
	Platform Playstation 3 Genre Fighting Publisher Namco Bandai Developer Namco Bandai ESRB T (Teen) Released November 22, 2011

- The ability to fight with two characters in a single match - Preview of the upcoming Tekken Tag Tournament 2

- How many more HD remakes do we need? - Tekken Blood Vengeance doesn’t add anything to the overall package - Visuals don’t seem like much of an upgrade - No Online Play

Review: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (PS3) Review: Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition (3DS) Review: Mortal Kombat (PS3)
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Tekken Hybrid

Score: 6.5 / 10

Over the past few years we've seen numerous HD remakes of PS2 classics. Tekken Hybrid (TH) is an HD remake of the PS2 game Tekken Tag Tournament (TTT). TTT was one of the launch titles for the PS2 back in the Fall of 2000. It’s hard to believe that the PS2 launched over 10 years ago and here we are today with HD remakes of all of our favourite PS2 classics showing up in retail stores. Perhaps the increase in HD remakes could be attributed to the PS3’s inability to play PS2 titles.

Frankly, I’ve grown weary of publishers pushing HD remakes as they seem more like cash grabs as often the remakes feature little to no additional content, lack

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- Playstation 3 Game Reviews
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- Games Published by Namco Bandai

much of a visual punch and I’ve never been much of a nostalgic person. Like the Guns N’ Roses song goes, “Yesterday’s got nothing for me”.

In addition to the HD remake of TTT, TH also features a film called Tekken Blood Vengeance and a sneak peek of the upcoming TTT 2 game. At first glance it appears that TH features a lot of content, but ultimately

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this is a little misleading as some of the content adds little to no value to the overall package.

TH has one distinguishing feature that separates it from the rest of the competition. TH lets you fight with two fighters in a single match, rather than just one. You can switch between characters at any time by “tagging” each other. This coupled with the game’s Netsu Power System adds a level of strategy not seen in other fighting games. The way the Power System works is that as your character takes damage, your offscreen character receives a damage boost. Therefore, you need to time tagging in characters correctly to optimize the reward system.

Sadly, one feature TH shares with the original game is the lack of online play. Compared to what other games are offering, this omission is certainly a head scratcher. However, you can still play with another friend on the same console. Graphically speaking, TTT has received an HD upgrade but, the game itself doesn't look substantially better than what we saw on the PS2. This seems to be a common trend amongst most HD remakes I’ve played so far.

TH features several games modes including Tekken Bowl, Arcade and Survival. Tekken Bowl is a mini game that literally has your characters bowling instead of throwing punches. It’s a rather bizarre addition that seems strangely out of place. Arcade and survival is pretty generic with you fighting your way through a list of fighters. Sadly, there is no story mode.

Included with TH is a movie called Tekken Blood Vengeance. The film can be watched in 3D, but most people do not own 3D Televisions (myself included). Blood Vengeance does nothing to supplement TTT as there is no story mode. Blood Vengeance is merely there to make the overall package more appealing, but it fails to meet this objective.

Frankly, I think it’s gotten a little ridiculous with the amount of HD remakes we’re seeing on the PS3. With news leaking of the PS4 not supporting backwards compatibility, I think it’s likely that HD remakes will not be going away anytime soon. TTT is only going to meet the needs of the hardcore fans who need something to keep them busy until TTT2 is released this Fall.

- Siddharth Masand
(April 12, 2012)