PSX REVIEW:
Tekken II
By
BootBlock/TerraForm
Hokay, this is my first full PlayStation game, and guess what me ickle
luverlies? I'm gonna review it (I got this game after playing the demo
version for a while)...
TEKKEN TOO MUCH
Upon stuffing it (harumph!) onto the spindle and closing the lid, I
waited for it to load. Well hit me in the pods with a house brick and
insert a Sooty hand puppet into my rectum if the loading ain't dead
quick, like!
After the "Namco Presents" screen, the amazing (pretty much) intro
sequence plays, wheEe! It basically tells you the story of each of the
fighters (apart from Roger & Alex).
MAIN SCREEN
There's quite a lot of things to try out. Like: Arcade Mode, Vs Mode,
Time Attack, Survivial Mode, Team Battle and the highly useful Practice
Mode.
Here's what they do ....
Arcade Mode: This is the main mode. You fight 7 characters then your
character's sub-boss, Kazuya and then the Boss (Devil).
You get to see your character's ending (see later on
this) and then you get awarded the corresponding sub-
boss character to play.
Vs Mode : You and another human player play each other. You both
have the option of increasing your energy by 40%, so
the match lasts longer (the developers probably
implemented this mode as a sort of handicap, but I
just use it so the match lasts longer). After every
match, you both can select different characters.
Time Attack : Select a character and fight through 10 characters
(including your sub-boss and the 2 normal bosses).
You get timed. If you die and then continue (you
can't change characters), the timer will continue from
where you got slapped. I've only played this option
twice. I took 4 mins 23 secs using (Marshall) Law.
Survival Mode : You select a character (non-changeable during play)
and have to see how far you can get without losing yer
energy bar. You only get one bar of energy and it only
goes up a bit every fight (you start with a full one).
I think there's probably 24 matches to complete. But
the best I can do is 22 using Lee.
Team Battle : You and another human player (I'm not sure about the
computer) can select upto 8 characters each (the same
character can only be select twice - then it'll say
"Sold Out" if you try to select the character again).
You both fighter each until someone wins. The energy
bar rules in the "Survial Mode" apply here.
Practice Mode : You select your character, and then select the pooter
character. The computer character just stands there
doing nothing. Kick the crap outt'a `im! Press Start
and there's LOADS of options! Check out the combo's,
moves (although not all the moves are displayed, see
a cheat guide or summats - like the one I'm doing
for the PSX/Saturn/N64, it's called Console Cheat
Compendium - out soon!), replays and more! Brilliant!
SHOW ME YOUR MOVES
There are in excess of 80 moves PER CHARACTER! I'm still finding out
moves. The latest one, is a Paul Phoenix jobby. When a character
charges into you and is just able to punch the liquid out of your head,
keep pressing [] + /\ (square and triangle) at the same time. You'll
grab their arm and snap it. Unfortuneatly, it hardly does any damge.
Nice red splat though.
Each character has got to standard grab moves (by pressing either X + []
or () + /\), and some specialised moves. King has got loads of grabbing
moves (he IS a wrestler after all).
I can now do the most complicated move in the game (I think). It's a
move by King that kills the opponent after King's finished doing it!
Yeah!
Here's what happens in steps ....
1. King grabs their leg, pushes them over and snaps it.
2. He then puts one of their legs above the other one (while his
is in there somewhere) and falls on it. Result? SNAP!
3. The best bit! By this time, the opponent is on his/her back,
he shuffles their leg(s) about a bit, and stands on their
calves (I think that's what they're called) and grabs their arms
and pulls them over. So King is on his back and the opponent is
facing directly upwards. Then guess what? He snaps both their
arms and legs! WhheeeEeeEeeeeEeEEEeeeee!
MY SFX IS YOUR GFX
Well, what can I say about the gfx/sfx? Amazing! The breaking sounds
of the characters' bones will make some people cringe as will the actual
bone breaking visual action.
Both characters are in a 3D landscape (there are no "out of bound" zones
like the Virtua Fighter games) and can move about in total 3D. When the
characters move closer/further away from each other, the camera zooms
accordingly. The camera shifts about for the best overall view.
All the action moves at 50fps and there's no slow-down what-so-ever.
Probably slightly better overall gfx than the arcade version.
EH? WHAT THE HELL WAS DAT DEN, MAN!?
When you complete the game with a character, you are treated to their
ending. I haven't played the PSX version of Tekken I, so I don't know
the story behind it all and stuff. Some (quite a few infact) of the
endings are totally pointless and stupid. Like, the one where Roger
(one of the hidden characters, he's a kangeroo) is running with his
mates through the "outback" in Austrailia and it's in time with the
music. You've got to see it to believe how dodgy it is! Totally
pointless!
When you complete it with a character, you get the corresponding
sub-boss character. Say for example, if you complete it with King (a
tiger type geeza), you'll get to select Armour King (ditto). There's 10
standard selectable characters, and complete it with them all, then
you'll have a further 10 to select. Then there's the Devil, Angel,
Roger, Alex and Kazuya. Hmmm... 25 characters in total. The
characters are saved to the memory card, so you don't need to keep
completing the game with a character to get their sub-boss.
I've got a little gripe about SOME of the characters. They blatantly
share each other's moves (ie, Jack-2, Prototype Jack, Kuma and Ganryu
share pretty much the same moves). Ahh well, only a little niggle.
BITS `n' BOBS
Has anyone noticed that when you've played over 40 matches using Law (me
mum's fave character - even though she isn't that great at the game!),
when you twat him, he flies miles into the air! Dead funny!
When you gained all the sub-bosses, hold down Select when picking your
character, and keep hold of it until the match starts. Your character
will be bigger. Do this again during the Loading screen to get an even
bigger character (yep, the female characters' bumps get bigger as well!
:ยท).
When you've gained ALL the characters (including Roger & Alex) then hold
L1 & R1 when selecting your character. You'll get a Doom type
first-person perspective - groOovy! Play against one of the female
characters - it's a great view! :)
You know when you've got all the sub-bosses, because the title screen
changes to blue, and there's a face within the "Tekken II" text.
There's absolutely loads of features - you'll keep on finding new moves
for as long as the wanky Americans stereotype England (basically, a long
time!).
RATINGS
This is an absolute nob-enlarger of a game! I'm very impressed with it
(can't wait for Tekken III !). Here's the scores ....
Presentation: 95% - A brilliant rendered intro wiv ace music!
Graphics : 96% - Very fluid and realistic, great!
Sound : 93% - Loud bone-crunching, great voice effects!
Playability : 97% - As easy as a girl from Essex! :)
Lastability : 97% - You'll keep finding new moves all the time!
OVERALL : A beat `em up fan's dream come true! Even my sister
and mum likes it - so it can be that bad? Buy it or
forever fondle small hairless rodents!
Signed & Coloured
BootBlock/TerraForm
!-TrF-!
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