Honestly I'm glad someone has made the effort to put into words the specific and incredible VIBE of the (early) Tekken games. It was like a classy sci fi present day I always wanted to inhabit. With monsters! And robots! And kangaroos!
@@ParisellaMe too, buddy. As much as I like Tekken 3 (and even 4, as much backlash that game gets) for what it did for the series, I think that's when it began to dig itself deep into the hole it is now (5 was the last game in the series I could call decent in terms of story with fun gameplay).
I love how dark Tekken 2 is compared to the rest of the franchise. The music and atmosphere is so sober. The technical main hero is a villain completely corrupted with the only other person capable of beating him is someone who technically wasn’t good either.
I loved the atmosphere of tekken 2, feels sinister for some reason. I really liked that since every character had their own stage, when you fought them it was like they had home advantage. Like you had gone looking for a fight and walked into someone else’s territory, such a cool feeling.
Tekken 2 has such an interesting art style to it. It's both 'futuristic' but also depressing in some ways. I think it compliments the tragic story of Kazuya and his possession by Devil really well. Kazuya could've been saved by Jun wholly, but Heihachi had other plans...
I grew up more with Tekken 2 than Tekken 3 and it feels like a dream and sometimes even a nightmare. When I was at my best friend's house, we played Tekken 2 but after we left the room for dinner, I came back and saw Heihachi's angry yelling face and ran out screaming. The technical limitations of mid-90s CGI in games are really scary, no wonder most of the beloved horror games came at that time.
I never really play Tekken in general, but I have a lot of nostalgia for that Tekken 2 intro. I've slapped it into the PS1 just to watch it. It just has a vibe to it.
As someone who watches a lot of anime, and have watched a lot of 80's, 90's shows, good luck finding a source to this visual motif, it's literally everywhere around that timeframe, in fact any random OVA from the 80's has the obligation of having some expensive and fancy skyscraper. If I were to guess, I would just say that it was predominant feeling in japan around the time, because of their bubble economy.
@@thorhighheels Definitely 80s and early 90s anime. Akira and Wicked City had these vibes. Usually the ultra violent anime that had the night cyberpunk, but in present time presence.
Yeah to me it feels like a 90s, early internet and personal computing, early Wired era cyberspace (new economy) aesthetic extension of raegan era 80s high finance cynicism-chique. With all the biblical imagery being a satanic panic addon. A rich kid style to suit the opulence of early playstation, even as the rest of global pop was more shifting towards barbie bubblegum, live aid multicultural, or nirvana filth.
Tekken 4's smoother "glassy" aesthetique was where I really got to know the Tekken series, so even if it is a small portion of the video I'm still glad to have seen it be homaged here. It really is a shame tat Tekken went into a far less "cold" direction after this and became what it is now, but at least thanks to videos like these we can all reminisce and imagine a world where different choices were made...
I think 5 was the last Tekken to commit to that certain "vibe". T6 went full on war themed, with a more grounded aesthetic, and the series' been the same ever since.
Part of the problem is that Tekken 4 had an absolutely *terrible* reputation within the competitive scene - even when it was new, tournaments were still running Tekken Tag 1 alongside it since that was the game people actually wanted to play. We were just entering the era when online word of mouth could make or break a game's image, and that was not kind to Tekken 4. Thus, they abandoned a lot of the more ambitious gameplay ideas like height variation in the stages, and that extended to the aesthetic aspect of it since that got overshadowed in the discourse at the time.
If nothing else, there's this vibe that went off w/ PSX era, especially early era, that felt diff than the entire history of vidya that came before it. There's this set off, clean cut, 'the future is now' feel that you get outta most of the first and second party efforts that introduced the platform to the world and I think looking to T2 as an epitomized slice of that feel to study the vibe from is not only valid to study, but also just plain cool to just let slap and take it in.
the rate of advancement was insane back then man, it's crazy how playing a game from 1991 in 1997 could feel like archaeology sometimes with how old they felt after that short few years. every year we got some crazy shit that was unlike anything we'd seen before, going from street fighter 2 to tekken 2 in like 4 years is nuts. "the future is now" is really the best way to describe it. Some of those demo discs from back in the day had some slick ass vibes too much like this game's tone, I cherish my memories of that time in gaming.
The PS1 era in general was an incredible time for gaming, because devs could pretty much do whatever they wanted. Now, they have far less room to experiment because drastically changing anything could result in the loss of sales of their next project. Tekken 2 was my first PS1 game, and I'll always remember that aesthetic fondly. I played that game to death, experiencing everything hidden on that disc. And when I was done, I deleted my save and did it again! Thank you for exploring this profoundly influential work!!!
I really like how the sky looks in 90s games, how vast and bright and cloudy it looks and how it goes hand-in-hand with a hopeful future vibe. Tekken 2 has that and more and comes off as really fascinating.
Yeah this and a lot of games from that era really felt like they were reaching for something, maybe it has something to do with the technical limitations of the times (things being more abstract and all), but I think it was a certain attitude about things as well.
Ikr, wanna see them bring back the TK4 style, keep the crazy designs but make the graphics more realistic, have Jin and Kaz fight the devil as the last boss of TK, maybe have Jin get knocked out, have Kazuya on his own, no devil form, doing Jin's Avenger to save the world. That'd be sick af
Black Night Winter Sky is one of my favorite openings of all time, dunno why but everything about this was just a step up from tekken 1 and it only gets higher from here
this is why I love this channel. you really know exactly what to zero in on when talking about these old games and why they stuck in our minds all these years later. its not the gameplay because thats all but been improved on by years of iteration. its the vibes.
I love Tekken 2. I know that 3 is people's favourite (as far as the PS1 games go), but Tekken 2 just has such a cool vibe to it. I'm also fond of it because when I was a kid my elderly neighbor gave me his old Playstation alongside a copy of the game, because he was just that cool.
I've never seen someone go so in-depth and analyze an early 3D fighting game for it's aesthetics, as opposed to it's mechanics. Another fantastic video essay/appreciative love-letter thing!
Tekken 2 is one of those games that will be forever ingrained in my head in large part because of it's vibe. I was playing it at the arcade around and launch with it being my go to fighter for that early 3D era. Then of course it became the go to for sleep overs and jump starting puberty with Anna's ending. It definitely brought a certain kind of emotion with it's visuals that I feel 3 kept a bit of but wasn't quite the same, providing just enough vague interesting details to work the imagination but also giving it a firm starting place.
Oh, it has oodles of what the kids call "Aesthetic" and us great ancient ones call "Atmosphere". But yea, you said it all when you said... Japan. Indeed.
Dog, the Serene Forest speaks to such a "90's childhood" mood. Stage feels potent and mysterious, like it's promising wherever you're headed might not be safe, but it won't be boring.
I cannot stress enough how hard, as a late 80's born Millennial, Tekken 2 broke my god damn mind when I first saw it as a kid. Having grown up as a very small child with SF2 and MK2, to then have the world of 3D fighters first revealed to me with this was a religious experience. All of this stuff is written into my personality, and I'm far from alone in this amongst my peers. Cool to see a well thought out break down of the game's aesthetics.
Same here I was into Mortal Kombat and stuff, then my older cousin was with me at an arcade and was like, "Lemme show you a real fighting game" (this was back in '96/'97), took my brother and I to the Tekken 2 cabinet and played a few rounds with Law...my mind was fuckin' blown. Then played the demo on PS1 at some point where we could really take in the music and the intro, of course...unreal
Tekken 2's intro is still my favorite. T2 being the first game I've ever played sure helps but I also really, REALLY enjoy the music and visuals. I much prefer the arranged version of the ost myself but that's mainly because I grew up with it. To me 2, Tag 1 and 4 are still the masters of style in the series.
As someone who grew up on 3 and 4, I bounced off of 2 pretty hard when I first tried it like a couple years ago cuz it just didn't "feel" how I expected... so I appreciate this video for showing me what I missed! Makes me want to go back and have a good time with it for sure, but even without that an exploration of cool vibes is always fun to watch
Yeah, the controls will feel super clunky to anyone who's only played the more recent Tekkens, it's not you're fault. It's still my favorite Tekken but it's not like I have too much fun actually playing it anymore lol. I basically play it these days only to experience the Tekkennessssss
4 despite the wall combo and movement issues is sick AF. One of the best variants of Yoshimitsu where he could steal moves. They even borrowed the stun links featured in Soul Calibur 2. We need a ROM hack of Tekken 4 that tweaks the movement to be near 3's and the gravity of wall combos to be 5's quality. Lee in Tekken 4 was something else, Nina too. Addendum: Look up the data mined announcer callouts! Jinpachi was planned way before 5. Heck a majority of the T2 and T3 fighters had announcer callouts.
Always loved Tekken 2 and Tag's intros because of all those nighttime highrises and wine-sipping Kazuya's crazy amount of style. That sleek early computer graphics style will never get old, even if some people think the FMVs look creepy lol.
The first two Tekken games go together in terms of style and devs. Tekken 2 is not necessarily the best playing Tekken but it is my favorite Tekken of them all. The style is perfect Vapor style now. Tekken 2 OST is in the top 10 greatest gaming OSTs of all time.
One of the things I've been loving about Armored Core 6 is it feels like a direct evolution of PS1 era aesthetics. The whole game is metal on metal with a lofi industrial chillhop music to relax/study to vibe to the soundtrack. It feels like a game FromSoft could have made in 1998 if the tech was there.
You really put into words why this game drew me in so much as a little kid who had only seen age appropriate kids games up until that point of picking this game up and booting it up on my friend’s PlayStation. It changed my whole perspective on the art form and the atmosphere was unmatched. It continued to inspire me and birthed my interest in Japan. For that I’m forever a Tekken fan and excited for 8 but you’ve also nailed the issues the later entries have had. 2 oozes style in a way that they never nailed again.
tekken 2 was such a vibe. i would put the game's disc in my CD player just to hear the credits song all the time as a kid. i adore tekken to this day but man tekken 2 really did somethin to me. thanks for makin a video on it.
Almost every video you make you always use tracks from the games that are my favorites. This one began with Jun’s theme and that’s one I’ve been jamming to the last few weeks.
I kinda get what you mean about how everything from 5 has felt very similar aesthetic wise, but I feel like Tag 2 really embraces the tournament vibe the game represents, from the character select screen to the main menu and sound effects.
tekken 2 is pretty fun tbh!! its a vibe for sure. i really love the music and stages. the opening mv is so hard. and the simple loading screen is indescribably perfect at its job
As many times as I've played though this since I was literally a child, I never noticed the 2012 in Lee's ending. This shit is a revelation to lore nerds such as myself, thank you.
One piece of this puzzle is the japanese bubble economy culture of the 80s early 90s reflects iin this aesthetic a piece of japan culture that we can only really gleam from the media. Also the 1995 ghost in the shell movie is definitely smeared in this version of of Sophistifuture.
I have memories of playing Tekken 2 in my teens and it having this claustrophobic, otherworldly atmosphere. The difference between the forests of T2 and T3 sum that up!
Tekken 2 is the very first video game memory I have and this video pretty much describes everything I love about it and the nostalgia value it has on me
19:12 - Hit the nail on the head. Ambience is so important. Mortal Kombat went through the same artistic regression, almost step for step with Tekken. Thanks for the well put together and unique video for one of the greatest fighters of all time. P.S You're a heretic for preferring the arcade BGM :):)
I've been having the crazy thought lately that MK should go back to digitized actors. Maybe it's just b/c that was my intro to MK and I'm biased but it just doesn't feel like MK without it...and how MK was no-nonsense insane quirky ridiculous macabre fun back then...now the games are so self-serious and corny as hell.
Ha I’ve been 100%ing dmc 2 lately to dissemble and appreciate it so def looking forward to that vid. This channel continues to be the most relevant content.
I only got into Tekken in my late teens thru playing Tekken 2 on an emulator with my friends, so I approached it without any sentimentality or nostalgia, but even still it left such an impression on me. I want a print out of that yoshimitsu forest as a gigantic poster, the vibes are immaculate😩
Edit: MORE Willem! He is a chonky round amazing boi. Ooooh. Yes please. Thor has to do all the Tekkens now probably. I used to listen to rave music mixed by my sister and take money from everyone at Aladdin's Castle on Tekken 2 and Tekken 3. Thank you Thor.
I loved it how every fighter got their own stage .. would be a dream if they would do that again. All of the different world locations were also really cool
To me the last best realistic tekken game was 4. I love the cast, the music, the stages, the outfits, the endings, the credits, the beat em up, the story and the style of that whole game. I will never have another Tekken game like that ever again.
Glad someone made this video before I had to. I'm really tired of the Tekken 5+ aesthetic in it's overdone, maximalist, TapOut short crap that only gets "more" each entry. It's not even just the overall look, it's the costume designs per individual character. 4 was the last time it was really restrained, perhaps because it was coming out of actual Y2K maximalism of other early PS2-era games going hog wild with how much detail they could have and it decided to focus on overall clarity instead of insane detail. Tekken is also probably the most influenced fighting game out there, with characters being blatant references to film and anime characters without a super overt house style to make them their own (eg: Street Fighter's Bruce Lee character feels less Bruce Lee than Tekken's, if that makes sense). And I think that 2 in particular was this big amalgam of OVA anime of the time, like Doomed Megalopolis or Demon/Wicked City. Hell, one of the alt designs for Devil/Kazuya is straight up Star Platinum from the Jojo OVA, and it has never made a return. Nowadays Tekken pulls a lot more from some sort of vague "e-person" internet streamer culture as trends in anime have changed and martial arts films have fallen to the wayside. Makes me a bit sad.
I gotta admit everything touched upon this commentary, really resonates with me, a big part of why Tekken 2 is my favorite of the old school Tekken games is because it is definitely one of the darker entries of the franchise alongside Tekken 3
tekken 2's in that hole of "future-city-vogue" that's so prevalent in japanese media culture. Stuff like the City Hunter anime, cowboy bebop, Oedo, and goku the midnight eye. There's more but it's a really weird vibe they all share, this "future but not too far setting where the technology or trends of the day stayed constant"
I started playing Tekken for the first time this year, finished 1 and currently going through 2 (my friends and I play a lot of 7 when we meet up though) and I am in love with 2's music, vibe, and atmosphere. Just the intro alone has such a nice sound and feel to it and it really made me feel like I'm getting into something special. I messed around a bit with 3 and I'm just not vibing as hard with its feel as I am with 2. I already feel nostalgic lol
Tekken 2 intro music let's gooooooooooo! For a long time I prefered the Tekken 2 renders and fmv due to the fact it was between Tekken 1's Jank and Tekken 3's hyper realism. Having played some Tekken 3, I did took a liking to it, but Tekken 2's renders and FMVs [chief kiss], still have a special place in my heart for them.
15:14 ... Been a fan of this game since I was a kid. It was my first Tekken and probably still my favourite. I did NOT notice the 'Obey' message on his desk till now. 😂
I still remember for my 7th birthday summer 1997. My dad says we’re renting a PlayStation and I had no idea what he was talking about until he brought the most beautiful grey box home I had ever seen. To this day I argue puberty started the day that box opened up and took cds instead of cartages. 🤪
Y'know, I could never articulate why I love Tekken 2's vibe so much. And "sophistifuture" is pretty damn good. But I also think there's an element of 80s martial arts and action film inspiration in T2's style that I also can't articulate very well, but I love it lol.
Thanks for really getting why Tekken 2's aesthetics were as seminal as they were. It's hard to explain to people why I stopped really enjoying the aesthetics of Tekken after like...4, and now I can just link the video and be all "it's got less of that secret sauce"
