Tekken 2 PS1 Review

Tekken 2 is the impressive sequel to the first game in the series that originally saw a release in the arcades in 1995 and was later ported to the PlayStation in 1996 that expands greatly upon its predecessor with better graphics, better gameplay physics and mechanics while adding in new characters and combos and fighting styles to give players more opportunity to experience some of the fantastic and unique aspects within the Tekken series. 

The game was pretty much an overhaul of the first game that expanded on it in so many ways. 

The original arcade version of Tekken 2 was also seen and released in Tekken 5's arcade history mode that was seen on the PlayStation 2 and on the PlayStation 3 and PSP. 

One of the most notable aspects with Tekken 2 is its increase in its polygonal characters, more polygons were added so it added to the whole dynamic of the visual style of the game which greatly improved its overall visual style that also expanded upon each of the characters story arcs within the Tekken world with each character having their own simple storyline that once you completed any of the story or arcade modes will be presented with their own story based ending sequence that kind of give you a background as to who the character was and where abouts they were in their journey which was a unique selling point for games at that time because the first Tekken game also implemented many of these features. 

Unlike the first game, Tekken 2 would also expand its roster of characters while also including a multitude of various hidden characters that would appear randomly as you're fighting through many of the arcade modes as you played and which you could unlock them through various means by completing specific objectives as you played through each mode and completing the game with various characters would again unlock more of these characters to use. 

And a lot of these characters to many look a bit weird and over the top but also added to the overall fun nature that the Tekken series tried to present to its gamers and audience at that time also. 

So with the gameplay and its environments the game itself would use like 3D stages but would use 2D rendered backgrounds for its initial background in the distance and its stages. 

But this also had to add to the fluidity of the gameplay, but like the first Tekken game although it expanded and was slightly a little bit easier to pick up and was also slightly easier in order to get the grips with compared to Tekken one.

But Tekken 2 just greatly expands on the original in so many ways, it definitely is more beginner friendly in terms of how it plays even though it uses a lot of similar move sets and combos it just it feels just generally more fluent and easier to play compared to the first game and also with the addition of various modes that you could also play through so you could play through like a survival mode where you would have likes of one life and you had to see how far you could get through at the arcade mode trying to defeat as many enemies as you could before you lost all of your health which was a pretty cool feature. 

And you also had team battle and time attack modes that also added more complexity to the gameplay and how you could proceed and even unlock additional features and characters as you played. 

So with survival mode any health that you would lose during your match would carry over until the next match but the player could intentionally regain a small amount of health as you kept playing and kept winning matches but again you had to make sure that you didn't lose health along the way. 

With time attack mode it plays very similar to arcade mode except that the gameplay is much faster and you have to try and beat records or time records. So this sequel just greatly expands on the original in so many ways and at its time of release was considered to be the best fighter on the PlayStation and pretty much in the 32-bit era of gaming during that time even with the multitude of all the fighting games that were starting to appear.

Tekken 2 was pretty much literally the king of fighting games at that time on the PlayStation until the release of Tekken 3 which literally became the most groundbreaking title in the series and is still considered by many to be the best fighting game in the series and one of the best fighting games ever made in any genre or any type of console. 

Even when you compare them to modern console games Tekken 3 still holds its own amongst many of the modern fighters that you see today. 

But that doesn't take away from how good Tekken 2 is because with each iteration of the game even from going back to the very first Tekken  game there was a gradual expansion in terms of the playability and the ease of access with each game that came after it so it just greatly increased and just increased the audience and acquired more fans with each entry in the series over the years. 

Even looking back at the game myself now I originally experienced Tekken through the first game and as I mentioned in my previous video I did enjoy it but I found it difficult to get used to but then again I was at a time where I was still getting used to 3D games as a whole and that transition from 2D to 3D gaming where I was still used to playing games like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter so getting used to playing 3D fighting games was still a relatively new aspect to me personally and it definitely took a while to get comfortable with this new style. 

So by the time I got around to playing Tekken 2, I remember it was a friend of mine that lived not too far away that had actually gotten for Christmas one year and he took it over during the holidays and we sat down and we played it and I did find instantly that I was able to adapt to it a lot quicker than I could with Tekken one but I will admit, when I seen it and I realized it was Tekken 2 because I remembered with the first game being difficult especially for me at the time I was a little bit reluctant to want to play Tekken 2 at first but then I seen how good visually it was and I seen that even my younger brothers were playing it and were able to adapt to it and I was like well should I give it a go so I did and I have to say it I greatly enjoyed the experience that I had with it. 

And for me it just felt altogether easier to just pick up and play I think which added to its nature and that's why I found that be more approachable years later and I find I still go back to the early Tekken games now very like the Mortal Kombat games because they just really are that good. 

Now my personal favorite is Tekken 3 but I do have a soft spot for the original games as well and Tekken 2, I really do enjoy as much. It's just a great game overall and it's one of those games that if you just want to play even for a few minutes just to have a quick blast either play it with mates or play it on your own just for a quick fix it's fantastic for that as it will give you so much fun for the short time that you spend with it. 

It does take a while to get used to but once you get used to the controls and you're able to string together combos, it's very very satisfying once you're able to take advantage of that to overcome your opponents that like the first game will gradually increase in difficulty the further you get into the campaign. 

But it just adds to the overall challenge and just greatly enhances the experience overall. 

So my personal opinion Tekken 2, I love the game I think it's a brilliant sequel that expanded upon the original and again just it set the standard for what fighting games were at that time because you had the likes of virtua fighter then there was Tekken and then Virtual Fighter 2 came out which at the time was considered the best of all of the 3D Fighters and then you had Tekken 2 which was equally comparable to it and in so many ways and they were competing head to head as to which was the best fighter at the time. 

So regardless of which console or which version of the game that you had you had something there for everybody. 

There was a fighting game there but literally everybody could get into and really enjoy and Tekken 2 I would personally agree that it is hands down one of the best fighting games ever made and definitely one of the best sequels of any known series ever made. 

So if you haven't played it I highly recommend that you do and if you haven't played it in a while just go back and play it just to relive those old memories because it is a phenomenal game in every sense of the word, it really is and recently with the game being made available on the PlayStation 5 there is no excuse to go back and revisit it and it is my experiences with these games that has allowed me to grow a unique fondness towards the franchise over the years again like once I got to play Tekken 3 I absolutely love that, I consider that to be one of my favorite fighting games of all time. 

Even then moving on to the likes of the PlayStation 2 with Tekken Tag Tournament, Tekken 4 and beyond I've always enjoyed playing the Tekken games but it really was made possible because of my experiences with the Tekken series on the PlayStation one which really started it all and for pretty much everybody else I think as well if you've ever played games on the PlayStation I'm sure you're familiar with the Tekken series. 

So I highly recommend that you go and play Tekken or just revisit Tekken 2 as it is a blast to play and I would love to know your thoughts on Tekken 2 and even just the Tekken series overall and what are your experiences of the games on the PlayStation. 

What stories you have of the game growing up? 

Did you put many hours into the game or were you a fanatic with getting used to the combos and who are your favourite characters in the game that your play as all the time? 

I'd love to hear what stories you have of the game so be sure to share it in the comments below and be sure to keep watching to see more content on other games similar to Tekken 2, you can check out the blog where we will be diving into the iconic elements of these classic video games and as always keep those gaming memories alive...