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| Tekken Tag Tournament,
PlayStation 2 |
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| Games,
Richard Young,
15 January 2001 |
Rating: F4
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Of the somewhat half baked line up of launch titles for the much anticipated Playstation 2, one has to be an essential purchase for any existing fan of any of the original Tekkens, or the beat-em-up genre in general. Tekken Tag Tournament represents Namco’s entry into 128 bit gaming, and is an important game for the PS2: Tekken was one of the first releases for Playstation (now called PSOne) back in 1995, and introduced 3D combat to a whole new home audience. So how does the next generation Tekken shape up? Very nicely, thank you.
There may be no real surprises on offer, aside from one or two additional characters and moves, and obviously the tagging idea is a new one, but what it does, it does very well. The graphics are what strike you the most – having received a full clean up and anti-alias since the Japanese version, they are quite stunning. The character modelling is so complex, you find yourself squinting to try and pick out all the facial details. Marshall Law’s torso never looked this sculpted and shiny before.
The environments are just as pretty, with lots of movement in the form of cheering onlookers and waving trees, and you will do a double take when a military helicopter lands in the background at one stage. Gameplay wise, there are plenty of modes and moves to dive into and swim around in, although the pace of the action does feel a little sluggish at times. It lacks the lightning quick pace of Dead or Alive 2, and the speed of the animation hasn’t been optimised for the PAL release, which is a little frustrating.
We have all heard the stories about the nightmarish internal architecture of the Playstation 2, and this is worth bearing in mind, for this is the kind of game that only hints at the true potential of Sony’s dream machine. As developers and programmers learn more about the system, we can look forward to a truly rocking Tekken 4. In the meantime, Tekken Tag Tournament is more than capable of providing thrills and spills for the next generation of fight game fans.
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