Tekken Tag Tournament Platinum (PS2)

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!--Paul Eisinger

Forget the fancy full-motion video intros of the past. The cutting-edge gameplay that is promised in the extended intros of fighting games is finally realised in Tekken Tag Tournament This visually stunning action game contains fully rendered 3-D characters who can execute smoothly animated martial-arts moves. With polygonal characters and texture maps this real, you will end up looking for the coin slot on your PS2.

With more than 30 characters to fight against or beside, this game allows you to pull off the ultimate human combo: tag-team fighting. By choosing two fighters who have broadly divergent skills, you can increase your threat to the other fighters greatly. Also, switching out fighters can give an overextended partner enough time to rest up his or her stamina for the next tag. See what happens when one partner throws a foe, tags, and the other partner comes in to keep the foe... uh... airborne. Tekken Tag Tournament contains 20 classic characters from other parts of the acclaimed Tekken series, as well as 12 new characters who can be unlocked during gameplay.

Tekken Tag Tournament is the stunning evolution of a series that is already considered a classic. With a full complement of its star characters, players will be eager to find out what has happened to the fighters since the last game--whether feuds or friendships still stand, and what caused the changes in attitude. With the incredible processing power of PS2, the movements of the characters are unbelievably fluid and incredibly fast, and as the title suggests, fighters are paired off to form tag teams of your choosing. In addition to the glorious renditions of both characters and backdrops, you'll notice the speed with which combatants will tag in and out of the fight. Use it to your advantage. Careful and strategic tagging will help wear your opponents down and ensure you commit the most suitable character depending on the situation. Tekken Tag Tournament also brings you the ability to throw up to four players into the affray, transforming the action into something more inclusive than ever before. This game will take you to the edge and over.