Animation Components and Concepts in Dead or Alive 4

Name: Dead or Alive 4
Number of Players: 1 - 4
Publisher: Tecmo

                   Dead or Alive 4 is a 3D fighting game published by Tecmo on December, 29th, 2005. It features 22 playable characters with different fight style and 6 play modes in the game.


Game Mechanic:

                    One thing special about Dead or Alive 4 is its combat system, which is similar to Rock-Paper-Scissors.

                    First of all, all characters have their normal attacks that can combine into combos, however, normal attacks can be counter. When you successfully counter an normal attack (punch or kick), it turns into counter move. The image above is an example when Kasumi (right) kicks Zack (left), Zack counters the medium kick and turns it into a throw in his favour.

                   While normal attack can be counter, the counter move can also be counter by throwing. Throwing is the third element in "Rock-Paper-Scissors" system, besides normal attack and counter attack. When the character tries to counter, the counter move itself is passive and does not deal damage, which gives away a chance to be thrown by the opponent. Throwing can be easily achieve when the opponent tries to defend or counter too often. Lastly, throwing can be counter by normal attack by simply attack while the opponent is in a grabbing position. Overall, this combat system can be a game-changing  tool if is used effectively. It also adds more possibilities into a fighting game, and this is what makes Dead or Alive 4 one of my favourite games.



Animation Components and Concepts:

                   Each character has their unique moves, attacks, holds and throws, and there is an animation made for everyone of them. Although simply repeat a punch or a kick might results in the same animation, they turn into something totally different in a combo. I would assume it as a combo animation and it is played separately according to the input. For example, the combo animation of PPKKK is played when player inputs punch, punch, kick, and kick, however, the last kick attack can be cancelled and return to regular standing position if there is no further input for the last kick attack, hence the combo animation ends early. Base on this system, players can combine or switch between combos, attacks and throws, or partner to make their fight fancy.

                   Above video is a collection of many combos from each characters. As you may see, the little pause between attack animation indicates either the combo animation is complete or ceased.

(0:01 - 0:10+, 0:35 - 0:38+)

                    Also, some animations could be extend or change under special situation. For example, when Ryu Hayabusa (in the video) performs his throw at 0:05, its animation is extended by a little and camera is adjusted specially for it, and Ryu's throw animation is slight different at 0:35 according to the situation.Therefore, the animations in Dead or Alive 4 are highly not fixed and flexible under circumstances.