Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Reviewed By Stephen Pastic
Lately I have been seeing the Tekken brand popping up pretty frequently - from a 3DS title, to Tekken Hybrid, to Street Fighter X Tekken, and now Tekken Tag Tournament 2, one could be forgiven for thinking that Namco might be tekken things a tad too far of late. Being someone who has only lightly dabbled with the series many years ago, I was interested to see how its current iteration stacks up to other modern fighters. For better or worse, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 certainly surprised me.
From what I can make out, TTT2 doesn't even pretend to be concerned with any kind of story - throw a ton of fighters from the series' history together and watch the fireworks. Given how long it has been since I have played a Tekken title, I cannot be sure of this, but it seems that any character who has ever graced a Tekken game is included here. Sporting about fifty playable characters right from the outset, nobody could accuse the available roster as being in any way lightweight or underwhelming.
Whilst it is not the prettiest game I have ever seen, TTT2 certainly looks good in motion. Characters are nicely detailed, and (for the most part) move with a believable fluidity when chaining different moves together. Varying shades of techno make up the majority of the in game audio, although there are a few interesting twists on world music in several stages.
TTT2's combat system primarily relies upon buttons assigned to left and right punches and kicks, with high and low modifications to each achieved via d-pad. Another crucial skill players will need to master is that of juggling an opponent once they have been knocked into the air - this in particular will be absolutely paramount, as both other players and the AI (even on easier difficulties) is not afraid to heavily rely on this technique. Players can also elect to either compete solo (with 2X health), or with a tag partner, opening up various impressive tandem attack and combo options - however, even if one tag partner still has full health and the other one gets K.O.'d, it's all over...so players must be vigilant in monitoring their health and tag out accordingly (which also gives characters a breather to recover some incremental damage).
It must be said that TTT2 has quite surprisingly deep and complex fighting mechanics, and as such is not exactly the easiest game for newcomers to come to grips with. For this reason, it is no small blessing that TTT2 features one of the most robust tutorial modes I have ever seen in a fighter. Moving through several stages (and some truly bizarre framing), players will be tasked with mastering each of the fundamental mechanics in an easily digestible and well paced mode dubbed "Fight Lab".
However, even the training is no cakewalk, and several of the testing 'boss' segments will most likely have those unfamilar with the nuances of Tekken repeating certain encounters several times over. If you are going into this game raw, you will definitely want to visit the Fight Lab before even thinking of challenging others, or the AI.
The meat of TTT2 is primarily split between online and offline menus. Offline, players can either play through an arcade mode, versus, survival and time attack type offerings. A character customisation option is also available for players to buy and equip different pieces of kit for their chosen pugilists. As far as arcade mode goes, I simply must point out that the final boss (fought in two parts) is ludicrously frustrating.
Even though it is something of a trope for final bosses in fighters to raise blood pressure to ridiculous levels, Jun Kazama sets a new standard. If you thought Street Fighter IV's Seth was cheap, have some spare controllers handy because you are bound to throw at least a few. Without even slightly bending the truth, I have attempted this fight some seventy odd times - whilst I have occasionally come close, I have been stooged out of every single attempt...on easy difficulty.
Trying to go toe to toe online as a button masher will most likely yield similar results - TTT2 definitely rewards those who put in the time to master the game's mechanics, but unfortunately everyone else can expect to get consistently annihilated as they watch their limp body get smacked around in mid air.
This is essentially my biggest gripe with the game - whilst I can appreciate that perhaps the whole 'juggling' thing may indeed be a huge part of Tekken's appeal, it really starts to wear thin when you routinely get hit into the air once, and then ten seconds later (once the opponent has decided to stop air combo-ing you to oblivion) you hit the floor minus 75% of your health bar, regardless of how you were doing prior.
This isnt to say that TTT2 is a bad game - far from it. With a massive roster, heaps of modes and options, and an incredibly nuanced (and twitchy) combat system, it is easy to see how fans of the series would appreciate this package. For a more casual Tekken observer, however, the game is uncompromisingly difficult for those who do not wish to dive head first into mastering everything the title demands for players to be competetive either online, or beyond its easiest setting.
Game: Tekken Tag Tournament 2
System: XBOX 360
Developer/Co-Developer: Namco Bandai
Publisher: Namco Bandai
