Girls beating each other to a pulp should be enough, but adding in beautiful graphics and a compelling story line makes “Dead or Alive 5” a cut above the rest.

The fighting styles of all the characters are accurately portrayed; and for fans of the series, the story is more complete than it has ever been.

Instead of each character having her own storyline, as in the other games, each character’s life intertwines with the other main stories in a timeline. It makes it so characters such as Hitomi, Leon and Elliot are not left out and keeps it from taking away from the main focus of the game.

Continuing the broken story that is “Dead or Alive 4,” the game shows how Helena has taken over her father’s fallen company after being saved by a fighter named Zack from the TRI-TOWER explosion at the end of the last game. Helena decides to hold another fighting tournament to show the world how her company has been rebuilt and in which direction she intends to go with it, stopping production of weapons.

In addition to Helena’s triumphs, the game also continues with the struggle of Kasume, the runaway shinobi ninja, and how she needs to find and kill her clone, Alpha 152. Kasume also struggles with her half-sister Ayane and brother Hayate, who are trying to kill her for leaving their ninja clan.

The battle stages are more interactive because of the chaos surrounding the characters. One of the stages is set on top of a building under construction in the center of Tokyo. The building crumbles around the fighters, as explosions surround the scene in flames.

The fighting itself has stuck true to the triangle system where throws beat holds, holds beat strikes and strikes beat throws. The feel of the fighting has become smoother as well. The holds (usually difficult to pull off) are slightly easier and the throws are more dynamic than previous Dead or Alive titles. The creators have also added the ability to get up quickly after being knocked down; just tap the left stick in the opposite direction of the fall.

With two character cameos from “Virtual Fighter 5” and a new character with a mixed martial arts fighting style, players have a full list that no person would want to mess with in real life. Though the game is mostly centered on Helena and Kasume, the new MMA fighter still has an impact on the storyline.

The costumes are similar to previous games, with each one representing the characters even better than before.

The game features costumes such as a masked wrestler for the ever hilarious Bass and a little black dress for the seductive Christie. There are also a lot of bikinis. They may have different variations of the bikinis but in all, the big busts seem to bounce everywhere in the little bitty swimsuits, covering just what needs to be covered.  It is attractive to some players, but it takes away from the professionalism of the game and the seriousness of the fighters.

With stunning graphics and the amazing fighting scenes, this game is one that people should put on their wish list, with it receiving four-and-a-half stars out of five.