I'll be totally candid with you. I snuck this one in here because it was after Christmas, I wasn't sure exactly how many games I had beaten or if I had yet pushed over the 50 game mark, and I knew clearing out a Tekken game's arcade mode would be a quick and dirty way to add another number to the mix. I didn't give this one as much attention as it deserves, and I will definitely cycle back to it to earn more trophies and enjoy it more, as I dropped it for Smash as soon as I could. But I did finish the arcade mode, and also finished the extended story/tutorial mode for the game, so I can stand with my head held at moderate height and claim before God that I finished the game when he checks my spreadsheets at the judgment seat.
All silliness aside, this is Tekken. Tekken has been largely identical since the last big update (Tekken 4), and is just a great series of fighting games. I adore Tekken because, more so than any series other than Smash, Tekken is extremely fun for beginners, but also has a level of hidden technicality to it that far surpasses all but the most hyper-technical fighting games. My friend had Tekken 2 and Tekken 3 as a kid on the PS1, so we ended up playing a lot of Tekken 3 and spamming noob-friendly characters like Hwoarang, Eddie, Lee, Bryan, and Forrest. I loved the visuals, the goofy sense of humor, and the rewarding simplicity of those characters' control schemes, but as my fighting game skills improved, I moved up to slightly more technical fighters like Jin, Kazuya, Heihachi, and Raven. I dabbled in Tekken 4 and Tekken 5, but my favorite game in the series was Tekken Tag Tournament due to the huge number of playable characters and being able to play as two characters as a team.
So when I was feeling playing a new Tekken game, I decided to put Tekken Tag Tournament 2 on the list out of my love for the previous tag title, as well as for the fact that at the time I included it on my list, it was the newest Tekken game. It has now been surpassed by Tekken 7, which I haven't yet had the chance to play, but I tend to limp into these things as prices decline, so I'm sure I'll grab a discount copy for 15 bucks in some sale at some point. My sister-in-law got me the game for Christmas this year, so I figured it made a natural easy clear, and I always enjoy a quick run through Tekken.
The game is Tekken, so it has a fantastic combat system, simple controls, and a magnificently diverse set of characters to enjoy. The music is fine, the visuals are very good, and you get exactly what you think you're getting. It's a bit deeper than Tekken Tag Tournament as it includes a new system in which you can fight with both fighters at once, and also includes a few new features (apparently) introduced in Tekken 6, including bouncing people off the ground while continuing a combo going, and breaking through walls and floors with powerful attacks. The combo system using both fighters adds a new layer of sophistication to the game, making it more important than in the previous Tag game to select two characters who have some chemistry with each other. The new additions of the shattering walls and floors are a lot of style and a little substance, but are fun nonetheless. Stretching the combos out by hammering your opponent off the ground is also a very fun addition to the series.
If you like Tekken, this is a really fun game. All Tekken games kind of run together, which is one of their weaknesses (I don't know if there's a big enough difference between this and Tekken 7, for example, to recommend one over the other). But they all come from a place of fun and are really nicely executed technical fighting games, so I'd definitely recommend it. I'll give it an 8.8/10.
Up next on reTROview will be my 2018 reTROspective, which I know all of you have been waiting for with baited breath. I'll probably be working on that one for a few days, so check in later this week.
-TRO
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