The Wii U version of this game is probably the best, which I know is not saying much given the wider Tekken community's opinion of Tag 2 is really low. It still is a really fun game that anybody can pick up and play.

The Wii U version has exclusive Nintendo related costumes which look absolutely stupid and great. It is genuinely hilarious to see the serious, grizzled Jinpachi in a full Toad costume. Other highlights include Panda as Princess Peach, P.Jack as Luigi, and Paul as Mario.

The Wii U version has an exclusive special game mode called Mushroom Battle, where you fight on one of six stages that place classic Super Mario related items like the invincibility star and super/poison mushrooms that change your size, speed and stamina which can make matches extremely goofy really quick. It's a fun, novel mode that if played with an equally skilled opponent, can be a tense and fun time. The stages in this mode are really lacking in variety, with only two variations of three stages. The variations only matter in what and how often certain items are thrown out onto the stage. I wish this mode allowed you turn off certain items like the poison mushroom, which is usually the most common item that decreases your stamina bar, but at the end of the day it's a whatever throwaway mode.

The rest is just standard Tekken Tag 2. I think the roster is pretty good, but I think the Fight Lab mode is PHENOMENAL. If you don't know, the Fight Lab is essentially a story mode following Lee Violet as he creates the world's perfect fighting robot that the player takes control of. It is essentially a full blown tutorial how to play Tekken. It's robust and in-depth breakdown of every single mechanic that makes Tekken....Tekken! It's structured by Stages and Chapters complete with bosses. It's somewhat easy to complete and move on to the next challenge, but it demands perfect inputs if you want the best ranking. What's truly excellent is that you can go back to completed chapters to re-do challenges to perfect your abilities. It is the single best feature of a Tekken game I've seen.

Downsides include a shitty online connection, which doesn't really break the mold because all Tekken games have terrible online netcode and the Wii U is going offline soon. The loading in this version is a little long, but not unforgivable (If you emulate this game on a mid-range PC this is not even a problem at all).

All in all this is a great, gimmick-y game that newer Tekken fans can really sink their teeth into or vets can use as a fun kusoge at a tournament.

Reviewed on Nov 10, 2022


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