Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Review
It has been a good number of years since the first Tekken Tag Tournament, but here comes Namco firing back with this great follow up.
The last time a Tekken Game came out I was fairly disappointed. Tekken 6 was a bleak and horrible let down compared to the previous games in the series. I dare say it was the worst of the bunch.
With that being said Tekken Tag Tournament 2 made sure to get everything right this time around and in the process return the “King of Iron Fist Tournament” to its full and rightful glory. If you have never played Tekken I don’t think you can call yourself a fighting fan (LOL!) Tekken (like many other fighting games) is about a group of fighters from around the world lured into a tournament to not only gain fame and riches, but ultimately to prove who the best is. This time they do it tag team style, and with great success.
Once you fire up the game you’ll see that TTT 2 doesn’t waste time proving its graphical prowess. The series has always impressed in the sight department. The game gives you lush and rich CGI segments for the opening sequence and for each fighter’s prologues and endings. It goes above and beyond with excellent fighter models, beautifully designed costumes, brilliant menu designs and layout. Fighters perform their moves with a visual flair no other fighter this generation can touch (Sorry SSF 4). Hair flows, water splashes, and dust and rocks are kicked with great accuracy. There is no clipping, no draw in, and best of all very few drops in frame rate. Add to all of that that there maybe four fighters on screen at any given time, and things still don’t waver. Needless to beat this horse to death, the graphics more than achieve the desired effect.
Fighting games or fighters as they are called usually follow the same trend. Some all powerful guy or corporation has a nefarious plot and in order to achieve its lofty goal sets up an elaborate (and often empty) fighting tournament to lure the greatest fighters from around the world to compete. Tekken is no different and has the aforementioned corporation and the evil guy to boot. The “King of Iron Fist Tournament” once again calls the names of great fighters to compete. This time around it seems to be about finding out who’s the best and ties into some crazy side story about nature. The other story (oh did I mention that there are sort of two of them?) encompasses a complex tutorial which tells the story of Lee Chaolain (AKA) Violet trying to build the ultimate fighting robot named “Combot” You may remember Combot from, previous installments of the game. Lee or Violet is trying to make the ultimate fighter to overthrow the Mishima Zaibatsu Corporation ran by Heichachi, Kazyua, Jin, and Jinpachi depending on what previous squeal was played. You play though 5 main stages and train Combot towards this lofty goal all the while learning the most basic of moves up until you are performing like a pro……hopefully. This mode is often silly and nonsensical as Lee and his female assistant say and do crazy things while having Combot fight strange and sometimes familiar fighters who may or may not be from the Tekken series. Over all it’s a good distraction and a fun way to teach newbies the ropes.
The game performs like its predecessors and in that case it works great. This game is one of the closest to real fighting styles that you will come across. You have the face buttons which operate your limbs: Right punch, Left punch, Right kick, and Left kick. Put them all together and you will be doing combos in no time. The fighters move great as they can dodge, walk up and down the 3D playing field, jump, run, and roll. Throw in a tag button and your partner is there to back you up at a moment’s notice. Matches are fought in the traditional best 2 out of three set up although you can change this along with the time length of the match.
TTT 2 also has varied modes of play too. Standard tag in which you can fight two on two. You can switch that up and fight one on one. Furthermore, you can fight 2 on 1 if you need help and vice versa if you’re just that dang good! Couple that with the different modes of: Arcade, Time Attack, Team Battle, Survival, and Practice you should be busy for quite some time. A side note worth mentioning is that you can practice online with a friend and just mess around like that. This hasn’t been done before to my knowledge and adds a wealth of depth to the game. The roster of characters in the game is staggering, clocking in at around 40 with more coming via DLC. I think almost every character to ever appear in a Tekken game is included which is nothing short of amazing.
Awesome, awesome, and more awesome as every blow, yell, shout, and bone crunching sound effect is put out there like sweet music to your ears. Speaking of music the stage and background music will have you humming the tunes and wanting to go back just to listen to them. Aside from that the voice acting is great and most fighters speak in their native dialect which would only make sense.
The replay factor or the things that will have you coming back for more are endless. After all this is a fighting game and no two fights will ever be the same right? The aforementioned variations of game modes alone will give you reasons to keep playing. There is a great rank up mode, and items to unlock so you can customize your characters if you’re into that type of thing. There is also the online mode which as everybody knows is the real money maker.
I really don’t play many games online, but Tekken tag not only feels good online, but it performs well. Although it takes a while to find an opponent in some cases the game solves this by letting you practice with your character while it’s looking for someone for you. Fighters are always matched to their relative skills and if the game figures that you are out of each other’s leagues it solves this with point awarding. You won’t get a lot of points for beating up on lesser fighters and likewise you won’t get points for beating more skilled players. It pushes you to play those more your equal which is great. Whereas Street Fighter 4 did a poor job in this area this system may solve those cheaters or those guys who like to find lesser fighters and beat up on them. I can see this game earning its due through online play just fine.
If you aren’t into fighting games I think you’d be hard pressed not to at least try TTT 2. With its ease of controls, diverse roster, and fun play style I don’t see how you wouldn’t like it. If you are a fighting fan and furthermore a fan of Tekken this is the fighter to own!! I mean that in a big way. The developers thought of almost everything for this game. With customizable characters, lush graphics, easy to play tag system, and the list goes on and on. This could be the consummate fighter on PS3 and Xbox 360, and with games like SSF 4, Street Fighter X Tekken, and Mortal Kombat out there that is saying quite a lot. It’s not big on story like MK, it’s not as flashy as SSF 4, and it may not be as bouncy a DOA 5, but if you want a game that performs as a fighter should then this is the one for you. Pick up this game today!!
I would have to give this game a resounding 9 ControllUs out of 10 earning the “Mind Control” rating. The King of Iron Fist is back, and in a huge way baby……enter the Tekken TODAY!!
