Tekken 2

Tekken 2

PlayStation cover
Developer(s) Namco
Publisher(s) Namco
Director(s) Masamichi Abe
Producer(s) Hajime Nakatani
Composer(s) Yoshie Arakawa
Yoshie Takayanagi
Series Tekken
Platform(s) Arcade, PlayStation,
PlayStation 2 (as part of Tekken 5's Arcade History mode), PlayStation Network, Zeebo (via ZeeboNet 3G),[1] Verizon mobile phones
Release date(s) Arcade
August 1995 (TES2/VER.A)
September 29, 1995 (TES2/VER.B and TES3/VER.B)
  • NA April 26, 1996 (Ver. B)
PlayStation
  • JP March 29, 1996
  • EU October 1996
PlayStation 2 (Tekken 5)
  • JP March 31, 2005
  • NA February 24, 2005
  • PAL June 24, 2005
PlayStation Network
  • JP November 11, 2006
  • NA December 4, 2006 (PSP)
  • NA May 3, 2007 (PS3)
  • PAL August 4, 2010
Genre(s) Fighting game
Mode(s) Up to two players
Cabinet Upright
Arcade system Namco System 11

Tekken 2 (鉄拳2) is the second installment in the popular Tekken fighting game series. It was first released in arcades in 1995, and later released for the PlayStation in 1996. The original arcade version of the game was released in Tekken 5 's Arcade History mode for the PlayStation 2, in 2007 for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable via the PlayStation Network, and in 2009 for Zeebo via ZeeboNet. It was succeeded by the popular Tekken 3, which came in 1997.

Gameplay

The gameplay in Tekken 2 is much like its predecessor with a few additions. It continues to use 2D backgrounds in its stages, an infinite playing field, and a fighting system that utilises four buttons: left punch, right punch, left kick, and right kick. Distinct additions included attack reversals for some characters, back throws, chain-throws, and a sidestep unique to two characters, Kazuya Mishima and Heihachi Mishima; However, Yoshimitsu has a spinning sidestep move that lowers his health. Tackles were also modified to inflict damage when running from a greater distance. Each time the game is beaten with one of the default available characters in arcade mode, the associated sub-boss character becomes selectable.

Tekken 2 also introduced various modes that would become staples to the series. These include Survival mode, Team Battle mode and Time Attack mode. Survival mode takes the player through an endless number of matches to see how many opponent they can defeat without being defeated themselves. In addition, any health lost during a match will carry over to the next match, but the player would regain a little bit more health. Team Battle mode is a two-player mode which up to eight characters can be selected by each player. Like Survival mode, any health lost during a match will carry over to the next match, but the player will regain a little bit. Time Attack mode is similar to Arcade mode, except it is played to see how fast the player can go through it and beat records.

Plot

Two years after the events of the King of the Iron Fist Tournament, the Mishima Zaibatsu, under the leadership of Kazuya Mishima, has become even more corrupt and powerful than ever before and involved in many illegal operations. These include kidnapping, extortion and smuggling endangered animal species for illegal experiments. Kazuya is backed by the Devil, which inhabits his body and is trying to take over his mind. Meanwhile, animal rights activist and operative Jun Kazama is sent to arrest Kazuya for his experiments.

Kazuya's father, Heihachi, whom Kazuya had defeated and thrown off a cliff after the previous tournament, has climbed back up and is training himself, plotting to overthrow Kazuya. In an attempt to rid himself of Heihachi and his enemies once and for all, Kazuya announces the King of the Iron Fist Tournament 2, with a large cash prize of one trillion dollars, knowing that Heihachi would appear.

Jun Kazama eventually comes face to face with Kazuya, but rather than arresting him, she finds herself drawn to him. She later became pregnant, with Kazuya having fathered her child. Meanwhile, Heihachi arrives at the tournament, winning against the opposing fighters and eventually reaching Kazuya.

In the final round, Heihachi confronts Kazuya and they battle once again. Devil takes over Kazuya's body, resulting in Kazuya becoming a Devil creature. Despite his advantages, Kazuya is defeated by Heihachi because of the internal conflict within him (between his evil side - represented by Devil - and his good side - represented by Angel - which was brought forth after his meeting with Jun Kazama). Heihachi then takes Kazuya's body to a volcano, and drops him into it to kill him. Heihachi then escapes on a helicopter as the volcano erupts behind him, having finally taken his revenge and regaining the Mishima Zaibatsu back, with Kazuya presumably dead.

Characters

The game features 16 characters from the previous game: Anna Williams, Armor King, Ganryu, Heihachi Mishima, Kazuya Mishima, King II, Kuma, Kunimitsu, Lee Chaolan, Marshall Law, Michelle Chang, Nina Williams, P. Jack, Paul Phoenix, Wang Jinrei, and Yoshimitsu. Characters previously appearing as sub-bosses (such as Anna being Nina's sub-boss) are made into playable characters and given more distinct move sets, although they still share many moves with the originals. Devil Kazuya, originally a bonus palette swap of Kazuya reserved for the home version of the first game, is also made as a full playable character and serves as this game's final boss.

In addition to returning characters, the game also introduces 8 new characters: Baek Doo San, a Tae Kwon Do practitioner who participates in the tournament to challenge Marshall Law, Bruce Irvin, a Muay Thai kickboxer who suffers from amnesia and is now serving as one of Kazuya's personal bodyguards, Lei Wulong, a Hong Kong cop practicing Five Animals Kung-Fu who is sent to arrest Kazuya, Jack-2, an updated Jack model who replaces the previous Jack and is sent to battle P. Jack, Jun Kazama, a mixed martial artist and animal rights activist also sent to arrest Kazuya, Roger and Alex, a duo of genetically-altered boxing kangaroo and dromaeosauridae respectively and serve as palette swaps of each other, and Angel, a mysterious entity connected to Kazuya who serves as Devil Kazuya's palette swap and is also his final boss.

Playables characters:

Alex (acts as a costume swap of Roger, unlockable) (new)
Angel (Final Boss for Devil) (acts as a costume swap of Devil, unlockable) (new)
Anna Williams (Nina's sub-boss) (unlockable)
Armor King I (King I's sub-boss) (unlockable)
Baek Doo San (Marshall's sub-boss) (unlockable) (new)
Bruce Irvin (Lei's sub-boss) (unlockable) (new)
Devil (Final Boss, unlockable)
Ganryu (Michelle's sub-boss) (unlockable)

Heihachi Mishima
Jack-2 (new)
Jun Kazama (new)
Kazuya Mishima (unlockable)
King I
Kuma I (Paul's sub-boss) (unlockable)
Kunimitsu (Yoshimitsu's sub-boss) (unlockable)
Lee Chaolan (Heihachi's sub-boss) (unlockable)
Lei Wulong (new)

Marshall Law
Michelle Chang
Nina Williams
P. Jack (Jack-2's sub-boss) (unlockable)
Paul Phoenix
Roger (unlockable) (new)
Wang Jinrei (Jun's sub-boss) (unlockable)
Yoshimitsu

Music

The music in Tekken 2 was composed by Yoshie Arakawa and Yoshie Takayanagi.

Release

Tekken 2's port to the PlayStation is considered to be vastly superior in content to its arcade counterpart. Aside from unique CGI endings for every character, it featured numerous modes such as Survival, Time Attack, Team Battle, and a Practice Mode. It also contained remixed music, like the port of the first game.

The PlayStation 2 version of Tekken 5 features the arcade version of Tekken 2 (Ver. B) as a playable bonus. Tekken 2 standalone is available for PlayStation 3 users to download onto the PSP.[3] However, multiplayer options have been removed. As of system upgrade 1.70, Tekken 2 can now also be downloaded onto and played on the PlayStation 3[4] and on Zeebo.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGame[5]
GameSpot9.2/10[6]
The Video Game CriticA- [7]

Tekken 2 was a bestseller in the UK.[8] It was also acclaimed, with a current 92.5% rating at Game Rankings.[9] GameSpot, which gave the game 9.2 out of 10, praised the game's graphics and fluid character movement.[10] IGN, which rated the game 9 out of 10, also praised the graphics.[11]

Electronic Gaming Monthly awarded it "Best Arcade Game" of 1995.[12] In 1996, Next Generation ranked it as the 22nd top game of all time overall.[13] In 1997, PSM named the PlayStation port of Tekken 2 one of the "Top 25 PlayStation Games of All Time" at number three, describing it as "better than the arcade version" in many regards due to added features, and "one of the best fighting games ever".[14] Tekken 2 placed 59th on Game Informer '​s "Top 100 Games of All Time" in 2001.[15]

References

  1. Zeebo Brazil - games
  2. "The Wait Is Over! Namco's Highly Anticipated Release of Tekken 2 Sets a New PlayStation Sales Benchmark". PR Newswire. August 27, 1996. Retrieved 2011-05-16.
  3. "PSP port details". Gamespot.com. 1969-12-31. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
  4. PlayStation 3 port details
  5. Deci, TJl. "Tekken 2 -Overview". Allgame. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  6. Mac Donald, Ryan. "Tekken 2 Review". Gamespot. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  7. "The Video Game Critic's NES Reviews". videogamecritic.net. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  8. Gallup UK Playstation sales chart, November 1996, published in Official UK PlayStation Magazine issue 12
  9. "Gamerankings". Gamerankings. 1996-08-25. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
  10. "GameSpot review". Gamespot.com. 1996-08-25. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
  11. "IGN review". Psx.ign.com. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
  12. "Electronic Gaming Monthly's Buyer's Guide". 1996.
  13. Next Generation 21 (September 1996), p.67.
  14. Staff (September 1997). "Top 25 PlayStation Games of All Time". PSM 1 (1): 34.
  15. Game Informer staff (August 2001). "The Top 100 Games of All Time". Game Informer. Game Informer Magazine. Retrieved 2010-03-13.

External links