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Tekken Tag Tournament

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Tekken Tag Tournament
Developer(s)Namco
Publisher(s)Namco
Director(s)Katsuhiro Harada (voice actor[2][3][4][5])
Platform(s)Arcade, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3
ReleaseArcade
July 1999[1]
PlayStation 2
  • JPN: March 30, 2000
  • NA: October 25, 2000
  • EUR: November 24, 2000
PlayStation 3
  • NA: November 22, 2011
  • EUR: November 25, 2011
  • JP: December 1, 2011
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)Single player, multiplayer
Arcade systemNamco System 12

Tekken Tag Tournament (鉄拳タッグトーナメント, Tekken Taggu Tōnamento) (commonly abbreviated as Tekken Tag and TTT)[6] is the fourth installment in the popular Tekken fighting game series. It, however, is not canonical to the Tekken storyline. The game was originally available as an update kit for Tekken 3. Tekken Tag Tournament was originally released as an arcade game before it was ported to the PlayStation 2. The arcade version operated similarly, but ran on a 32 bit graphics engine like Tekken 3. It received upgraded graphics when it was ported to the PlayStation 2. It, along with Tekken 4 and Soulcalibur II, was re-released in 2008 as a part of Namco Classic Fighter Collection. After 10 years, a sequel has been announced named Tekken Tag Tournament 2.

A remastered version of the game titled Tekken Tag Tournament HD was released for PlayStation 3 in November 2011, as part of a Tekken Hybrid disc which also includes the 3D movie, Tekken: Blood Vengeance, and a demo version of Tekken Tag Tournament 2.

Gameplay

Continuing the fighting mechanics from Tekken 3, Tekken Tag sees players battling in teams of two characters. At any point in the match, the player can hit a tag button to swap out with their other fighter, allowing the resting fighter to recover some lost health. The tag can be implimented in many ways, such as inbetween combos or utilising special throws. At times when a resting fighter's is flashing, that character can be tagged in to be given a temporary boost in strength. Unlike other tag games such as Capcom's Vs. series, players are defeated when only one of their fighters lose all their health, requiring players to be strategic about tagging their fighters. In the event of a timeout, the team with the most accumulative health remaining wins the round.

The game features over 35 characters that have previously appeared in Tekken 2 and Tekken 3. In addition, there is a boss character, Unknown, who is similar to Tekken 3's Mokujin in that she can randomly imitate any character's fighting style, albeit she is able to change her style any time during the fight. The PlayStation 2 version added enhanced graphics and various modes, including 1-on-1 mode, in which players only choose one fighter each, and Team Battle, where players choose up to eight battles and play with the tag rules, with each new character replacing the one that was defeated (the remaining fighter must fight on his/her own). Also featured is "Tekken Bowl" mode, a bowling minigame where each character has different attributes.

Plot

Tekken Tag Tournament, being a non-canon game, features no storyline. It is more of a compilation of the Tekken series giving fans the opportunity to play as almost every character in the series up to that point, including many of those that had apparently been missing in the main Tekken storyline. Of all the returning characters, Kazuya Mishima was the most heavily promoted, since he featured prominently on the game's cover art and promotional material, despite his absence from the previous entry in the Tekken series (he would return in Tekken 4). When Arcade mode is completed, a real-time ending is shown over the credits for the main character (i.e. the first character chosen when selecting the two fighters). The exception to this is Unknown's ending, which is a FMV.

Character roster

Returning characters

New characters

  • Tetsujin (unlockable)
  • Unknown (Final boss, playable only in PlayStation 2 release and PlayStation 3 remaster)

The only absent characters in the game that were playable in previous entries of the series are: the original Jack, King I, Kuma Sr., Marshall Law, Dr. Boskonovitch and Gon. Boskonovitch, however, makes a cameo appearance in the Tekken Bowl mode as a spectator.

Arcade and console version differences

The arcade and console versions of Tekken Tag Tournament differ slightly. The arcade version ran on a 32-bit engine, utilizing the graphics engine of Tekken 3. These graphics ran using the Tekken 3 PCB board, based on the PlayStation hardware. The console version ran on a highly updated engine, utilizing the PlayStation 2's graphics processor. The game doesn't run on a 32-bit engine, yet on a new and updated engine highly similar to that found on Tekken 4. The background designs and BGMs differed too, as the console version had new updated tracks, while the arcade version was based on MIDI tracks with an instrumental backing. Unknown is not playable on the arcade version, yet the character is on the PlayStation 2 version. The arcade version also allowed players to only select the alternative colours that have been added to the costumes although the artwork of some characters shows their normal coloured clothes. There are also crucial differences concerning the playability of the characters. Some moves or attacks are much more efficient in the arcade version than in the console version and vice versa.

Tekken Tag Tournament HD

Tekken Tag Tournament HD is a remastered version of Tekken Tag Tournament, released in November 2011. The game comes on the same Blu-ray Disc as Tekken: Blood Vengeance and will be accessible if the disc is loaded on a PlayStation 3 (the entire package is referred to as Tekken Hybrid). The game is based on the PlayStation 2 version and features updated HD visuals, similar to the God of War Collection or The Sly Collection. The game includes Trophy support.

Reception

Tekken Tag received positive reviews with critics. GameSpot giving it a 9.6 out of 10. It has an aggregate score of 85 on Metacritic. IGN gave it an 8.7 out of 10 praising its graphics and character moves. In 2007, IGN listed Tekken Tag Tournament as the 23rd best game on the PlayStation 2.[7] As of 2008 PSM states Tekken Tag is regarded as the best installment in the series. In an article by GamePro Tekken Tag Tournament was praised for its visuals stating such things as, "The fighting backgrounds were also astounding-especially Eddy Gordo's stage where you could see individual blades of grass!"[8] Tekken Tag has sold 4.63 million copies worldwide.

Cult Status

Tekken Tag being the only game in the franchise with the unique Tag style has remained a popular choice for fans despite its age. There is a growing trend for fans to gather for organised Events. These events are played up using a Pro Wrestling style of promotion, including nicknames and hype videos. Fights are determined based on Rankings and has led to official Rankings pages showing up on various sites.[9]

Legacy

A sequel for Tekken Tag, titled Tekken Tag Tournament 2, was announced at the Tokyo Game Show 2010 on September 18, 2010. The game will expand on the previous game's tag mechanics, allowing for more flowing tag combos and combined moves, inherit some gameplay mechanics from Tekken 6, and feature characters from more recent Tekken games. It has currently been announced for a Japanese release in Summer 2011 (though was delayed to Autumn 2011 following the Great East Japan Earthquake), with other regions and platforms yet to be announced.[10] Tekken Tag Tournament 2 will be released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 for the holiday season of 2012.

A free Tekken Bowl app based on the game's bonus mode was released on iOS on July 23, 2011.[11]

References

  1. ^ http://www.tekken-official.jp/history/index.html
  2. ^ "Harada talking about character's voice acting pt1". Twitter. 2010-10-16. Retrieved 2010-10-30.
  3. ^ "Harada talking about character's voice acting pt2". Twitter. 2010-10-16. Retrieved 2010-10-30.
  4. ^ "Harada talking about character's voice acting pt3". Twitter. 2010-10-16. Retrieved 2010-10-30.
  5. ^ "Harada talking about character's voice acting pt4". Twitter. 2010-10-16. Retrieved 2010-10-30.
  6. ^ "Hands-on: Tekken Tag Tournament". GameSpot. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
  7. ^ "IGN: The Top 25 PS2 Games of All Time". IGN.com. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); |archive-url= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  8. ^ Paul, Prince (2000-11-24). "Playstation 2: A System for the Millennium? (Page 2)". GamePro. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2009-12-12.
  9. ^ http://beatlesonthemoon.blogspot.com/2010/09/tekken-tag-tournament-official-rankings.html
  10. ^ http://kotaku.com/5641494/first-tekken-tag-2-tournament-trailer
  11. ^ http://kotaku.com/5824159/tekken-bowl-comes-to-iphone-ipad-totally-free
Preceded by Tekken Series
2000-2001 		Succeeded by
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