Fighting, it's not big and it's not clever. Usually. However, Namco's first beat-em-up for the PS2, Tekken Tag Tournament, manages to be both of these things and the only part of you which might sustain physical injury are the thumbs, after a couple of hours of sustained play. Picking up where previous versions of the Tekken family left off, this is a martial arts combat game par excellence. The graphics are lush and incredibly detailed, really picking TTT out from the crowd.
Particularly cool is the ambient animation in the backgrounds during bouts as wind blows through trees and spectators leap around in an amusing fashion; there are times during the early stages of play when it's possible to become distracted by the background action and find yourself on the receiving end of an unusually painful-looking throw--so watch out.
Also much improved over previous versions on other platforms are the number of moves available to each character, just remembering them is a monumental task in its own right and takes a little of the early shine away from the experience. Perseverance is the name of the game here and there's nothing like the first time you hit a stunning combo move and piledrive the opposition into the dust.
The major new feature in this release is the inclusion of the tag feature. Select two fighters from the available list at start time and a swift button push mid-action will switch between the two allowing one to recharge health while the other takes the centre spot. The tag facility also allows for some superb new combo moves: just throw your opponent to the side of the screen, execute a tag and your partner leaps in with a timely bone-cruncher.
Tekken Tag Tournament is as tight a fighting game as you're likely to see. It's graphically gorgeous, the soundtrack thumps along and the action is as fast and furious as you could want. Owners of Tekken 3 on the PlayStation may want to think long and hard before investing cash as version 3 and its PS2 cousin are very similar in many respects, anyone else should part with their cash right now and do themselves a major favour--this will keep you going for months!--James Gordon
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