In TTT2, Rage is a far more common beast. It was a good system, really it gave you a slim opportunity to radically turn the tables in the fight – it was basically your desperate last stand, an all-out gambit. In the past, Rage was only activated when your fighter’s health fell below 10%. If you’ve played a Tekken game this generation, you’ll know something they’ve recently introduced is the “Rage” system – once your health reaches a certain level, your attacks will deal double damage until your Rage runs out. Clicking in the left stick will bring in your tag partner, and bring with it some of the most interesting changes to how Tekken works. Combinations of the buttons come as throws or can generate combos.
The basics are all there, and pretty much all the same – you attack with four limbs, each face button controlling a different limb. But Tekken Tag Tournament 2 has done something that fighting games have been claiming to do for a very long time – it’s delivered genuine innovation. You’d think that the fighting genre was fairly limited all you’re doing, really, is wearing down a health bar.
