| File:300px-Tekkentag.jpg |
| Developer: Namco |
| Publisher: Namco |
| Producer: Katsuhiro Harada |
| Platform: Arcade, PlayStation 2 |
| Release date: Arcade
PlayStation 2 PlayStation 3 (Tekken Hybrid)
|
| Genre: Fighting |
| Mode: Single-player, Multiplayer |
| Arcade System: Namco System 12 |
Tekken Tag Tournament (鉄拳タッグトーナメント Tekken Taggu Tōnamento) is an update of Tekken 3 and is the fourth installment in the popular Tekken fighting game series. It is not canonical to the Tekken storyline however. The game was originally available as an update kit for Tekken 3.
Tekken Tag Tournament was originally for the arcade before a release 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 home system. Tekken Tag Tournament is one of the two games in the series to be released in an alternate cover. Though not the most critically acclaimed game in the series, it is one of the most popular games in the series, critical and fan reception of Tekken 3 not withstanding, possibly due to the tag system and the fan favorite Tekken Bowl mode.
Although being a launch title for the PS2, a then-massively hyped console due to the success of its predecessor, currently the highest selling console of all-time beating even its successor, the PlayStation 3 (which although successful, is beaten in sales even by the original Playstation) and successor to the highly successful PlayStation probably helped its success.
Gameplay
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Tekken Tag Tournament Logo
Tekken Tag Tournament, being the first Tekken title for the PlayStation 2, featured vastly detailed graphics and great music. It was also notable for having the largest character roster in the series, boasting an extravagant 39 characters, all returning from the previous installments in the series, save for Unknown, the boss character in this game, Dr B. (appears in the game, but is not playable) and Gon, the dinosaur from Tekken 3. Finally, its most important feature is its tag system. A player selects two characters and may tag out between them to utilize special combos and throws. When in Team Battle mode, the fights are also tag fights unless there is one person left on a team where they will fight alone.
Tekken Tag Tournament included a minigame called "Tekken Bowl", that challenged the player to use a team of characters to play a bowling game. Depending on the player's selected character, different attributes would be placed into effect in the mini-game. For example, Bryan Fury has a powerful roll due to his super strength, and he can use a targeting system to make more accurate shots because of his cybernetic enhancements. A physically weaker character like Julia Chang would have a much less powerful strike, but would be easier to control when placing the spin and amount of force on the ball. Yoshimitsu also has a targeting ability, which can control how straight the ball goes, making him one of the easiest to control characters of Tekken Bowl.
Story
Tekken Tag Tournament is a non-canon game which means it has no storyline. According to Namco, it brought back the characters that did not return to Tekken 3: Jun Kazama, Baek Doo San, Bruce Irvin and Kunimitsu. Their ages were still the same from the previous Tekken games. 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 killed off in the main Tekken storyline. Of all the returning characters, Kazuya Mishima was the most heavily promoted, since he was featured prominently on the game's cover art and promotional material; despite his absence from the previous entry in the Tekken series.
Characters
| Initial characters |
|---|
| Anna Williams |
| Armor King I |
| Baek Doo San |
| Bryan Fury |
| Eddy Gordo |
| Forest Law |
| Ganryu |
| Gun Jack |
| Heihachi Mishima |
| Hwoarang |
| Jin Kazama |
| Julia Chang |
| Jun Kazama |
| King II |
| Lei Wulong |
| Ling Xiaoyu |
| Michelle Chang |
| Nina Williams |
| Paul Phoenix |
| Tiger Jackson (acts as a costume swap of Eddy) |
| Yoshimitsu |
| Unlockable characters |
|---|
| Alex (acts as a costume swap of Roger) |
| Angel (acts as a costume swap of Devil) |
| Bruce Irvin |
| Devil Kazuya |
| Jack-2 |
| Kazuya Mishima |
| Kuma |
| Kunimitsu |
| Lee Chaolan |
| Mokujin |
| Ogre |
| Panda (acts as a costume swap of Kuma) |
| Prototype Jack |
| Roger |
| True Ogre |
| Wang Jinrei |
| New characters |
|---|
| Tetsujin (unlockable, acts as a costume swap of Mokujin) |
| Unknown (unlockable, unplayable in arcade version, playable in the PS2 version) |
Stages
| Stage |
|---|
| Jin-A |
| Jin-B |
| School-A |
| School-B |
| Xiaoyu |
| Hwoarang |
| Eddy-A |
| Eddy-B |
| Law-A |
| Law-B |
| Lei |
| King |
| Nina-A |
| Nina-B |
| Yoshimitsu-A |
| Yoshimitsu-B |
| Heihachi |
| Ogre |
| Unknown |
Videos
Tekken Tag Tournament HD
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Tekken Tag Tournament HD is a high-definition update to the original game. It was included in Tekken Hybrid and showcased enhanced graphics and included achievements/trophies. What's different from this version and the PS2 version is that the One on One mode has been removed.
Gallery
Trivia
- Tekken Tag Tournament is notable for these distinctions:
- It is the only game to feature a licensed car; in this case, the Honda S2000 which is driven by Lee Chaolan in the first arcade intro cutscene.
- It features the highest amount of participation by the Jack robots so far, being three.
- The first appearance of the Tekken Bowl Mode.
- The first Tekken game released for the Playstation 2.
- The last game where all the stages have no walls.
- The first game since the original Tekken to have the same stage music in every character's ending. This is not the case with Unknown's ending, however, as she has different music in hers.
- The first game where the character falls into the "arched back" animation once KO'ed.
- Marshall Law is the only character that was missing from this game yet would return to the canonical games.
- Unknown is the only character in the game to have a CGI ending (all other characters use the in-game graphics).
- The chain throw combos seen in King's ending was later installed as an actual chain throw combo in Tekken 5.
- If this game wasn't non-canon, then that would mean that all the deceased characters would still be alive, like Ogre and Jun. However, this game seems like it could have been set before the events of Tekken 3 since none of the Tekken 2 characters have aged.
- The non-canonical premise of the game may have been inspired by SNK's The King of Fighters '98, which similarly ignored series canon for a "dream match" that brought back deceased and obsolete characters.
- Characters like Ogre, True Ogre, Angel, Michelle Chang, Forest Law, Alex, Prototype Jack, Unknown, Jun, etc., are not playable again until the game's sequel Tekken Tag Tournament 2, twelve years later.
- After this game, Anna Williams, Armor King, Baek Doo San, Bruce Irvin and Ganryu wouldn't appear again until Tekken 5.
- If the player pairs up Kazuya Mishima and Devil on the same team, they will morph into one another instead of tagging out of the fight.
- Many characters have special before-battle and losing poses if they are paired up with certain other characters.
- In before-battle poses, some characters will do things with/to their partner occasionally depending on the leader.
- Ling Xiaoyu is the only character in the game to have two endings. It is viewable by beating Arcade Mode in her school girl outfit. Xiaoyu also has the most outfits with an additional secret green/orange costume, only obtainable by selecting her with a random select.
- Screaming no longer echoes if KO'd.
- There are no replays after every round, but after Arcade Mode, they show replays from the last round and the word "replay" now flashes on the top left of the screen instead of the top right. However, in Tekken Bowl, the word flashes on the bottom left except when a super strike occurs.
- The health meters no longer load up before the fight begins.
- Although he is not playable, Doctor Bosconovitch appears as a spectator in Tekken Bowl. He can be "KO'd" by throwing the ball away from the lane towards him, which counts as a miss.
- In Tekken Bowl, pressing the X button when the shot power bar is at its absolute maximum will result in an "Over Charge." The character will hang onto the ball when throwing it, sending them sliding down the lane and crashing into the pins in a comedic fashion. This will count as a miss, and the message "Caution: Please do not try this at home" will display.
- The stages in this game are the exact same locations from Tekken 3, being set in a different time of day. For example, Lei Wulong's Hong Kong Street stage took place in the daytime in Tekken 3, but in this game, it takes place at nighttime.