Once considered little more than a flashy imitation of Sega's Virtua Fighter, the franchise of fisticuffs developed by Tecmo's famed "Team Ninja" may have finally reached the pinnacle of the hotly-contested 3-D fighting genre, with Dead Or Alive 3. While the original game caught players' eyes based mostly on the buoyancy of its heroines' bustlines, each new version has brought with it a more robust, carefully-refined fighting engine, as well as cutting-edge visuals that test the limits of each system's graphics chipset. After all, there's no good reason to believe that one of the best fighting games in existence shouldn't look the part. I know it's a well-worn cliche in the video game industry, but in this case it's absolutely true: Dead Or Alive 3 sets a new standard for fighting game visuals...it is a legitemate feast for the eyes. The level of character animation on display, here--and the depth and complexity of each combat arena--is just awe-inspiring. It's a shame most people won't be able to properly appreciate the visuals until they're watching someone else play...and call me crazy, but I don't find that a real likely scenario after playing this game well into the wee hours of the morning over the past few days.