This doesn't mean that the game isn't fantastic the way it is. 34 playable characters, dozens of stages, hundreds of costumes and thousands of moves make this the pinnacle of the Tekken series; it is the best Tekken to date. But when compared to the added value produced by Namco in it's Dreamcast incarnation of Soul Calibur, it falls just a little short on replay value.

For those of you who haven't heard of Tekken, it's a quasi-3D fighting game that started in the arcades and has appeared exclusively with each successive version on the PlayStation platform. The arcade version of Tekken Tag Tournament added a few new options, most importantly the tag ability. Fights are now between two teams of two characters each (although the option remains to have 1-on-1 battles), and characters can tag in and out at any time during the fight to initiate new tag combos and other new moves.

TTT also brought the return of characters missing from the series since Tekken 2 (as time-released characters). They were given new moves to compete with the new characters added to the series in Tekken 3, and overall the game became more balanced. For the PS2 version of TTT, the graphics were overhauled and became an outstanding example of the PS2's processing power. While the Japanese version of Tekken Tag Tournament (that was released shortly after the Japanese PS2 launch) suffered from slight anti-aliasing problems, Namco put work into adding full-screen anti-aliasing into the US release. The end result won't really be noticeable on anything less than a 30 inch TV with S-Video or component A/V connections, but if you're one of those gamers lucky enough to enjoy a sweet setup like this, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

TTT is without a doubt the best-looking 3D fighting game available, but is it the best-playing? TTT is the end result of 6 years of fine-tuning, but unfortunately the series is starting to become stale. Sure, the new tag system and new fighting moves (kick-ups, low parries for every character, stagger and fall recoveries, etc.) have added some new style options to the game, it's still Tekken--high-damage juggles and all. While games such as Virtua Fighter 3 and DOA2 have added uneven ground and mutliple-layer arenas to the genre, TTT remains largely the same as the original Tekken. Another example of TTT's similarity to its PSX cousins is the weird floor/background "wheel" effect, where the floor rotates on an invisible platform against the stationary background. To Namco's credit, they've done a decent job in reducing the appearance of that effect, but it still occurs.

Although Tekken Tag Tournament doesn't innovate or provide tons of replay value options as Namco's Dreamcast opus Soul Calibur, it is nearly perfect in what it does--and it is guaranteed to provide you with hours upon hours of solid fighting enjoyment. A must-have for any fighting game fan and highly recommended to any PlayStation 2 owner.