Tekken Tag Tournament

"A great expansion of Tekken 3, but I wish they had gone farther. Solid gameplay you can't beat if you like the Tekken engine, a tideover game."

Score: 8

Note, I'd score this a 9 if you haven't already played so much Tekken so as to be sick of it. It's just that the game and its play are nothing new or innovative other than the little tag feature, so I can't really bring myself to give this a 9. The gameplay itself is rock solid though, and although I would prefer some changes be made to the game, there really isn't too much to find real fault with.

Overall
This game is really an extended and improved Tekken 3 with more characters, each of whom have a few new moves. A couple have a lot, and a few have pretty much none, but by and large most ''new'' characters have several, but not a lot.

The game is also much better balanced IMO than Tekken 2 or Tekken 3, and while it still leaves much to be desired, it is a significant improvement overall. For example, Lee and Kunimitsu still seem too underpowered, and Paul and Bruce still seem too overpowered. However, Kazuya isn't the insane powerhouse he was in Tekken 2, (doesn't have a 95% combo anymore) nor is anyone else quite so overpowering, though some characters definitely seem better than others.

Graphics
Really quite good, but nothing outstanding or noteworthy given these graphics were around when Tekken 3 came out several years ago. I hear the PS2 version is going to be a real treat though, and am expecting something of the same thing as Namco did with Soul Calibur, which is to say stunning graphics that blow away the arcade game's.

Music/Sound
Good, but again nothing particularly noteworthy. You get the typical grunts, yells, and Kiai's, and the background music is okay but nothing too memorable IMO.

Gameplay
The gameplay is excellent, with possibly a few minor quibbles on my part. However, it is also nothing new, so get ready for some more of the tried & tested gameplay from Tekken 3, with nothing really innovative, since this game was probably put together relatively quickly to tide us over until Tekken 4. This is pretty much stock Tekken control, so air combos are not escapable, and sidestepping is less free and useful than in Soul Calibur, say. Still it is very good and is definitely one of the best fighting game engines out there IMO. The gameplay is also more refined and deep, in a relatively linear-fighting game sense. (this is the fourth game using this engine, after all) Just about everything can be escaped except for air combos/juggles - reversals can be reversed, few throws cannot be escaped including multi-parts, you can usually poke your way out of combos or block them, etc.

Personally I think it's very good as a filler game, as some of my favorite characters from Tekken 2 have returned, most notably Lee, Armor King, and Kazuya. (Jin lovers can take a hike, Kaz rules :P) The gameplay is also quite reliant on ticking, poking, and combos in addition to basic moves, so if you're not into this type of play you may not like this game. Attack strings and short canned combos are the norm, as is poking and jabbing to interrupt them.

Control
The control is excellent, however when it comes out on the PS2, you'll probably want to get a joystick as some conventions are extremely difficult to pull off using a controller, if not downright impossible. Even more so in the heat of battle. Still it's right on for the more conventional moves, even with a controller.

Characters
The much larger variety in characters is a good thing IMO, as many of the returning characters from Tekken 2 did not really have a true clone in Tekken 3. Bruce would be one major example as he plays quite different from Bryan, and Baek also plays quite differently from Hwoarang. Then there are characters like Michelle who just seem like a superior or inferior version of another character, Julia in this case, where there doesn't seem to be much major difference. In a nutshell, the wide variety of characters is about right, but just about all of the returning characters should have had more new moves to differentiate them and give them their own style opposed to being a spin off of their 'original'.

Irritants
I was very annoyed when I saw the replays have been cut supremely short so they can play 4 times instead. If I get a cool or flashy finish to a match, I want to be able to see the replay of my cool move, not just the 1/2 second where it connects. This goes for the end of the game too - I would've strongly preferred to see one extended replay of the end of each match instead of 3 or 4 super quickies.

Things To Improve
For the most part, the cast returning from Tekken 2 should've had more new individual moves. Armor King is a good example of one who they did a pretty good job on with his new Crouch Dash Forward enders, and his new multiparts, combined with a number of other new attacks. Lee is someone who needed a little more IMO, while Kunimitsu and Michelle both seem almost unchanged except for a handful of moves. Just about every character could use more attacks from sidesteps that are useful, particularly some who don't have any should at least have a few even if they're not that good.

I'd also like to see more unique animations for different characters depending which character they're paired with. I find it's really cool and sometimes funny to see interesting warm-up sequences such as Heihachi & Kuma, Paul & Kuma, Ling & Panda, etc. Same goes for defeated sequences like King & Armor King, Bryan & Anna, etc.

New outfits are also usually cool, I really like Michelle's new outfit, and Anna's and Jun's, but I wish they'd make more of them for more characters. Kazuya could've used one or two, same for Lee, Armor King, King could've gotten his suspenders and tie back, Heihachi could've had his karate outfit, etc. IMO, more variety is good and I don't think it's that hard to do.

Summary
Tekken Tag Tournament is really just an expanded Tekken 3 with more characters who have some more moves and a tag team option. If you feel like playing Tekken 3, you'll probably like it a lot, if you didn't like Tekken 3 or are tired of it, you should probably play something else.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/03/00, Updated 03/03/00