Dead or Alive Paradise

Dead or Alive Paradise (often abbreviated as DOAP or Paradise) is a Dead or Alive spin-off game, based on the Dead or Alive Xtreme sub-series. It is a port of the title, Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 with some changes to gameplay and the cast line-up.

It was developed by Team Ninja for the and released in North America on March 30th, 2010, and in Japan and Europe on April 2nd, 2010. The game continues the Xtreme series' theme of Beach Volleyball, exchanging gifts, developing friendships and women in swimsuits, both on and off the beach, with a large focus on the new photograghy element.

Paradise is the first title in the Dead or Alive series for a handheld game console, but the second of any handheld device, the first handheld title being Girls of DOA BlackJack. There is also a variation of the game for the mobile phone in Japan.

Overview
Like previous Xtreme installments, the game's premise consists of a series of beach and relationship-oriented mini-games, focusing on the female members of the Dead or Alive cast: Ayane, Christie, Helena Douglas, Hitomi, Kasumi, Kokoro, Lei Fang, Lisa and Tina Armstrong. In addition to the normal Xtreme cast, guest character Rio from Tecmo's Super BlackJack pachinko series, also appears as the casino's hostess dealer and an unlockable character.

As is expected of the Xtreme series, the mini-games in Paradise include a few beach activities from the previous two titles and a handful of gambling games which use the in-game currency, Zack Dollars. The plot of Paradise is the same as the plot of Dead or Alive Xtreme 2. The only major change to the story is the addition of Rio.

Volleyball
The series primary mainstay, beach volleyball is once again present in Paradise. Similar to the original, players must have a partner in order to compete in a two-on-two 7-point volleyball match.

Partnership & Friendship
As with the previous titles, the game puts a strong emphasis on friendship. Players must befriend the other girls by buying them gifts they enjoy from the various stores on the island. Doing so will increase the bond between the two characters. If the friendship between the two is at a sufficiently high level, the character can be convinced to a volleyball partner. After this is done, players must then ensure that the bond is kept strong to avoid the partner subsequently abandoning them. This can be done by giving additional gifts, spending time with the partner, and winning games.

Players can bestow swimsuits as gifts to other girls, regardless of whether they are the current partner or not. However, the more revealing a suit is, the harder it is to get a girl to accept the gift. Again, players must ensure that the friendship level between their character and the target girl is very strong to avoid having the gift returned.



Pool Hopping
Pool Hopping is also back and in simular style to Pool Hopping in Xtreme 2; the player must buttons to hop along the colored pads, but pressing the corresponding button to the symbol on said pad gives bonus points.

Beach Flags
Beach Flags is still the same as before; the player must race and grab the flag before the other girl does. This game is unlockable by getting 50 "Venus Clips".

Butt Battle
Butt Battle makes a comeback as well, where the player must bump the other girl off a large floating pad by using their character's near-end. This is game can be unlocked by getting 100 "Venus Clips".



Photography
A new addition to the game is the ability to go around the island with a camera and take pictures of the girls, which can then be assembled and edited into an album. Different types of cameras and film can be purchesed at the Sports Shop.

Casino
The game also features a casino, which players can visit during the evenings. Once there, they can partake in several games, including Poker, Roulette, Blackjack and Slots. Both of the card games are attended by Rio from the Super Blackjack series.

Development
The previous team leader of Team Ninja, Tomonobu Itagaki had previously expressed interest in bringing the Dead or Alive Xtreme series to handhelds such as the and PlayStation Portable in 2004. The game was first revealed in Japanese gaming magazine  in December 2009. A North American release was announced a month later in January 2010.

Mobile Version
A mobile phone variant of the game was released in Japan before the PlayStation Portable version; however due to the handset's limited memory only certain mini-games like blackjack, poker and item collection are included.

Limited Edition Boxsets
A limited edition boxset is available for order, which includes a copy of the game, a Kasumi box-cover and poster, a CD of the game's soundtrack, a photo book of the girls, and a Kasumi figurine with changable hair and bikini. A cheaper boxset without the figurine is also available. In some stores such as, a 2010 calander was included with the game when pre-ordered.

Bijin Tokei
From April 1 to April 30, 2010, to celebrate the release of Paradise, Kasumi and Hitomi appeared as placard girls for Bijin Tokei; a digital clock application for the available only in Japan which show diffirent pictures of girls - real and fiction - holding a placard with the current time instead of a normal clock face.

Reception
Overall, Paradise has received generally unfavorable reviews, receiving a Metacritic score of 36/100 based on 11 reviews. Most game reviewers complained about the lack of "real gameplay", the little amount of mimi-games to choose from and poor controls; the volleyball mimi-game has been described as "robotic" and the pool-hopping as "painstaking" and hard to master. IGN, who gave the game 5 out of 10, criticised the "bad quality" of the graphics, saying that the characters's bodies looked "angular" and "not very detailed", as well as the large amount of loading time some of the game needed.

Game Informer, one of the more harsher reviewers, criticising the game's "downright insulting" image of women, stating that the characters are "hypersexualized" and are "depicted as vapid, dim-witted babes with no real desires other than tanning and having people buy things for them." In the end, Game Informer only gave Paradise a overall score of 4 out of 10 and said the game "drags down whatever reputation its namesake carried."

Fan reaction, however, was mixed. Those had reasons similar to those of the game reviewers, while there are those who enjoyed and appreciated the game.

Trivia

 * Early pre-orders of the game were sold along with a Kasumi figurine. The figurines were also later given away in a Tecmo podcast competition.
 * At some retailers in Japan, bonus merchandise were given away with any Dead or Alive Paradise purchase, including posters, towels, gamepads and.

Links

 * Official Site
 * Official Japanese Site
 * Dead or Alive Paradise for the mobile on Tecmo.co.jp