The arrival of Tecmo Koei's evergreen fighting franchise on the PlayStation Vita in the guise of Dead or Alive 5 Plus may be cause for celebration. Far from a simple port from the larger consoles, it not only offers bold new play modes but may even look better than its PlayStation 3 predecessor.
First-person fighting is the headline grabbing addition, activated by turning the console vertically. In this mode, you'll face your opponent head-on and fight using two control methods. One involves simply tapping the touchscreen where you want to attack, the other requires more complex combinations of sweeps, swishes and taps.
The game should also look better, with Tecmo Koei boasting that the PS Vita version will offer three times the frames as the console versions launched in September. Every frame counts in a genre as fast and demanding as this, so fans should be pleased.
They'll also be pleased at the news that there'll be a special edition, containing a set of collector's cards and a code to download bonus content including custom fighter skins, soundtrack and twelve "Paradise Sexy" costumes. Which is nice.
Dead or Alive 5 Plus launches in the US on March 17th. The European release date has yet to be confirmed.