Hiryu

Since the turn of the century, when I bought my PSone and a 32" Sony TV from my first paycheck, I found DOA like a hidden treasure in the clearance section of Blockbuster Videos for $14.99. I've been looking for a fighting game, since I normally collect RPGs and racing games. From that day forward, I was in love with everything DOA.

It became a family affair, when my late father, in his late 50's at the time, played the game with me in versus and tag mode. Ever since then, we've bought a Dreamcast and an Xbox, just to play another version of DOA, along with it's spin-offs; Ninja Gaiden and Xtreme Volleyball. From Hardcore to Ultimate, you name it we got it. Even my wife loved playing Xtreme Volleyball. She would waste hours courting teammates and buying swimsuits. Go figure.

My father and I would religiously unlock the costumes of our favorite fighters first. He had his aggressive Tina, and I countered with my defensive Lei Fang. They were literally our digital girlfriends.

My father passed away in 2010. We never got the Xbox360, since the PS3 had Bluray. We would sometimes rent a 360 or play DOA4 at my friend's house, but eventually, another friend gave us a copy for our collection. My father never got to play Dimensions and DOA5, but to this day, I honor him by buying the 3DS to get DOA and playing Tina in tag mode to unlock costumes in DOA5: Collector's Edition for PS3. I'm tempted to buy the 360 version next year once the price goes down.

Right now, I'm very happy with DOA5. I've been playing it for hours into days and weeks to come until the next installation years from now. Watching tournaments in Youtube and learning combos from my strategy guide helps me improve my Lei Fang online. Absorbing anything DOA lifts my spirits like a giddy fan. I haven't gotten excited over a game for a long time, and I'm still smiling inside. I'm sure my father is smiling, too