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TEKKEN 2 (PS)
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Publisher: Sony.
Developer: Namco. Released: October 1996 (Europe). Genre: 3D Fighter. Posted 17th June 2021. By Tom Clare © 2021 |
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So enormous an impact did Street Fighter II have in popularising one-v-one fighters in the arcades and the home, that its legacy left something of a vacuum. The Japanese brawler would form the cast-iron blueprint for its genre, yielding innumerable imitators in the years that followed. The trouble was, many would ape its style a little too directly, whilst Capcom tested the goodwill of less committed fans with a sequence of piecemeal revamps including Hyper Fighting and Super Street Fighter II which, whilst decent enough on their own, offered little in the way of new content. More significantly, it was clear that for the remainder of the 16-bit era, Street Fighter III was not a priority for Capcom.
Thus it was left to others to help the genre take the next step. Mortal Kombat experimented with digitised sprites and violent finishers, whilst Virtua Fighter represented the first major steps in bringing the fighter genre into the 3D arena. However, it was Tekken 2 that would eventually take on the baton, the 3D fighter that represented the true evolution gamers had been looking for. Its stunning 3D combat played out with lavishly animated brawlers battling on grand, gorgeous stages. This was a major draw, with T2 exhibiting a level of presentation that was suddenly a league ahead of all of its rivals. T2 signalled a move away from small selections of ultra-fast, ultra-elaborate move inputs to allow instead for more instinctive combos. Suddenly, even relatively inexperienced players could find quick rewards for instinctive timing and learning each character’s prodigious move sets.
Stunning visuals and first-class animations allow all of Tekken 2 moves to pack a punch
In this regard, Tekken 2 was a revelation. Namco smartly attributed the PlayStation’s face buttons to the characters’ four limbs, meaning learning combos was intuitive and hugely rewarding. In every respect, it represented a sizeable step forward from the original game. As well as an expanded roster, each fighter was furnished with considerably more detail, featured far more convincing movement and hit with greater dynamism, whilst the speed of the game and the responsiveness of the controls were also noticeably improved.
To this day, Tekken 2 retains a sublime selection of characters. You’ll find wrestlers, policemen and sinister crime lords fighting on the same card as cyborg ninjas, boxing kangaroos and grizzly bears. Pretty much all of them are deadly in the right hands, but off the bat, you’ll want to get acquainted with Law (Bruce Lee reincarnated), Lei (a mimic of the unorthodox fighting style Jackie Chan honed in Drunken Master and the Police Story films) and Nina Williams (an agent with few weaknesses, proving fast and effective with both kicks and punches). Once you’re up to speed, you can tackle the more unorthodox choices such as Jack-2, a seemingly cumbersome robot whose appearance hides some deadly moves, and Ganryu, a sumo wrestler with surprisingly quick hands and a cool move set.
To this day, Tekken 2 retains a sublime selection of characters. You’ll find wrestlers, policemen and sinister crime lords fighting on the same card as cyborg ninjas, boxing kangaroos and grizzly bears. Pretty much all of them are deadly in the right hands, but off the bat, you’ll want to get acquainted with Law (Bruce Lee reincarnated), Lei (a mimic of the unorthodox fighting style Jackie Chan honed in Drunken Master and the Police Story films) and Nina Williams (an agent with few weaknesses, proving fast and effective with both kicks and punches). Once you’re up to speed, you can tackle the more unorthodox choices such as Jack-2, a seemingly cumbersome robot whose appearance hides some deadly moves, and Ganryu, a sumo wrestler with surprisingly quick hands and a cool move set.
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Whilst Tekken 3 is widely regarded to have perfected the formula, it’s still worth returning to T2 because several significant fighters didn’t make the third instalment. Kunimitsu, a ninja specialising in short-range attacks. The stylish eco-warrior Michelle. The iconic, doomed pairing of Jun and Kazuya. Perhaps the most compelling reason to return to Tekken 2 however is for taekwondo fighter Baek, whose repertoire of thrilling, relentless kick combos and satisfying flurries make him one of the finest characters to have graced a fighter of this kind.
For PlayStation, T2 was a true killer app. It looked tremendous, leagues ahead of the Saturn’s Virtua Fighter outings and rivalling even its competitor’s arcade outings for visual splendour. A stunning range of battle arenas is ably backed by dynamic cameras that show off a dazzling array of throws. Moves fizz with energy, with electric charges, puffs of blood and even flashes of fire accompanying the super-powered wind-up moves. Every character sports an additional costume, which was nothing new of course, but they’re far more than mere palette swaps: Lei for example can don traditional Chinese garb or his police uniform. Dig around and you’ll discover that Roger the kangaroo’s alternative is a whole different character, Alex the boxing dinosaur, complete with his own unique ending. The final boss, Devil, has an alter-ego in Angel, as the two mimic the fighting styles of Kazuya and Jun respectively, albeit with the additional benefit of superpowered laser-beam eyes, as you do.
For PlayStation, T2 was a true killer app. It looked tremendous, leagues ahead of the Saturn’s Virtua Fighter outings and rivalling even its competitor’s arcade outings for visual splendour. A stunning range of battle arenas is ably backed by dynamic cameras that show off a dazzling array of throws. Moves fizz with energy, with electric charges, puffs of blood and even flashes of fire accompanying the super-powered wind-up moves. Every character sports an additional costume, which was nothing new of course, but they’re far more than mere palette swaps: Lei for example can don traditional Chinese garb or his police uniform. Dig around and you’ll discover that Roger the kangaroo’s alternative is a whole different character, Alex the boxing dinosaur, complete with his own unique ending. The final boss, Devil, has an alter-ego in Angel, as the two mimic the fighting styles of Kazuya and Jun respectively, albeit with the additional benefit of superpowered laser-beam eyes, as you do.
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Tekken 2 managed to conjure an arcade experience in the home, with incredible longevity unlike that of any other 3D fighter of the time
Tekken 2 introduced to the one-vs-one fighter genre a structured longevity the genre had, until this point, struggled to nail down. For starters, it doesn’t place all of its reliance on a phenomenal two-player versus mode, though I should point out that this alone elevates it above most fighting games of its day. It was arguably the first fighter to cater fully to a single-player experience, too. The Arcade mode yields a brilliant array of humorous, poignant, crazy and exciting FMV sequences as a reward for completing the game with each of its twenty-plus combatants. Playing this mode for the endings is a perfect way to learn each character’s style and move set, with the pause menu providing easy access to a characters compendium of moves. In addition, there’s mainstays such as Time Attack and Survival modes, as well as the superlative Team Battle, a mode the series has never failed to deliver on.
Very often, you’d end up playing for hours on your own, mesmerised in the magical process of unlocking new characters, testing out their combos and enjoying the wow factor of executing some of their trickier, signature moves. It’s easy to forget that this was almost unheard from a fighter at the time. T2 felt so much more accessible than what had gone before it. There wasn’t the barrier of having to practice for hours to enjoy a few competitive bouts with a friend. But it was never lacking for depth either, with so many nuances to learn and hundreds of brilliantly captured, crushing attacks to master. WipEout is always most readily associated as the ‘cool’ game of the mid-nineties, but its likely Tekken 2 did just as much to lure new gamers into the PlayStation fold. Absolutely spectacular.
Very often, you’d end up playing for hours on your own, mesmerised in the magical process of unlocking new characters, testing out their combos and enjoying the wow factor of executing some of their trickier, signature moves. It’s easy to forget that this was almost unheard from a fighter at the time. T2 felt so much more accessible than what had gone before it. There wasn’t the barrier of having to practice for hours to enjoy a few competitive bouts with a friend. But it was never lacking for depth either, with so many nuances to learn and hundreds of brilliantly captured, crushing attacks to master. WipEout is always most readily associated as the ‘cool’ game of the mid-nineties, but its likely Tekken 2 did just as much to lure new gamers into the PlayStation fold. Absolutely spectacular.
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VERDICT
"A watershed moment for the fighter genre. Tekken 2 was incredible, offering an arcade experience in the home, with a stunning roster and a selection of modes that granted it unparalled longevity." OVERALL: 10/10 |