Dead or Alive 4

Dead or Alive 4 is a game that few people take seriously. First of all, the fighting game genre doesn't have the same status as an RTS or FPS game would have when it comes to strategy. Even fans of fighting games such as Virtua Fighter 4 or Soul Calibur II look down upon the Dead or Alive series. They see Dead or Alive as a high-speed button masher with overly powerful holds/counters and more flash than substance. Virtua Fighter 4 and Soul Calibur II are supposedly more technical games requiring careful thought along with skilled hand-eye coordination. Of course, it doesn't help DOA4 gain any credibility as a serious fighting game when Tecmo heavily markets the female characters of Dead or Alive 4 as scantily clad, heavily endowed, pin-up girls – so much that the game actually garners an "M for Mature" rating for "partial nudity" and "sexual themes." Still, after spending a substantial amount of time with Dead or Alive 4, it's clearly one of the best fighting games ever released since Street Fighter II. The question is if you're interested in picking up a fighting game.