Tekken 2
  

  
STORY:  Two years have passed since the King of the Iron Fist Tournament. On a stormy night, a lone figure fights his way up a rocky cliff until he reaches the top. The Mishima Zaibatsu, under the leadership of Kazuya Mishima, has become even more corrupt and powerful than ever before, as well as becoming involved in many illegal operations. These include kidnapping, extortion, smuggling of endangered species for illegal experiments, and blackmail. Unknown to everyone, Kazuya is being backed up by a mysterious force known as Devil, who inhabits Kazuya's body and serves as his only counsel.

Kazuya's activities have made enemies for him from all corners of the world, one of which is Jun Kazama, an animal rights fundamentalist. Kazuya's biggest problem, however, is when news reaches his ears that his father, Heihachi Mishima (whom he defeated two years ago in the first King of the Iron Fist Tournament) is alive and plotting revenge against him. In an attempt to rid himself of Heihachi and his enemies once and for all, Kazuya announces the King of the Iron Fist Tournament 2, with a cash prize one thousand times the first (one trillion dollars).

Jun Kazama eventually comes face to face with Kazuya, but rather than arresting him, she finds herself drawn to him (due to Devil's powers). She later ends up pregnant, with Kazuya being the father. In the confusion, she departs from the tournament. In the final round, Heihachi confronts Kazuya, and they battle once again. Heihachi wins the first round, prompting Devil to take over Kazuya's body and unleash his full power. This results with Kazuya becoming a Devil-like creature. Despite his advantages, Devil is still defeated by Heihachi, and flees the unconscious body of Kazuya. 

After the tournament, Devil attempts to inhabit the body of Jun's unborn son, but Jun manages to fight him off. Heihachi, meanwhile, takes Kazuya's body to a volcano, and drops him in. Heihachi then escapes on a helicopter as the volcano erupts behind him, having finally taken his revenge and regained his company.

 

TEKKEN 2 Character Select Screen

   
REVIEW
The sequel to Namco's "surprise hit" arcade fighting game was a substantial improvement over the original in nearly every way imaginable. TEKKEN 2 gave the series a much-needed facelift in terms of graphics, now featuring light sourcing, rounder and more realistic character models, along with more fluid fighting animations. With beefier character models and bolder polygons, Tekken 2's fighters had more weight and realism than before (not to mention more charisma and better moves). Several new faces were added to the roster as well, such as: Jackie Chan-inspired Kung-Fu expert Lei Wulong, and the innocent yet badass female fighter, Jun Kazama. 


One of the most distinguishing and innovative aspects of the arcade version of TEKKEN 2 was its Time Release characters. In the months after the game's launch, additional characters would be automatically added to the game and highlighted on the idle screen. There would eventually be a total of 25 characters unlocked, which brought a ton of hype to the game and kept players at the arcade coming back for more! No other fighting game (or video game) at the time had such a system and only helped TEKKEN 2 stand out even more!

 

Time Release Characters at the Arcade = Pure Hype!

 

TEKKEN 2's
gameplay is, of course, very similar to that of its predecessor. It's played mostly on a 2D plane, as there's still no sidestepping (unless you were using Kazuya... who was a beast in this game, especially since his Wind God fist hit mid as well as high. ...those were the days). The gameplay is notably smoother than in the first game, especially due to the great new animations.


"Counter throws" are introduced in TEKKEN 2, allowing some characters to grab their opponent's punch or kick and perform a defensive throw. All returning characters from the original Tekken have been given a great selection of new moves and combo-strings, and the character movelists are pretty deep (considering the time). It is worth pointing out that the diverse and unique martial arts-inspired characters allowed Tekken 2 to stand out among the many "less-realistic" arcade fighting games at the time.
   

New and exciting martial arts characters join the fun.

 

Approximately one year after the arcade release, Tekken 2 released on Sony PlayStation and was quite simply one of the best fighting games you could play on a home console in 1996/1997. The PS1 version of Tekken 2 was highly acclaimed for its close to arcade-perfect graphics & gameplay, and also because it featured one of the best fighting game presentations to date! The awesome PS1 intro, impressive FMV character endings, and great options certainly did not go unnoticed by the fans.
 
 

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Page Updated: February 21st, 2024
Developer(s): Namco
Publisher(s): Namco
Designer(s): Seiichi Iishi                        Director
Hijame Nakatani            Producer
Platform(s): Arcade, PlayStation, PSN
Release Date(s): August 1995                     Arcade
Sept. 29th, 1995             Arcade "Version B"
Mar. 29th, 1996                PS1
Apr. 26th, 1996                 Arcade "Version B"
Aug. 27th, 1996                PS1
October 1996                     PS1
Nov. 11th, 2006                PSN
Dec. 4th, 2006                   PSN - PSP
May 3rd, 2007                   PSN - PS3
Aug. 4th, 2010                   PSN
Characters Kazuya Mishima, Lei Wulong, Jun Kazama, Paul Phoenix, King, Nina Williams, Michelle Chang, Yoshimitsu, Marshall Law, Jack-2, Lee Chaolan, Anna Williams, Wang Jinrei, Kuma, Bruce Irvin, Baek Doo San, Kunimitsu, Ganryu, Armor King, Prototype Jack, Devil, Angel, Roger, Alex, Heihachi Mishima

Featured Video:

Related Games: TEKKEN, TEKKEN 3, TEKKEN Tag Tournament, TEKKEN 4, TEKKEN 5, TEKKEN 5: Dark Resurrection, TEKKEN 5: Dark Resurrection Online, TEKKEN: Dark Resurrection, TEKKEN 6, TEKKEN 6: Bloodline Rebellion, TEKKEN Tag Tournament 2, TEKKEN 7, TEKKEN 8, TEKKEN Hybrid, TEKKEN 3D: Prime Edition, TEKKEN Advance, TEKKEN Revolution, Street Fighter X TEKKEN, Virtua Fighter 2, Fighting Vipers, Street Fighter EX, Street Fighter EX2, Tobal No. 1, Tobal 2, Fighters Megamix, Soul Edge
  

Gameplay Engine  8.5 / 10
Story / Theme  9.0 / 10
Overall Graphics  8.5 / 10
Animation  8.5 / 10
Music / Sound Effects  8.5 / 10
Innovation  8.5 / 10
Art Direction  8.0 / 10
Customization  7.0 / 10
Options / Extras  8.0 / 10
Intro / Presentation  10 / 10
Replayability / Fun  8.5 / 10
"Ouch" Factor  8.0 / 10
Characters  9.0 / 10
BOTTOM LINE

 8.9 / 10

 Review based on Arcade / PS1 versions    

 

Final Words: TEKKEN 2 was a massive step forward for the series, building upon the solid foundation and hype that the first installment built over time. TEKKEN 2 definitely did its job as a sequel by adding a ton of new content and fleshing out the iconic characters. However, it didn't change very much from the first game (and didn't need to), allowing returning players to quickly pick it up and use their favorite character(s) as they remembered! It was very smart game design, which later became a trademark Namco would use for the series in future installments.

The "time release" characters of TEKKEN 2 no doubt kept fans excited and coming back to the arcade. It shouldn't be overlooked that no other fighting game was using such a technique to keep fans engaged. Like other successful fighting game series of the 90's, the Tekken series was establishing itself by introducing innovative new ideas and technology into the fighting genre that hadn't been done before (another trend that would continue in many future installments).

TEKKEN 2 repeated history by becoming a smash hit in arcades, followed by solid PS1 release containing new features over the arcade version (including the epic intro and arranged soundtrack). After the release of TEKKEN 2 on console, the series gained even more momentum and popularity in the fighting game genre. If you didn't "know" Tekken in '96/'97, either you weren't born yet, or you simply weren't keen on playing the best fighting games. TEKKEN 2 paved the way for yet another smash-hit title in arcades and PS1... the epic TEKKEN 3, which made huge waves in the genre and was a monumental and influential fighting game for years to come.
~TFG Webmaster | @Fighters_Gen
  

PS1 Manual Artwork  (Japan)

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