Dead Or Alive 5: Hands-On With Virtua Fighter Guest Characters

Behind closed doors, Team Ninja had another demo of Dead or Alive 5 with Virtua Fighter guests Akira Yuki and Sarah Bryant available to play. Before I got started, Kohei Shibata from Tecmo Koei explained some of the game’s new mechanics.

Instead of memorizing combos, players need to know where danger zones are in Dead or Alive 5. These spots are essentially stage traps that deal way more damage than a wall hit. If you can shove your opponent into a car it might explode. Kicking the other player *into a helicopter* hurts even more. However, a regular kick can’t launch an opponent that high into the air.

This is where the Power Blow comes into play. You can use Power Blows after you’ve lost 50% of your health. Tina, Akira, and Sarah’s Power Blow command is down/back and punch + kick. After you input the command your character has to charge for about two seconds and during this time you’re completely vulnerable. If you manage to pull a Power Blow off you can do a "stage super move" and Shibata demoed what happens in the Circus stage. He hit Bass through the clown’s mouth in the center of the stage, which is actually a cannon that shot Bass out.

When you’re really low on life another move called a Critical Blast unlocks. Hit an enemy with this and you’ll stun them for a few seconds – just enough time to charge up for a Power Blow and send an opponent flying into a trap. The Critical Blast to Power Blow combo almost sounds like a comeback move a severely wounded player can do to turn the tide of a battle.

Shibata also confirmed Tag Mode will be in Dead or Alive 5 and then challenged me to a fight. I picked Sarah as my character and she has lightning legs. Sarah can hit an enemy with a flurry of kicks, a rising knee, and a good old flip kick. Shibata swayed out of danger when I tried to grab him, but I suppose that’s not Sarah’s strength anyway. She’s a fast and her long legs give her a bit more reach than other fighters.

Akira, just like in Virtua Fighter 5, is a steady fighter that deals a good amount of striking damage. I think he’s a bit too slow and linear for my taste, so I went back and stuck with Sarah. Even though they’re from a different universe, the Virtua Fighter guests look like they fit in with the Dead or Alive 5 crowd.