Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Almost, but not quite"

I love Tekken, but the series seemed to have went downhill a bit. Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag Tournament 1 are near perfect, and its hard to choose which one is superior. My problems with this game is the fact its too much like Tekken 6. Which is the reason why I dislike it so much; Tekken 6 introduced a bigger emphases on juggling which has completely ruined the game. You can spam the same move over, and over, and over without letting the other player get a chance and gets pinned in a corner and basically can drop the controller. It seems like that in the Offline modes, but its bearable to an extent. But when playing online it is unbelievable. However, what really made me sad was the Pair Play mode is only playable on the same screen. It would be amazing to be able to have Pair Play online; 4 different people, in different locations having a 2 VS 2 match would be a blast. Too bad, but apparently the reason is because there would be overwhelming lag.

PROS:
>In depth fighting
>Animations are varied and fluid
>The music is great, and some old favorites return
>Great selection of characters
>The Tag moves are a great addition and add more to the game
>Tekken Tunes is a nice touch
>DLC's regarding stages, and characters will apparently be FREE
>Matchmaking is quick
>Clothing can be effected in a fight, such as dirt, and even tearing

CONS:
>The Rage mode is unbalanced, when the first fighter is low on health, his tag partner gets Rage. This is unbelievable, so then I'm fighting a fighter with full health, and has double the damage. The fighter with the low health should get the Rage, not the tag partner with FULL HEALTH
>In depth fighting, but ruined by the EXTENSIVE JUGGLING
>Fight Lab is an uninspired mess, and unneeded
>More online modes, then 1v1, 1v2, 2v2. However more DLC for the online is expected
>I lack to see the customization to be as appealing as T6. All the accessories look awful; from the hair, to the glasses, to the clothing itself
>Pair Play online would boost the games play ability by a long shot, and would have me coming back even more

It isn't a bad game, but I hope the addition of DLC will bring me back even more. As well as the juggling gets toned down in future installments because that to me killed the game, and the Rage system needs to be tweaked.