Do you wish for more Tekken fighting in your life? Well, Namco and Sony have obliged with Tekken Hybrid. The Blu-Ray disc contains a fully HD version of Tekken Tag Tournament as well as an exclusive 3D Tekken movie titled Tekken: Blood Vengeance. Also included is a teaser game where you can play Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue. I think you will agree that for the price you’re paying this disk is certainly worth it.
Tekken Tag Tournament really set the Tekken alight when it originally came out, as it allowed for revolutionary matches in which players could tag in and out with two characters from the series in two-on-two fights. I remember playing it for this first time over 10 years ago with my friend and we just couldn’t stop. It’s very much the same now, with friends around you will just keep going. Boasting a huge cast of playable characters Tekken Tag Tournament will continue to scratches your itch until Tekken Tag Tournament 2 comes out next year.
The controls are the same as ever and if you’ve played Tekken Tag Tournament before you will instantly be at home. The grabs are easy to do and button bashers will be able to hold their own. However, those button bashers will not get toofar as Tekken Tag Tournament’s wants you to learn combos and moves then implement them in a thoughtful and concise way. As ever, you have the training modes where you can practise and perfect your moves. The bowling game is back as well and just silly but still very fun and you can also watch trailers of your favourite fighters in the Theatre mode.
The Team Battle mode is also present and here you can pick a team of up to 8 fighters to go against the CPU or your friends. Survival mode fully lives up to its name, while the best mode is the versus one where you can once again relive those wonderful Tekken Tag Tournament memories with your friends. Yes, the graphics are blocky and grainy even in HD, but its been over 10 years, it’s not about how good it looks. This is one of those games that you need in your collection just to have it present when friends come over and bragging rights need to be settled.
The Blood Vengeance movie included is set between Tekken 5 and 6. We join our two favourite sisters, Nina and Anna, whilst the latter is working for Jin’s father and Nina is working for the head of the Mishima Zaibats. You can see already that there is conflict here, and while I won’t go too much into the story just know that the characters you see in this 3D movie are the ones you can play as in the Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue game included on the disk. The visuals in the movie are as stunning as you would expect and the plot is pretty good. The voice acting is generic, but that’s Ok, we will let that slide as Namco are giving us this movie as a bonus.
As mentioned above, in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue you can play as four characters namely: Alisa Bosconovitch, Ling Xiaoyu, Devil Kazuya and Devil Jin. Not only that, but the costumes you see in the movie are the ones you get to play with too, so there is some linking between the different elements of this disk. There are also alternative costumes includingschool uniforms for the girls if you’re that way inclined. Ignoring that though, the game looks stunning, the graphics are delicious and only make you want to play Tekken Tag Tournament 2 even more. This is a clever move by Sony and Namco in getting some powerful PR work added into the game.
The fighting mechanics are smoother and slicker, the moves are beautifully realised and if this is how the real game will play then bring it on. The controls are, as always, the usual ones for the Tekken series and feel great. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 seems like it’s going to be a very new but with a real familiarity about it. The grabs look particularly lovely, the linking moves are well done, but I do have to say that getting up is sluggish in this prologue build. Perhaps this will be changed for the full release, but either way, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue is a great addition here.
The sound for both games is great and the various tracks used in Tekken Tag Tournament HD brings back so many memories of past ass kickings. The voice acting is good but I still want a translator to makes sure the sentences said are what the subtitles show.
Overall, Tekken Hybrid is a very good, solid offering. The Tekken Tag Tournament HD update is pretty nice and gives you a warm, nostalgic feeling for the game you first got to know all those years ago. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue is just a fantastic extra inclusion on the disk and shows the huge step forward that has been made when compared to the old game. It makes you thankful you live in such a technologically advanced age. With two games plus a 3D movie I think you will agree that Tekken Hybrid makes a very strong argument for you to bruise those thumbs all over again.
REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Sony Playstation 3 code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.
Subscribe to our mailing list
Get the latest game reviews, news, features, and more straight to your inbox