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Tekken Tag Tournament (鉄拳タッグトーナメント Tekken Taggu Tōnamento?, lit. Iron Fist Tag Tournament) is the fourth installment in the Tekken fighting game series and a spin-off of the main series, focusing on tag team battles. It is not canonical to the Tekken storyline. The game was originally available as an update kit for Tekken 3, running on the same System 12 arcade board. Tekken Tag Tournament was first released on arcades in 1999. It was ported to the PlayStation 2 home console in 2000 (released as a launch title outside Japan), though the PS2 version ran on an enhanced game engine with better graphics, which allowed the characters and stages to appear less angular and more detailed compared to how they used to look in the PS1 Tekken trilogy. The game combines most characters found in both Tekken 3 and Tekken 2.

The game received a sequel 12 years later, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, as well as a remastered for PlayStation 3 version entitled Tekken Tag Tournament HD.

Story[]

Tekken Tag Tournament is a non-canon game, having no storyline. According to Namco, it brought back the characters that did not return to Tekken 3: Baek Doo San, Bruce Irvin, Jun Kazama, and Kunimitsu. Their ages are unchanged from the previous Tekken games. It is more of a compilation of the Tekken series giving fans the opportunity to play as almost every character in the series up to that point, including many of those that had apparently been killed off in the main Tekken storyline. Of all the returning characters, Kazuya Mishima was the most heavily promoted, as he was featured prominently on the game's cover art and promotional material.

Gameplay[]

Tekken Tag Tournament was notable for having the largest character roster in the series up to that point, boasting a total of 39 playable characters. 37 characters return from previous installments in the series, and two new characters, Tetsujin, a costume swap of Mokujin, and Unknown, the boss character in this game, were introduced. The most prominent feature is its tag system. A player selects two characters and may tag out between them to utilize special combos and throws. When in Team Battle mode, the fights are also tag fights unless there is one person left on a team where they will fight alone.

Certain pairs of characters, when selected as a tag team, have special intros, win poses, lose poses, Tag Throws and also Netsu ratings. The Netsu ratings affect gameplay, and whether a character 'liked', was indifferent to, or 'disliked' another, would result in faster or slower ability to gain a damage boost when their partner was damaged. The special intros, win and lose poses are more lore based, and do not directly map onto the Netsu system, though the Netsu system can give hints as to who will have a special interaction. Some special intros can only be seen if the characters are wearing certain costumes.

Tekken Tag Tournament included a mini-game called Tekken Bowl, that challenged the player to use a team of characters to play a bowling game. Depending on the player's selected character, different attributes would be placed into effect in the mini-game. For example, Bryan Fury has a powerful roll due to his super strength, and he can use a targeting system to make more accurate shots because of his cybernetic enhancements. A physically weaker character like Julia Chang would have a much less powerful strike, but would be easier to control when placing the spin and amount of force on the ball. Yoshimitsu also has a targeting ability, which can control how straight the ball goes, making him one of the easiest to control characters of Tekken Bowl.

The soundtrack of Tekken Tag Tournament was also different from its predecessors, with strong techno and electro vibes.

Complementary pages:

Tekken Tag Tournament HD[]

Tekken Tag Tournament HD (White)

Tekken Tag Tournament HD is a high-definition update to the original game. It was included in Tekken Hybrid and showcased enhanced graphics and included trophies. This HD re-release, however, removes the "1 on 1" single-player and "1 on 1 VS" game modes from the PS2 version of Tekken Tag Tournament.

Moves[]

List of moves by character that can be performed in Tekken Tag Tournament.

See: Tekken Tag Tournament Moves

Characters[]

Returning characters[]

New characters[]

Cameos[]

Unlockable characters[]

Character Condition to unlock
Kunimitsu Beating Story Mode one time with a character.
Bruce Irvin Beating Story Mode two times with a different character.
Jack-2 Beating Story Mode three times with a different character.
Lee Chaolan Beating Story Mode four times with a different character.
Alex / Roger Beating Story Mode five times with a different character.
Wang Jinrei Beating Story Mode six times with a different character.
Kuma II / Panda Beating Story Mode seven times with a different character.
Kazuya Mishima Beating Story Mode eight times with a different character.
Ogre Beating Story Mode nine times with a different character.
True Ogre Beating Story Mode ten times with a different character.
Prototype Jack Beating Story Mode eleven times with a different character.
Mokujin / Tetsujin Beating Story Mode twelve times with a different character.
Angel / Devil Beating Story Mode thirteen times with a different character.
Unknown Beating Story Mode fourteen times with a different character.

Stages[]

Music[]

There were two soundtracks released for TTT, entitled Tekken Tag Tournament Original Soundtrack for the arcade version and Tekken Tag Tournament Direct Audio for the console release.

Trophies & Achievements[]

Main article: Tekken Tag Tournament/Trophies and Achievements

Gallery[]

Main article: Tekken Tag Tournament/Gallery

Videos[]

Trivia[]

  • Tekken Tag Tournament is notable for these distinctions:
    • It is the only game to feature a licensed car; in this case, the Honda S2000 which is driven by Lee Chaolan in the first arcade intro cutscene.
    • It features the highest amount of participation by the Jack robots so far, being three.
    • The first appearance of the Tekken Bowl Mode.
    • The first Tekken game released for the PlayStation 2.
    • The last game where all of the fighting arenas have no walls.
    • The first game since the original Tekken to have the same background music in every character's ending. This is not the case with Unknown's ending, however.
    • This is the last arcade game where the character falls into the "arched back" animation if KO'd while standing since Tekken 2, instead of the standing K.O.'d animation from Tekken 3, while the PlayStation 2 version wherein a KO'd character who falls forward to the ground will raise their torso and clutch their midsection as though in pain before lying prone would be a staple feature of the series since then.
      • This animation is only used when P.Jack, Roger or Alex lose the final round on Time Up or are on the continue screen.
    • The first game in the series where players can preview characters’ moves in Practice Mode.
      • This is also the first game where all of the characters' moves are shown in their command lists.
    • The last game where characters perform their win poses between rounds.
    • The last game where characters perform their intro poses in Practice Mode.
    • The first game where the fighters can jump up immediately after hitting the ground.
    • The last game until Tekken 8 where Jin uses Mishima Style Fighting Karate.
    • The last game where screaming no longer echoes when a character is KO'd.
    • The first game where health meters no longer load up before a fight begins.
    • The only game where Mokujin is a costume swap of another character.
    • The first game to feature stages with spectators or background people who are not watching the fight.
    • The first Tekken game to not display the name of the characters on the VS. screen. This would happen again in Tekken 4, Tekken 5, Dark Resurrection and Tekken 7.
    • The last game to feature Devil and Kazuya as separate characters. Future games featuring them would treat them as one with Devil being a stance for Kazuya starting from Tekken Tag Tournament 2.
  • In this game, all Tekken 3 characters get an alternate version/color scheme of their Player 1 and Player 2 outfits, while some Tekken 2 characters get a third outfit.
    • Strangely, Kazuya's and Prototype Jack's Player 2 outfits were not carried over, with Kazuya instead using his purple suit for his Player 2 outfit and P.Jack having a new Player 2 outfit.
    • Devil now has a Player 2 outfit, allowing Devil vs. Devil matches, with Angel becoming his Player 3 outfit.
    • Lee's Player 3 outfit is based on his Tekken 1 Player 2 outfit.
    • Armor King's Player 3 outfit shows Armor King without his trademark armor, and is possibly based on his Tekken 1 CGI render which also shows Armor King without armor.
    • Jack-2's Player 1 tank top was changed from black to green in the home version.
      • Due to Jack-2 being in the game, Gun Jack does not have his Tekken 3 Player 3 "Jack-2" outfit.
    • Instead of Forest Law having a palette swap of his Tekken 3 Player 2 outfit (which is now his Player 4 outfit), his Player 2 outfit is based on Marshall Law's Tekken 2 Player 1 outfit.
    • King I is the only Tekken 2 character whose outfits are not included in Tekken Tag Tournament, as King II only has recolored versions of his Tekken 3 outfits, Kuma II's Player 2 outfit is a polar bear similar to Kuma I's Player 2 outfit, and Forest Law has Marshall Law's Player 1 outfit.
  • Marshall Law is the only character missing from this game that would later return in the canonical games.
  • The differences between arcade and home versions are the stages' backgrounds and the characters' facial expressions during a battle.
    • The arcade version remains graphically similar to Tekken 3, as both Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag Tournament run on the Namco System 12 arcade hardware.
    • The home version (starting from PlayStation 2) marks the first Tekken game to have characters with facial expressions during a battle, fully modeled stages, animated environments, and having crowds on certain stages, which later apply to post-PlayStation Classic trilogy Tekken games. **When fighting True Ogre, the stage background in the home version is no longer dark like in the arcade version.
  • Unknown is the only character in the game to have a CGI ending, all other characters use the in-game graphics.
  • The chain throw combos seen in King's ending were later installed as an actual chain throw combo in Tekken 5, although all of the moves were based upon existing throws in Tekken Tag.
  • The non-canonical premise of the game may have been inspired by SNK's The King of Fighters '98, which similarly ignored series canon for a "dream match" that brought back deceased and obsolete characters.
  • Characters like Alex, Angel, Forest Law, Jun Kazama, Michelle Chang, Ogre, Prototype Jack, True Ogre, and Unknown, were not playable again until the game's sequel, Tekken Tag Tournament 2.
  • After this game, Anna Williams, Armor King (replaced by a second Armor King), Baek Doo San, Bruce Irvin, Ganryu, Mokujin (who is replaced by Combot in Tekken 4) and Wang Jinrei did not appear again until Tekken 5. Roger does not make any more playable appearances after this game and is replaced by Roger Jr. in Tekken 5.
  • If the player pairs up Kazuya Mishima and Devil on the same team, they are able to morph into one another instead of tagging out of the fight.
  • Many characters have special before-battle and losing poses if they are paired up with certain characters.
    • For example, Law and Lei lay down on the floor in a comical fashion if they lose.
    • Nina kicks Bryan in the crotch with them both getting into their fighting stances immediately afterward if they lose a match.
  • In before-battle poses, some characters will do things with/to their partner occasionally depending on the leader.[1]
    • For example, when Paul and Kuma are paired, whomever the leader is will do their special attack to the other (Kuma will do his Salmon Hunter move on Paul, and Paul will do his Burning Fist on Kuma).
    • Heihachi will turn Lee over his knee and spank him if paired together, or alternatively, Heihachi perform a Neck Breaker on Lee.
  • Ling Xiaoyu is the only character in the game to have two endings. It is viewable by beating Arcade mode in her school girl outfit. Xiaoyu also has the most outfits with an additional secret green/orange costume, only obtainable by selecting her with a random select.
  • There are no replays after every round, but after Arcade Mode has been completed, the player will be shown replays from the last round of every match while the word "replay" flashes on the top left of the screen rather than the top right. However, in Tekken Bowl, the word flashes on the bottom left except when a super strike occurs.
  • The stages in this game are the exact same locations from Tekken 3, being set in a different time of day. For example, Lei Wulong's Hong Kong Street stage took place in the daytime in Tekken 3, but in this game, it takes place at nighttime.
  • Although he is not playable, Doctor Bosconovitch appears as a spectator in Tekken Bowl. He can be "KO'd" by throwing the ball away from the lane towards him, which counts as a miss.
  • In Tekken Bowl, pressing the X button when the shot power bar is at its absolute maximum will result in an "Over Charge." The character will hang onto the ball when throwing it, sending them sliding down the lane and crashing into the pins in a comedic fashion. This will count as a miss, and the message "Caution: Please do not try this at home" will display.
  • While Tekken Tag Tournament is non-canon, it looks as though it would have taken place during the same time as Tekken 3 since all of the characters that were in that game's roster, as well as the fighters who last appeared and debuted in Tekken 2 but did not return in 3, have not aged yet.
  • The European PlayStation 2 manual showing Jin's biography incorrectly has a picture of Kazuya instead of Jin.[citation needed]
  • This game marked the only appearance on the PlayStation 2 for Kunimitsu, Jack-2, Michelle, Gun Jack, Forest Law, Angel, Ogre, Armor King, Jun Kazama, Devil, Roger and Unknown. Some of these characters do make a cameo in character prologues and endings in other PlayStation 2 games, however.
  • Tekken Tag Tournament is one of the two games in the series to be released with an alternate cover. The Japanese and PAL covers shows a Kazuya's face alone, while the North American cover shows Kazuya as well as Bryan, Ganryu, Heihachi, Nina, Gun Jack, Bruce, Armor King, Jun, and Michelle behind him.
  • According to Harada, Sega had attempted to make negotiations with Namco to port Tekken Tag Tournament to the Dreamcast, offering a Virtua Fighter character of their choice for free in the game, but the offer was declined.[2]
  • Tiger Jackson is the only character whose name is not said by the announcer.
  • The game originally had a Turbo Mode that was only released in certain events though certain attacks would also launch an opponent high; similar to Tekken 2's Sky Mode. Oddly, all characters would exclusively use Anna's intro and win poses.
  • While there is no traditional stage selection, the player is able to select a stage for Practice Mode by hovering over the option on the main menu, holding L2, and tapping R2 up to twenty times depending on the desired stage.
  • The original PlayStation 2 release in Japan suffered from some graphical anti-aliasing issues. This issue was fixed for the North American and PAL releases later on, although the PAL game only runs at 50 Hz.
  • The beta version of the game previously used Tekken 3's timer before it was changed in the final release.[3]
  • Gameplay of Tekken Tag Tournament, via arcade, is featured in the episode "What the Shepherd Boy Did Not Now" of the Korean drama series More Than Friends.[4]
  • There are a lot of sound bugs in both the arcade and home versions.
    • Several sounds are played at a much lower or higher pitch than intended.
    • Several Tekken 2 characters have their sound effects in the wrong order, resulting in the wrong sounds being played when attacking or being hit or knocked out. For example, in the arcade version, Wang's light damage, heavy damage and KO yells are replaced with one of his attack sounds, his light damage yell, and his heavy damage yell respectively, while Kazuya's light and heavy damage yells are in the opposite order.
    • Sounds that were exclusive to the home version of Tekken 2 are also absent with the exception of Devil's distorted voice, for example Kunimitsu's knife slash, Nina's heavy damage yell (Nina's Tekken 1 voice is used for Angel and Unknown), all of Angel's sounds and Devil's screech.

See Also[]

References[]

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