighters. I like the fighting games that have you unable to decide who is your ultimate favorite character, in DOA2:H you will definitely have your favorite within no time. The stages are all unique, although not as equal overall, some levels will blow you away throughout while others have gorgeous main areas and lackluster secondary areas. The Opera House level is a perfect example. The floor in the beginning section is polished and really cool looking while the looping lower area you can throw, or be thrown to, are noticeably bland compared to the starting area. The PS2 version of DOA2:H boasts a few more levels than the Dreamcast version of the game and they are enough to warrant purchasing the slicker PS2 version over the Dreamcast one.

The sound in the game is above average. The music is the same type of techno that inhabits all fighting games but it isn't cheasy or enough to make you turn down the volume in the options menu. The voice acting in the game is as good as could be expected since English actors dubbed over the original Japanese dialogue. The only drawback is the enormously cheasy one-liners that the fighters use as well as just plain wrong word choices, one character actually calls another one a "swindler" in a poorly worded insult. "Jive turkey" would have easily been better than "swindler."

The ammount of customization in DOA2:H is huge. You can set specific settings for not just the whole game, but each type of play mode. For example, you can have the Story Mode enemies to have weak power meters while the Versus Mode can have them with anywhere from weak, to strong, to infinite for endless matches between friends.

One of the nicest things about this game is not even in the game, it's the manual that comes packaged with the disc. The manual has a ENTIRE move list for every character. Not one of those cheap Tekken or Street Fighter manuals that gave you about 25% of every characters' available moves. Tecmo even has the move list section of the game represented on their website if you want to print them out for when friends come over, then you won't have to resort to the awkward "manual sharing" deal, like when the kid who sat next to you in English class forgot his book and had to share yours. And if you and a friend should decide to share the manual while playing Tag Mode in the game, every fighter's primary tag partner is on the facing page (so there won't be any manual hogging, just set it out on the table and you both have your lists right there to look at!).

Overall, this game is a sure purchase for fighter fans, no doubt about it. And anyone who is just a casual gamer should treat themselves to at least a rental. I can honestly say that this game is one of the most enjoyable fighting games to come out since Street Fighter was ported to the Super Nintendo.

Come for the babes, stay for the solid gameplay

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: June 26, 2001
Author: Amazon User

For the most part, if you look up DOA2 online, you'll see a lot of discussion of the bouncy bouncy babes. And, you know, for what they are, they're really nice. That's not what makes DOA2: Hardcore THE PS2 fighting game.

It's the gameplay. Crazy though, huh? Lush PS2 graphics, crisp sound, and lots of bouncy, bouncy babes and what really seals the deal is that this is a fighting game that's quick to learn, hard to master, has characters that are distinct in their fighting styles, use multi-staged environments that matter to the fight -- there's nothing more fun than throwing your opponent into an electrified fence again and again and again -- and has a host of bonuses to reward players devoting time and energy to the game.

It's also deeply funny, and not always on purpose. Sure, the third costume you unlock for Dennis Rodman lookalike Zack -- a gorgeous fully mirrored Teletubbie outfit, complete with bobbing antenna, that has to be seen to be believed -- is probably consciously silly, the nonsense he and everyone else spouts in the game -- "I respect myself, for being myself" -- evoke peals of laughter from gamers moments before they leap upon each other, flinging their opponents around beautiful rendered environments. Or up against them. Or through them.

Initially easier to learn than, say, Tekken Tag Tournament, with fewer buttons to learn, DOA:2 has a seemingly infinite variety of ways to expand on the formula, with counter moves and additional moves based on positions and the direction a character is moving. Buttonmashers may be able to get into the game, but as in any good fighter, those who learn the moves are able to quickly and easily dissassemble the buttonmashers.

Gorgeous, fun, exciting and funny. If you own a PS2 and love fighting games, you owe it to yourself to pick up DOA2.

Better than Tekken Tag Tournament.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: January 03, 2001
Author: Amazon User

You've got to have this DOA2:Hardcore. This game is incredible. Graphics, gameplay, sound...it's all there. Only problems I had with this game...not enough characters, the story mode needs explanation. But, believe me, after 10 seconds of playing, you won't care any more. Besides, by achieving cetain goals during the game, you can unlock new character costumes (some characters have as many as 8 different costumes), which is close to having a new character.

I bought Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore, and Tekken Tag Tournament at the same time. I've played Tekken, maybe a total of 10 times. DOA2...I can't stop! Again, the graphics are absolutely fabulous. I was playing as a character named Wang. Wang wears one of those cone-shaped chinese hats. I was playing on a level where it was snowing. The hat was knocked from my head. I could see snow filling the upside-down hat while I was fighting!

And the multi-tiered environments are revolutionary. You won't see this in any other fighting game. I was playing on the same snow level, and all of a sudden, the ground gave way under my feet and dropped me and my opponent into an underground cave, where we continued our battle. A lot of work was put into this game.

Play it, and you'll agree that it's the best thing goin'!

ONE OF THE BEST GAMES FOR THE PS2!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: November 15, 2000
Author: Amazon User

A must buy game if you are a fan of the genre or if you are wanting to try a fighting game for a first I would recommend this one especially! New costumes, improved graphics from the Dreamcast version, cool stages, and there is much more where that came from. Don't pass by this game without giving it a try!

A great first fighter

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: April 21, 2002
Author: Amazon User

My kids wanted a Fighter. After playing the Tekken 3 Demo my daughter, fell in love with the genre. I bought DOA2 simply because it was the cheapest one I could find used for the PS2 (while Tekken 3 was on order). We were very pleasantly surprised. I will very briefly hit three points: pros, cons and the prior knocks on the game. I will leave the technical stuff for others to fight over.
The engine is smooth and the graphics while not up to the present standards are very good. The move list is fairly large. The actual fighting system flows in a natural way and is great for a beginner. It has pretty much the standard modes and difficulty settings. The training area is adequate. The time and survival modes are very fun and add longevity to the game. Compared to the prior games I had tried either in the arcade or on the PS one there is very little in the way of blood and gore and disturbing images (besides two people beating each other up of course) and from what I have seen is the most toned down in this regard. Overall, my kids love the game and it is just a lot of fun to play.
On the down side, the stories are virtually nonexistent and the story mode is very short and you can finish it all in a day or so. There are only two unlockable characters, and otherwise you are playing to unlock extra outfits, which my kids find fun, but I find a bit dull.
As for the prior hits this game has taken as aimed at 14-year-old boys, it may be true. The women are well endowed, but it is not a pervasive element of the game. After playing the game a good bit I don't really find much in the way of sexual undertones. The only area it really stands out is in the "gallery" which is just silly and I am sure is so, even for a prepubescent boy. As you play the game, you are not worried about the "endowments" you just play the game. It does not detract from or add to the game, it is just the way the characters are drawn.
There are better games out there for the die-hard fighting fans (VF4 is the only one at this point I would say), but for a beginner, this is a great place to start.

The best on PS2, so far...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: November 04, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore is overall the best release game on the PS2, standing above Tekken Tag Tournament and obviously Street Fighter EX3. Though it's basically the same, good old game that was released on Dreamcast a few months back, it's been enhanced for the PS2. The Dreamcast version was basically a game with no secrets to unlock. It was pretty much unlocked for you from the beginning, an obvious disappointment when compared to Soul Calibur. But none the less, it was fun and a great alternate to SC.

For the PS2, you now have twice the stages to fight on, two characters you can unlock and a whole bunch of new game modes. It also has a Gallery you can unlock. Gameplay is good, if not better. Unfortunately, the PS2 version still has some of the same troubles the DC version suffered and some problems of it's own; the characters still clip and the stages are a little bit more jagged than its DC cousin, but mostly gripes only the picky will see (like that guy who gave it a 2 or something). Though most problems are irrelevant to the game, Tecmo had to put in the abominable, ear-destroying, sanity crushing English dub. The script is terrible and the lines are simply presented offbeat, with little emotion (things lacking in almost any dub anyway). Fortunately, you can switch it back to good old Japanese (with subtitles if you need them).

Overall, Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore is one of the best 3D fighting games released this year, only matched by perhaps the 2D Marvel vs. Capcom 2 in gameplay. Great gameplay, with great characters, both in design and attitude, make this the best game to get on PS2 thus far.

By far Superior to the dreamcast version

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: January 14, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Don't listen to the dreamcast owners who think this game is worse then the Dreamcast version! There ARE improved graphics, more character costumes, new stages, new characters, and tons more replay value over the Dreamcast version, in which everything is already unlocked. Still, while there are many costumes to unlock, once everyone has there fourth costume, it gets a bit boring to get the rest. The story is boring, but who plays a fighting game for story? The english voice acting is funky, but subtitles can be activated with Japonesse voice acting. The main beef of the game is the fighting system which is exellent, but the computer can be vary cheap, even on easier difficultys. I personally prefer Tekken Tag Tournament, but if you already played out Tekken 3, get this. Get both if you can, but if not get this.

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