Tekken Tag Tournament 2 PlayStation 3

Released on 14-Sep-2012

• SONY's Journey dominates DICE Awards

  Journey, the stunning ambient explore-em-up from designer Jenova Chen, swept the board at the annual DICE Awards. Voted for by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, the awards are the closest thing the games industry has to the Oscars, although the ceremony inevitably involves less dance numbers.

  Already a favourite with critics and a top selling game on SONY's PlayStation Network, Journey took home eight awards, including the big three: Game of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction and Outstanding Innovation in Gaming.

  No other game came close to Journey's haul, but several games came away with multiple awards. The brutally brilliant XCOM: Enemy Unknown took home prizes for best strategy/simulation game as well as Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering. Microsoft's Halo 4 also took home two gongs, for Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering and Outstanding Achievement in Connectivity.

  Topping off a 2012 that was stuffed with superb titles across all genres, the exuberant Borderlands 2 was crowned Action Game of the Year, while Need for Speed: Most Wanted took the prize for best racing game and Mass Effect 3 was dubbed best role-playing game. Skylanders Giants beat Lego Batman 2 and Nintendo Land for Family Game of the Year, while PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale provided an upset in the fighting game category, as SONY's character crossover mash-up beat such genre mainstays as Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Street Fighter X Tekken.

  Telltale Games' gruelling episodic adventure series The Walking Dead, based on the hit comic, also won big. It was awarded Adventure Game of the Year, and also took home honours for story and voice acting.

  Published: 08/02/2013

• Tekken Tag Tournament 2 - Review

  
  

  Earlier this month, we were lucky enough to host a fun-packed community event centred around Tekken Tag Tournament 2. We've told you how the evening went, so now we should really let you know about the game itself!

  

  Iron Fisticuffs

  One of Tekken's most endearing traits is its eclectic range of characters. The likes of Hwoarang with his fancy taekwondo kicks and Steve Fox with his rapid fire punches are fairly pedestrian in terms of the fighting game norm, but once you factor in a wrestler that wears a jaguar mask, a cybernetic ninja that spins around like a windmill and a prehistoric Velociraptor that knows how to box like Tyson, it's clear that Namco can stage a fight that's as tense as it is memorable. And now that the King of Iron Fist Tournament is accepting tag-teams once again, the diversity on offer is more impressive than ever.

  Tekken Tag Tournament 2 doesn't feature any original characters in the strictest sense but it does bring all the fan favourites and forgotten faces together for the biggest roster in the series long running history. Nina Williams can be paired with Anna for a duo of sisterly assassins while Jin Kazama can team up with his mother Jun for an epic showdown against his demonic father and sadistic grandfather (ah, family...). And while juggling the opponent like a helium-filled mannequin is still the key to victory, the focus is now on tandem assaults rather than solo slugfests.

  

  Tag, You're Hit

  Anyone who's played a Tekken game since the turn of the millennium will be at home with the four attacks and fifth tag button, only this time, you can pull off some fancy new techniques that target the rechargeable part of a character's health. The Tag Combo lets you start a barrage with one character before finishing it off with the other while the Tag Assault lets you extend a combo well beyond the traditional bound and juggle threshold. You can even start a combo with Marshall Law's iconic somersault kick before tagging in his son, Forest, to perform the same manoeuvre in a showy display of Jeet Kune Do teamwork.

  The Rage system from Tekken 6 also returns in a slightly altered form as your benched character will become enraged if your point man, point woman or point panda takes one hit too many. One thing that helps keep the anger to a minimum, however, is the new Fight Lab mode that teaches the intricacies of the fighting system with a range of challenging tests. One minute you could be learning counter timings against a family of Mokujin spirits while the next could be a lesson in bound combos against a character that looks suspiciously like an overweight Ken from Street Fighter.

  Two's Company

  The other great thing about the Fight Lab is that it lets you customise your own robot. Ever wondered how Eddy's capoeira twists would fair if they were backed up by Bryan Fury's mach punch? Tekken Tag Tournament 2 lets you find out. It also features as respectable spread of Arcade, Time Attack, Survival, Team Battle and Ghost Battle modes in addition to an all-inclusive Practise room. Here you can tailor the dummy settings for your training needs, use the record function to learn the optimal punishes and adjust the input latency so you can practise in online conditions.

  

  When you enter the online arena for real, you'll find that Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is noticeably more stable than Tekken 6. It's roughly equivalent to SoulCalibur V in terms of lag reduction if not a few shades better, and although the selection of online features doesn't get more sophisticated than ranked and player matches with replays and leaderboards thrown in for good measure, the new World Tekken Federation service lets you build teams, tracks stats and enter competitions. It's also free to anyone who buys the game new.

  Change Your Tune

  As a package, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is hard to fault as it irons out the online kinks, serves up almost all the characters and - perhaps most importantly - incorporates a tag system that feels integral and weighted rather than tacked-on and gimmicky. Its only shortcoming is the lack of a substantial single player mode, but when you play a match with full 3D support (if your TV can handle it) and import your own music, it's clear that this second game of doubles is all about the thrill of the fight. And on that note, Namco has barely skipped a beat.

  The Good:

  • Well over 50 Tekken characters
  • Building tag combos is an art form
  • The online experience is stable

  The Bad:

  • Needs more single player content
  • Uses an Online Pass system
  • Where's Gon from Tekken 3?

  Published: 17/09/2012

• GAME Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Community Event

  
  

  On Friday September 7th, GAME hosted our first community event - a Tekken Tag Tournament 2, er, tournament.

  The event was organised by Aaron from our Social Media team who put the shout out over Facebook and Twitter to invite members of the GAME Community. And you who answered the call and travelled from far and wide to our GAME HQ to challenge members of the GAME team and see who was King of the Iron Fist!

  Not only did our friends at Namco supply copies of TTT2 for the competition, but they brought some other games for everyone to try - Ni No Kuni, One Piece Pirate Warriors, and Tank! Tank! Tank! - complete with a couple of Wii U's to play it on!

  A great night was had by all. The tournament was competitive but friendly, with every match ending with a handshake - and never a tantrum! The community members were really strong challengers, with only one GAME staffer making it to the semis, and the closely-fought final between Paul and Ibrahim had a 'big fight' feel, with a deserving Ibrahim going home with the crown, and some cool prizes!

  There was a really positive atmosphere all round, and it was really cool to see gamers from all over chatting, gaming and having fun together. And it was great to be able to game, chat and have fun with you! In fact, here's what some of the GAME team had to say about the night...

  Shannon

  "The Tekken event was a great way to meet other members of the community. Everyone was really relaxed, and just there to have a good time, and enjoy the games. The main focus was Tekken Tag Tournament 2, but there was plenty of discussion about all sorts of other games, and not just the others that were there to play.

  I was particularly excited to try Ni No Kuni, and even though I don't think it's the kind of game that does well in a event environment (much more of a quiet-play-by-yourself game), the small part I got to try means I'll definitely be getting it for release. As for the actual tournament, I was out within the first round which was a little disappointing, but that didn't sway my interest!

  The final was pretty intense, and everyone gathered round to watch, completely absorbed in the action, and I think it's fair to say that the first prize and second prize winners deserved their places! All in all, a great night and everyone got a nice little goodie bag to take home as a memoir."

  

  Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Tournament

  

  
  

  Tom aka Beranmee

  "Tekken is a title I hold quite close to my heart, so much so I have a Tekken tattoo! It was one of the first games that I played on my PSOne back in the day and Tekken Tag Tournament was one of the first games I played when I finally could afford a PlayStation 2, 12 years ago!

  So "excited" is a word I would use leading into our Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Tournament! Building up to the Tournament I didn't get as much practice as I would have liked, but I did manage to squeeze in some Tekken time on Tekken 3D Prime Edition, using Jin, King, Hwoarang and Baek.

  These four characters are my main weapons; Jin and King serve as my well balanced characters, where as Hwoarang and Baek serve as my faster characters where I can chop ad change stances to unleash a variety of attacks.

  Before the tournament started, the combatants got have a quick go so that they could familiarise themselves with any new moves or tweaks to their favourite characters. I decided that Hwoarang and Baeks speed would possibly serve me better in the long run, with that in mind I decided to play the entire tournament as the Student-Master combo.

  My first fight proved that the combination I had chosen was a good one. As I served my opponent with a series of fast and furious kicking combinations with some punches and throws thrown in for good measure. I would like to say that I dominated the fight, but I got as good as I gave but still came out on top.

  My next fight pitted me against a great Tekken player called Hadyn, his fighters of choice were just as fast as my Hwoarang and Baek team, Marshal Law and Xiaoyu. The matches were intense and insanely close. Each match ended with remaining characters on minimal health, so the last punches or kicks were all down to the fastest finger. The last move of our fight was a lucky accident as I hit the tag and right punch button to initiate the Baek/Hwoarang tag move, leaving Marshall Law on the floor defeated.

  My last fight saw me against one of my least favourite characters, Tiger, and Jun Kazama. As much as I tried to dodge and side step, I couldn't avoid those fast Capoeira kicks and bowed out of the Tournament in the Semi Finals.

  The atmosphere throughout the tournament was lively and full of good cheer, at the end of each fight combatants would shake hands and congratulate each other on a good fight. Little groups clustered around screens watching fights, playing Tank Tank Tank on Wii U or just chatting with new friends.

  It was a thoroughly enjoyable night and I hope it's one we'll repeat soon!"

  Kirsten

  "I've been a long time player of Tekken and over the years I have never got any better! But I still enjoy the Tekken as much as I did when I first played, and I wasn't as bad on the arcade machine so I jumped at the chance to play in the Tekken Tag 2 Tournament. My one and only opponent, Haydn, knocked me out in the first round which was disappointing but I was still proud that I didn't get smashed in straight away - I made him work for his victory! The final match was extremely intense with everyone gathered round 'oooh'-ing and 'ahhh'-ing as the fight progressed which made for a fantastic atmosphere!

  The setup of the event was great and having other games to try out meant there was always something to do if you didn't want to watch the tournament fights. One of those was Ni No Kuni which, as a big Studio Ghibli fan, I was really looking forward to getting my hands on and now after a short play on it, I'll definitely be buying it at launch! It was a shame that due to a technical fault I didn't get to try out Dragonball Z Kinect though. Being able to chat to some of the people from our game community was fun too and I've picked up a few more people to follow on Twitter as a result! These type of social events are always great for bringing people with similar interests together and I love taking part in them!

  I had a brilliant time and can only hope the guys who came along to compete and play had even half as much fun as I did!! I really hope this is the first of many community events for us, you'll definitely see me at the others if it is!"

  All in all, the Tekken Tag Tournament 2 event was a roaring success, and we're certain it will be the first of many community events. Maybe we'll see you at the next one?

  Published: 13/09/2012

• The Beat 'Em Up Resurgence

  
  

  

  Round 1 - Storied Reputation

  Fighting games like Tekken and SoulCalibur have enjoyed an unprecedented resurgence over the last two years. But before Mitsurugi's katana skills and Paul Phoenix's extreme hairstyle came into style, old-school gamers were playing The Way of the Exploding Fist and Yie Ar Kung-Fu on their humble ZX Spectrums and Commodore 64s. These early fighters - which were inspired by martial-arts films - then paved the way for the most important fighting game of all time.

  Street Fighter II: The World Warrior kick-started the golden era of fighting games in the early nineties. It achieved this with a cast of eight international fighters and an epic (and allegedly accidental) combo system. Street Fighter then matured into a globally adored series and inspired everything from Mortal Kombat and Killer Instinct to Virtua Fighter and Dead or Alive. But when the genre fell into decline in the years following the turn of the millennium, it seemed like the honeymoon period was finally over.

  

  Round 2 - Re-enter the Dragon Punch

  This all changed when Capcom pulled the pin on a grenade labelled Street Fighter IV in 2008 - because not only did the ensuing explosion revive the genre in spectacular style, it made it the strongest it's ever been. SFIV kept all the iconic characters and special moves from Street Fighter II, and by reworking the classic 2D controls with the new Focus and Ultra systems, it offered accessibility and depth in equal measure. But while Street Fighter IV set the benchmark, its 2010 follow-up, Super Street Fighter IV, smoothed out the kinks and offered unrivalled diversity.

  SSFIV could have been a lazy update. Instead it offered ten new faces and a choice of two Ultra Combos. This allowed each fighter to be played in two distinct styles. But Super isn't the end of the story, as it was ported onto Nintendo 3DS as Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition, and on June 7th, Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition will be released. The inclusion of Yun, Yang, Evil Ryu and Oni will bring the roster up to 39, making Arcade Edition the definitive Street Fighter.

  

  Round 3 - The New (and Old) Challengers

  Street Fighter IV was the game that led the charge, and in its wake, other fighting games followed. A particular highlight was BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger in 2009. This beautiful 2D fighter was the spiritual successor to the intense Guilty Gear series, and much like its eccentric forbearer, BlazBlue was brimming with innovation. It featured a rapid tempo and an ingenuous Drive system which made each fighter unique. Then, when BlazBlue: Continuum Shift tightened up the gameplay in 2010, BlazBlue established itself as the hardcore fighter of choice. An accomplished port of Calamity Trigger is also available for the PSP.

  But the award for “most accessible fighting game” goes to the long running Vs. Series. This Capcom-developed series began in 1996 with X-Men vs. Street Fighter. After a long hiatus, it returned to Europe last year with Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars on the Wii. But while Tatsunoko is massively popular in Japan, it only has a niche following in the West. So when Marvel vs. Capcom 3 launched earlier this year with its familiar cast of celestial wolves, bionic commandos, thunder gods and less-than-jolly green giants, it stole the show in style. Its rabid tag-team combat and X-Factor system also allowed for many astonishing combos.

  

  Round 4 - Fatal Fantasy

  Another classic that made a comeback this year is Mortal Kombat. This brutal fighter was on a slippery slope after switching haphazardly to 3D, but with a series reboot having just been released on the 360 and PS3, Mortal Kombat is back in the realm of 2D gameplay where it belongs. We get the classic Raiden torpedo dive and Liu Kang bicycle kick, as well as a new super gauge that allows for gory X-Ray attacks. But Mortal Kombat's crowning achievement is the variety of content it offers, because even after finishing the seven-hour Story Mode, a Tower of 300 challenges awaits.

  If a fully fledged narrative isn't surreal enough, how about a PSP fighting game based on Final Fantasy? Dissidia Final Fantasy is a 3D fighter that brought together the heroes and villains from Final Fantasy I through to Final Fantasy X. This allowed RPG fans to fight battles between Sephiroth and Squall using a unique combat system that centred on HP and Bravery attacks. The recent sequel, Dissidia 012 Duodecim Final Fantasy, included more characters - including Tifa and Yuna from Final Fantasy VII and X - as well as a significantly expanded single-player mode.

  

  Round 5 - Fight for the Future

  When you add all these excellent games to the likes of Tekken 6, The King of Fighters XII, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny, it's clear that fighting game fans are being spoilt for choice. But what's next for the genre?

  In the coming months we'll see the release of Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus on the Wii and PSP (May 6th), the manga-inspired Arcana Heart 3 on the PS3 and 360 (June 24th) and Dead or Alive Dimensions joining Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition on the new Nintendo 3DS (May 20th).

  After that, we have the Capcom-developed Street Fighter X Tekken to look forward to next year, as well as the long awaited Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and the Namco Bandai-developed Tekken X Street Fighter. All in all, there's never been a better time to own an arcade stick!

  Published: 01/04/2012

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