While some fighting favorites have recently issued bold, sweeping new iterations, Tekken has contentedly maintained its pattern of gradual refinement. And that trend continues with Tekken Tag Tournament 2 , which largely resembles the last core release (2009's Tekken 6 ), albeit with the addition of...

+ Unique tag approach offers strategic choice; + Loads of customizable fighters; plus sleek backdrops

? Is this the template for

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is filled with more. More characters. More in-match participants. More button smashing. More lunacy. The sequel to 1999's Tekken Tag Tournament is a noncanonical sidestep in the constant battle that is Namco Bandai's bare-knuckle 3D fighting franchise.

Become the ultimate Don Armor King In TT2's fantasy world, you can put on the dream fights you've always wanted to see; You have a ridiculously dense (and in some cases, just plain ridiculous) roster of ruffians to rumble with, either solo or in tag teams.

New challengers might have trouble getting ready for their next battle TTT 2 is for the hardcore Tekken fan; I'm talking about a person who's debated the superiority of Japanese-style arcade sticks and scoured message boards for animation frame data to gain an edge.

The Tag series returns with a boatload of content. Can it hold up to other recent greats?

+ Tons of content; + Deep fighting system; + Online is smooth; + Lots of stages and characters

Barrier to entry; Some graphical inconsistencies

It's hard to believe that 12 years has passed since the original Tekken Tag Tournament graced our presence on the PS2 and although it felt a little strange in its delivery at first was a game that grew with me as I started to understand the basic mechanics behind what I feel is the greatest fighting...

Over the years, my favorite Tekken game wound up being Dark Resurrection , originally released as a Sony PSP exclusive. I think it was because that Namco built a fighting game that was just so well-suited for the PSP hardware, and without being able to rely on multiplayer to include depth, they were...

This is the strongest Tekken that has been released since Tekken 3, and is a very generous package full of characters, stages, and game modes. It has a steep difficulty curve for the newcomers, with the main focus being on online and offline versus play.

You can form tag teams or go in solo with one fighter who will have a significant health regeneration boost at their disposal. The choice is your's. All pre-order incentive DLC has been released to everyone in a patch.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is often cheap and barebones. However, it's also one of the most comprehensive fighting games I've ever played. With 59 characters and thousands of moves, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 has been specifically designed with fans in mind.

Most likely the best fighting game you'll play this year, if you're into the genre. If you haven't been a fan of previous Tekken games, at least rent this one and give it a try.

It's hard to believe it's been 12 years since the original Tekken Tag Tournament. It seems like only yesterday when my mother and I went to EB as quickly as possible on the PS2's launch and picked this game up alongside the system.