Tekken Hybrid Review (PS3)

Tekken Hybrid sees three separate titles thrown into one bundle: a HD remake of the classic Tekken Tag Tournament, an early glimpse of its sequel with Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue, and the 3D-CGI movie, Tekken: Blood Vengeance. At first, this seems like an impressive and valuable compilation, but once you sit down with the pack, you quickly realise that it’s more of a shoddy mix in a poorly put-together package than a perfect blend.

Tekken Tag Tournament HD

Let’s start with the biggest (and best) inclusion in the pack, Tekken Tag Tournament HD. A PlayStation 2 launch title, Tekken Tag has become known as one of the strongest offerings from the Tekken franchise. It includes a strong roster, an impressive and unique tag mechanic, as well as one of the most fun mini-games ever, Tekken Bowl.

Sadly, aside from a slight update to the game’s visuals, nothing else has been done to this game. No addition of online functionality, no improvements to the game’s sound, and no inclusion of a dedicated training mode for new players. Even with the graphical upscale, this is a decade-old game, so it is naturally showing signs of age, but still holds up surprisingly well. No training mode means newcomers to the series will need to look online for guides if they want to pull off the flashy tag combos or chains, which is a shame because this is a great opportunity for new players to get to grips with the mechanics before the sequel is released.

Despite all this, the most glaring omission from Tekken Tag is online multiplayer. In a fighting game, which hinges on competition and the ability to test your skills against fellow players around the world, it’s bizarre that it wasn’t added. The only option is for local multiplayer, which can be either competitive or co-operative in the form of “Pair Play Mode”, where each player takes control of one character in the tag team.

On the plus side, this is still a solid game. Each of the dozens of characters has a unique feel, and finding the best tag team can take hours. You can take on opponents in Arcade, Survival and Time Trial, but the most fun you can have is in Tekken Bowl. Picking two players, ranging from powerhouses such as Kuma and Jack-2 to the more accurate throwers like Jin and Law, you have to try and get the high score by knocking over golden Heihachi pins. Although it sounds dull, it is surprisingly addictive; much like Tekken Force was in Tekken 3.

Tekken Tag 2 Prologue

Tekken Tag 2 Prologue gives you a sneak peek at four characters in a small number of stages before the game’s release next year. You get the chance to try out Alisa, Ling Xiaoyu, Devil Jin and Devil Kazuya, the main characters from the Tekken movie.

Taking the demo for what it is, it plays very well. The game looks stunning, and really benefits from the new motion blur added to the character’s movements. But its a bare bones demo that you would expect to see on the PSN Store. Considering its inclusion in a paid game, there should be more characters to test out, especially as the game is still some way from release. The inclusion of trophies is nice for the trophy hunters out there, but still doesn’t do enough to make this a worthy addition to the bundle.

On a side-note, you have to also install the two games before you can play them, and you have to have the disc in the tray in order to play them even when installed. This is annoying as they are hefty files at a few gigabytes each, so expect a long wait once you sit down before you actually play the game.

Tekken Blood Vengeance

Now, we must move on to Tekken: Blood Vengeance. In terms of its presentation, it is an example of graphical excellence. It is clearly one of the best examples of CGI and 3D-implementation seen in cinema. In terms of narrative, not so much. It is one of the strangest storylines out there, with very poor English voice-acting to boot.

In a series which includes stories of the massive struggle for power and control of the Mishima Zaibatsu, infighting among the Mishima family; the battles of Lei Wulong working as a cop taking on China’s deadliest criminals; the comical interactions between Paul Phoenix, Marshall and Forrest Law; as well as countless other surprisingly well put-together storylines, the decision to follow two giggly schoolgirls (Alysa and Xiaoyu) as they track a random hot guy is mind-boggling. There are some scenes that will no doubt raise an eyebrow or two (including a naked man and a soldier in a shower… but not how you think), and overall the film is ridiculous and self-contradictory.

So it seems in a package that includes three separate titles, there is only really half of a fully-fledged one. Tekken Tag feels like a cheap upscale, with no new features added to make it a noteworthy addition to the ever-growing list of HD remakes. Tekken Tag 2 Prologue feels like a demo with trophies, and the movie is atrocious but pretty. This could have been something special, but in the end it isn’t worth your time.

I suppose if you really miss playing Tekken Tag Tournament, you could buy Tekken Hybrid now for the PS3.