UncleD

Well what can I say about this game... {well I better say something this is a review :)]. This is the game that has spent more hours of my life than any othere game Goldeneye excepted. Tekken 2 is just a fantastic game. Tekken 2 I know is the best of the series, is has a perfect character roster and I unlike most people thought that Devil was a good character and not a cheap Kazuya rip-off.

The sound is the best of any of the Tekken games, the music is amazing highlights include Kazuya's and King's stages. The gameplay is suprisingly deep, there are many moves for each character to master. I much prefer the wide open stages of Tekken up to number 3. The graphics are now pretty poor by today's standards but too me they are not a problem, also the fact you can pick this game for around £5 where I live means there is plenty of value.

There plenty of game modes offer a challenge long after all the characters have been unlocked. Team Battle, Survival, Practice. The practice mode offers the chance to get to grips with any of the characters and learn their ten hit combo's. The learning curve entirely depends, button basher can more than hold there own but can be easily found out by people who have mastered the game.
It shouldn't take people long too get to grips with the game as it is just a fighting game.

All in all this is just a great game, the formula was refined and improved with Tekken 3 but this is still my favourite along with the price it can be bought for today, it is a must for any gamers collection (Unless you hate fighting games, in that case why are you reading this?).

Okay I know this isn't the best review ever and is more than gushing love letter to Tekken 2 but that's just how I feel about this game a masterpiece

I have been with the Tekken series right from the first time I loaded Tekken into my Playstation over ten years ago. I knew it then and know it now it is the greatest fighting series ever, in my opnion surpassing even Street Fighter and Soul Calibur.

With each installment Tekken just got bigger and better, my personal highlight of the series is Tekken 2. The amount of hours wasted on that game is uncalcuable and I still play it to this day.

Anyway I got Tekken 5 DR for christmas as part of my PSP bundle and as soon as I loaded it and fired it up I knew this game was worth waiting for. You see I have Tekken 5 for PS2 and while found it great felt it wasn't very advanced in terms of the gameplay. If anything it seemed a backstep to that of Tekken 4. I discovered DR in my local arcade and was hooked, the visuals were greatly improved and had excellent new characters in Druganov and Lili. When I heard that this was only going to be released on PSP I scoffed, I didn't think such a machine could accomodate a game like this. Well I am glad I wrong, I have been playing this game solidly for a week now and have found it is PERFECTLY suited to the PSP despite critical comments that suggested to the contrary. The control system I have found is excellent and I can pull off Kazuya's ten hit combos with the same ease I could on any Tekken on the home console and the graphics were way above my expectations of what the PSP can do. The FMV intro is stunning and each character is amazingly detailed while the stages look awesome. One of the truly amazing things about this game is the very short loading times, I expected some pretty long pauses between fights but have found that is not the case with loading averaging a very tolerable 5 seconds.

Of course you look at a fighting game and don't really see a deep gaming experience like on par with a RPG. Well that's not the case here, You can unlock each characters movies to start and then with the gold you in earn in game you can customise your characters to make them look unique. There are also Tekken Bowl and Command Attack which are pretty fun short term, in the case of Command Attack can prove very useful to the master in waiting. Practice mode is very useful to learn all the moves and spar with any character of your choice. The dojo mode gives you a chance to boost your chracters rating by beating everyone in the dojo and progressing to the next one. Another way of boosting ranking is just going to arcade mode and playing with people similarly ranked to you with the chance of promotion every so often (I have found it is about 10-11 fights to each promotion fight)

I think a special mention should go to the game sharing option, me and me friends have so much fun wirelessly playing Tekken with the need for two copies of the game. The option to create a ghost from your game data is a fantastic idea and download ghost packs even more so. I have downloaded many ghosts and they are just way more challenging than anything the CPU can offer up.

This truly a special game, the sheer variety of characters practising REAL martial arts means it takes while to master a character but is truly rewarding. It has many game modes and the Ghost and Dojo options add a real lease of life to this game. The sounds and music are great with some quite splendid graphics. Anyway anyone with a PSP MUST own this game you shall not be disappointed.

The first Max Payne was rather akin to a one night stand. It can be a great experience but is over before you can really get into it (no pun intended :P)
This sequel heightens the experience but once again finishes before it has really begun.

This game picks up where the last one left off, after Max's murderous rampage he is somehow installed to his former job with no charges against him. I won't spoil the story but suffice to say this story has just as much power as the previous.

The graphics have recieved a complete overhaul. No longer does Max look constipated nor the textures muddy. This game has to been seen to be believed. Just press pause in a big firefight and you will see what I mean. Even the console version have superb graphics, but they do not compare to the power of the PC. Where you would swear this was a game fir the 360 or PS3.

The sounds is excellent also with great atmospheric music and good voice actors. The musical motifs are excellent and certainly stick in the memory. Plus the bang and crackle of the guns cannot be faulted.

The only niggles with this game are the rather linear and repetative gameplay and the much maligned lack of longevity. Things I feel are holding this game series back from true greatness.

Max Payne 2 is a fantastic game no doubt..it has outstanding graphics, excellent sound and an engrossing story. For the price it can be picked up for today it is essential.......while it lasts.