Living throughout the 90s and going into the turn of the century was a big deal for many of us kids, on the onset it looks like just a number, a useless metric made up by us. In hindsight however, those four digits all turning at once into a brand new number ushering in the beginning of a millennium truly did mean something big. I remember the days and nights going by as we approached the new year, my tiny mind had great fear over it. What's gonna happen? Is the world gonna explode? Are the refrigerators gonna come alive and enslave us all? You laugh, but a mind that young is full of creativity, which comes with a side effect of believing a lot more than you should.

Obviously, none of that happened. It was just another New Years Day, but little did I know that it took a bit longer than that to truly feel like a generation was ending and another was coming into it's own. Rookie mistake of course, I was still learnin'.

There was this advanced futuristic console coming, the supposed sequel to what was....and still is my favorite system. The PlayStation 2. Bang. The Dreamcast didn't even see it coming, I am so sorry my friend, it seems you were simply the harbinger. What game could possibly lead the charge and rally the troops to Sony's cause? Well, I loved Tekken 2. I loved Tekken 3, and here we are. The Tag Tournament to end all Tag Tournaments. Tekken was big enough to not need a crossover, Tony Stark wants no part of Paul Phoenix, and to this day they say that Logan is scared shitless of King giving him a Muscle Buster. Tekken 3 was the big fighter on the block, but part of me always missed Kazuya and his purple suit. But here he is, staring at you on the cover. Like, "I'm back bitch."

The introduction cinematic even starts with that beautiful cityscape, with Kazuya simply getting up out of his chair to make his way to the elevator. He's the only one I know who can make something so simple look so damn awesome. When I get out of my office chair after typing this up, I'm gonna pretend I'm him. He'd have to be pretty awesome, considering the reason he's going to the roof of his building is to turn into the most awesome final boss of all time and blast his laser into the sky to show off his dominance. A perfect opening cutscene to prepare us for a new system, with high-fidelity futuristic graphics, 2-on-2 matches, and a gigantic roster featuring everyone that isn't Gon or Dr. B. Kazuya fired them, and I approve.

It's mindboggling, because Tag Tournament wasn't even a part of my opening lineup of Christmas games to go along with my console. Twisted Metal Black, Dynasty Warriors 3, and Metal Gear Solid 2. Killers row, but I'm not sure I'd ever associate them with the advent of 365000 sundowns. That's probably because Tag Tournament still existed prior to my system thanks to playing it in arcades way back. You know the drill, get chaingrabbed by a King player who's ten years older than you with no idea how to defend. The good stuff. Being a practice mode warrior at the dear age of 9 years old could only do so much. Alas.

So ends the ballad of big ol' cartridges and CD-ROM, and thus the bringer of the new age in the form of DVD and little Nintendiscs starts the last hurrah of my nostalgia. An age that I personally consider to be the last truly great era of gaming. Is it nostalgia, or is it true? Who cares? I'm gonna uppercut you into the moon, because I'm Kazuya Mishima and I'm bowling a 300 against True Ogre.