If there is one series of fighting games which has had more ups and downs than a yo-yo, it's without a doubt the Tekken series. The first game dropped on the release of the Sony PlayStation, as an answer to Sega's Virtua Fighter for their rival Saturn console. Despite the fact it was rather rubbish, it still sold bucketloads, and played a major role in Sony's victory in the war of the consoles. Then, in late 1996, Namco ported their arcade sequel, imaginitively titled, Tekken 2 to the console, to another great success, was it deserved this time?
The game, like it's predecessor, is a 3D One-On-One Fighter where the basic idea is to win 2 out of 3 rounds of combat by using punches,kicks and throws to deplete your enemy's energy bar to empty within a time limit. If the time limit is exceeded, the round is awarded to the fighter with most energy remaining.
While the game is in 3D, it doesn't really make use of the whole 3 Dimensions, and really handles like a 2D fighter with 3D graphics. While the fighter's positions change through the dimensions, this only happens with some moves and reactions to moves, you cannot sidestep attacks or such.
The game really doesn't offer all that many options over the original,you still begin with only a fraction of the cast,with the rest being unlocked by completing arcade mode with each character, although the cast has been boosted by the introdcution of fighters such as the enviromentalist female Jun Kazama and the Jackie Chan-based Lei Wulong, not to mention the new unlockable fighters such as Muay Thai fighter Bruce Irvine, and the Kangaroo/Dinosaur double character of Bruce/Roger.
In terms of modes, the game boasts the usual additions to the aforementioned arcade mode in the form of Versus,Survival and Team Battle, all of which are fairly self-explanatory.
The game retained the control system of the original game, where the buttons were layed out to control a hit from each limb.
Square: Left Punch
Triangle: Right Punch
X:Left Kick
Circle: Right Kick
As opposed to defining the attacks by strength. I did admit in my review of the first game that I liked the idea of the system, it was just implemented in a poor game. Here, coupled with good gameplay, it actually comes accross in a far more positive light, and was a unique,at the time, and excellent idea for the control scheme, which now works perfectly, thanks to the fact Namco sorted out how the game plays.
The original game was a slow and clunky mess basically, which had some of the most uninspiring fights in the history of gaming. Tekken 2 remedies this, by making the moves look better, adding all sorts of new combos, and basically actually
feeling like it's two highly trained masters of the martial arts duking it out. The moves aren't all grounded in reality ala Virtua Fighter, but also aren't based purely in the realms of fantasy as in Streetfighter, instead the moves are fantastic, but for the most part could probably be pulled off by the human body.
There are a wide selection of fighters to choose from, many have to be unlocked, and each has a nice selection of special moves and combos at their disposal to help take down their foes.
The best thing about the first game, the ending cinemas, which are cool little CG films, are also back, with each character having a unique cinema to add replay value, given that they are, for the most part, all worth watching at least once.
The series has always had it's story as a major plus point, and part 2 is no real exception. After defeating his father Heihachi at the end of the King of Iron Fist Tournament, Kazuya Mishima has now assumed control of the Mishima Corporation, under the guidance of an unholy being. However, there have been reports that Heihachi isn't quite dead, and is spoiling for a rematch with his offspring, and Kazuya still has scores to be settled with several of the fighters from the previous tournament, or they have scores to settle with him, so he arranges for a second King of Iron Fist tournament to be staged, as he plans to crush all of his enemies in one swoop.
While this may not sound overly deep or movie-plot worthy or anything, but when you take into account that there is a sizeable cast, and each member has a story that links them to at least one other member of the cast, and therefore in the long run to Kazuya.
Graphically, the game is actually blockier than the first game, but while this may sound like a bad thing, it isn't, because while the characters weren't blocky in the first game, they moved in a horrible manner, which doesn't apply here, with the animation of the fighters being far more fluid, and even with that said, it isn't
that that blocky anyway. The backgrounds are still fairly nice to look at, if completely unrelated to one another, and slightly bland. The game features arena's that are actually infinite in size, so any sort of background detail is miles away, leaving you to duke it out in a rather dull flat piece of land.
The sound in the game is probably it's poorest point. The music is well performed, and even quite cool, but it just doesn't suit fighting. In a martial arts movie, the music would fit, but certainly not in the fight scenes. Im not sure if that makes sense, but it's as good a job of describing it as I can do.
In general, I actually have to say that Tekken 2 is probably my favourite entry into the series, and one of my favourite fighters for the original PlayStation. It's graphics may not be perfect, but it has a fantastic selection of characters, including the fearsome Kazuya, as well as his Devil Alter Ego, and the wonderful endings, not to mention the fact that the gameplay in this entry is actually not only solid, but great
fun to play, especially on two-player.
The game also sports a few more modes to keep the player interested, from Team Battles to Survival and Time Trial, Tekken 2 doesn't skip anything in it's quest to be the best entry into the series, and the best fighter on the console.
On the whole, I would certainly recommend Tekken 2, and while I wouldn't go as far as saying it captured my imagination in the way that some other fighting games have, hence the fact it only gets 4 Stars, but it certainly earns those 4 stars, due to the sheer playability, and how far it has come from the rather poor original game.
While it may not be up to the gigantic standard set by it's main rival, Sega's Virtua Fighter sequel, Tekken 2 at least earns the series it's place as that of a staple fighting game franchise, something which Namco seems to be out to undo with it's last few releases.
Given that it probably isn't going to cost much these days, any fans of fighters who own a PSX/PS2 and don't own it should probably try their best to track down a copy. Personally I prefer it to the third game, and feel that only the 4th really comes close to matching this in terms of quality.
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