23 Years Ago, One of the World’s Biggest Fighting Series Released Their Oddest Game Ever

Dead or Alive may have ended up falling by the wayside in the modern day, but the fighting game series was sitting pretty at the turn of the 21st century. A successful launch alongside the Xbox had turned the title into a real contender with established franchises like Tekken and Virtua Fighter, with tight controls and a memorable cast of characters. After Dead or Alive 3‘s successful launch, fans were eager for a return to the series. They eventually got one in 2003 — and it was very different from what they were expecting.

Trading the fighting arena for a tropical paradise, Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball took some of the previous game’s female characters and brought them to a small island for a sports game/life sim experience. With a focus on pans around women in bikinis on a beach, the game design of Xtreme Beach Volleyball was a surprisingly solid sports game that nevertheless became more famous for the players than the game. Looking back, Xtreme Beach Volleyball might just be one of the weirdest entries in any fighting game franchise — even if it did become something of a minor hit for Team Ninja.

Dead Or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball Is As Weird As It Sounds

Debuting in North America on January 22, 2003, Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball remains one of the weirdest games a fighting series has ever released. Following the success of Dead or Alive 3 as a launch title for the Xbox and quickly became one of the definitive early games for the console. Many fans were likely expecting a direct sequel in no time at all. While that did eventually come to fruition in 2005 with the release of Dead or Alive 4, the next entry in the series was a very different beast. Debuting two years later, Xtreme Beach Volleyball was a major departure from the fighting game that had preceded it.

The game centers on Zack, one of the fighters from the previous game, who gambles his winnings from the tournament and strikes big. Buying a private island for himself, Zack tricks several female fighters into visiting the tropical paradise. Frustrated by Zack’s plans, the eight women all decide to simply use the opening as an opportunity to have a vacation instead. The primary gameplay of Beach Volleyball is the titular sport, but a lot of the game is dedicated to the character relationships that develop between the various visitors to the island, which can be impacted by player choices like exchanging gifts or sharing compliments.

This process has an impact on the characters and their abilities in games of beach volleyball, as a more content teammate will have better focus and skills than a frustrated one. Producer and game designer Tomonobu Itagaki repeatedly stressed that the game was for fans of the series, answering calls for a volleyball minigame by dedicating an entire title to the sport. The game has questionable sexual politics that haven’t aged the best — like Zack tricking women to his remote beach — but the game’s focus on character dynamics could be surprisingly compelling, and the sports gameplay was actually pretty solid. The melding of the life sim and sports game mechanics made emotion and empathy surprisingly important attributes in the experience. The various mini-games also added a little more depth to the experience, which nevertheless retains an odd edge in retrospect.

Xtreme Beach Volleyball Is Still One Of The Weirdest Fighting Game Spin-Offs Ever

Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball is one of the most bizarre directions a fighting series could ever go, especially in light of the massive success of the game that came before it. The dynamics of the fighting game’s universe are toned down for the beach vacation, with established vendettas turned into mild disagreements. It went for a completely different genre, trading in the intense battles for more light-hearted volleyball action. It is also unmistakably a game where looking at the female cast in small bikinis is a feature, not a bug — with the partial nudity earning the title an “M” rating as opposed to Dead or Alive 3‘s “T” rating from the ESRB.

Critics were torn on the game upon release. While some appreciated the tightness of the sports game’s mechanics and appreciated the graphics, GameSpot dubbed it the “Most Embarrassing Game” of the year at their annual awards. However, Tomonobu Itagaki’s argument that the game was for the fans was rewarded with a resounding response from the fanbase. The game sold 600,000 copies, which paled in comparison to the mainline entries in the series but is an impressive number for such an oddball spin-off with an “M” rating. This was enough to justify a direct sequel in 2006, as well as a third entry in the series that was released across platforms but never made it to North American and European markets.

Especially given the current political climate, it seems unlikely that a major fighting game franchise would take such a big swing in the present day. It’s impossible to imagine any modern series releasing a full sequel that feels like an excuse to just look at the main characters in bikinis. Even though elements of the game remain bizarre, tacky, and surprisingly emotionally engaging, Xtreme Beach Volleyball stands out in the larger gaming history by showing how far developers can take their franchises away from key mechanics while still keeping the attention of their fanbase.