This month marks the 20th anniversary of the U.S. release of the Sony PlayStation 2. To this day considered one of the best video game consoles ever, the PS2 had a litany of great titles from all sorts of gaming genres. One was the launch title Tekken Tag Tournament, which was a deluxe console port of Namco's arcade fighting game from the year before.

Much like Sony's second console, Tekken Tag set a new precedent that has yet to be matched. Here's why the 3D fighting franchise's foray into the world of tag battles was its best entry yet.

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How Tekken Tag Tournament Became King of 3D Fighting Games

By 2000, tag-team mechanics had become ubiquitous in several fighting game franchises. SNK made the playstyle a staple of its King of Fighters franchise, which mashed up teams of three comprised of original characters and classic fighters from Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury.

Meanwhile, Capcom's VS. Series involved its popular Street Fighter franchise and several superheroes from Marvel Comics. While these games all showcased how fun and frantic tag battles could be, they did so on a 2D plane. Thus, Tekken taking the concept and running with it in Tekken Tag Tournament not only put tag battles in 3D, but essentially cemented Tekken as the king of 3D fighting games.

Other 3D fighters existed at the time, but none had the popularity or acclaim of Tekken Tag Tournament or the Tekken series in general. Sega's Virtua Fighter franchise, while renowned for its realism and deep fighting engine, never quite caught on with casual audiences -- especially given Sega's botching of the first few games' console releases.

Dead or Alive was and still is seen as more of a titillating fighting game than a deep one, while the 3D Mortal Kombat games are universally treated as a step down. Regarding 2D fighters, including the once venerable Street Fighter now seen as old hat, Tekken was the genre's top contender. Additions to the console version of Tekken Tag Tournament only improved what was already a great title, turning it into a must-have on the PS2.

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Arcade Vs. Console

The first notable difference between the arcade and console versions of Tekken Tag Tournament is the PS2 version's stunningly cinematic intro. Fighting games at the time were notably light on story, so this glimpse into the world of the characters not only made the game more immersive, but also showed off the graphical power of the PS2.

This version of the game had an updated engine similar to what would be used in Tekken 4, whereas the arcade version only boasted 32-bit power. Also showcasing this improved power was the game's expansive cast, many of whom hadn't been in the series for a while.

Tekken Tag Tournament's brevity of plot stems from its categorization as a "dream match" game, involving a cast of fighters from across the franchise including Kazuya Mishima, Michelle Chang and even the deceased Jun Kazama, all of whom had not been in the most recent canon entry, Tekken 3. This allowed players to choose a favorite from a cast of 30+ fighters, bringing the franchise's first and current generation of characters together for the first time. With improved graphical power, the fighters all looked better than ever, with more detail and less blocky appearances than the games on the original PlayStation.

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The biggest addition to the console version was Tekken Bowl. As its name would suggest, this was a tag-team bowling minigame where fighters get together to knock down some pins. While this sounds on paper like a lazy bonus feature meant to pad the console release, the result is actually a fun tertiary mode that perfectly uses the Tekken universe. Different fighters have different attributes that help or hurt them in bowling, making the mini-game just as strategic as the feature fisticuffs. The game also shows up in later series titles, eventually becoming its own app. There are also tons of unlockable costumes.

Due to its popularity and parallel launch with the PS2, Tekken Tag Tournament was the first exposure to the franchise for many gamers. The title would not only go on to receive a sequel, but also an HD remaster on the PlayStation 3. Even as new entries came and went, the combination of characters and the zeitgeist of the release window make Tekken Tag Tournament the definitive Tekken.

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