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Tekken Tag Tournament |
PS2 |
||
Review by Matt Paprocki |
Namco |
Fighting |
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Graphics: 9 |
Sound: 6 |
Gameplay: 6 |
Overall: 7 |
| Tekken is a series always up for debate. Scour the countless video game
message boards across the world known as the internet and your bound to find countless
arguments pertaining to the series. Is it great? Is it a mindless button masher? Is it a
series that has failed to evolve? There we have it. The storyline here is meaningless. All you need to know is that a group of the best fighters in the world are about to enter into a tournament. I'm sure there's more to it, but does it really matter? Tekken Tag has one new, much hyped feature....uh, tagging. Players can swap in another fighter when things get difficult. It's a great feature, but hardly innovative. Capcom perfected it with their numerous Vs. series of games that have been huge with the 2-D fight fans. The gameplay, button Config, and everything else remain the same. Enjoyment depends entirely on your passion for the rather stiff gameplay style the game provides. This is a very lenient fighter, allowing a lot of room for error and still allowing players to pull out the fight. The game retains the same mainstream feel and easy access for newbies, though there is certainly some depth for those willing to spend some time with it. Oh, and don't worry, there are still plenty of extras to keep the replay value high. For a launch title, this one hardly looks dated. The flowing grass, spectacular character models, and shockingly good backgrounds add up to an intense visual experience. Though some of the backgrounds are actually rendered video, it's never very obvious and only the most keen-eyed gamers will pick out the flaws. The lighting effects are also some of the best on the console. Special credit (as always it seems) goes to Namco's CG team for an awe-inspiring intro. Music and sound effects are on par with the rest of the series. A few of the music tracks are catchy, the rest are lost to my favorite "punch connecting" sound effect in the industry. Those of you with a subwoofer will be pleased to hear the intense bass this one pumps out during gameplay. The rest will find everything to be adequate and nothing more. Tekken is not a game for everybody. Die-hard fighting games have disowned it from the day it was released for it's lack of skill compared to it's counterpart, Sega's Virtua Fighter. Tekken Tag will do little (or nothing) to turn these people around, but fans of the series should be most pleased. |