is a 1995 fighting game developed and published by Namco. The second entry in the Tekken series, it was released for arcades in August 1995, and was ported to the PlayStation in 1996. The home console version introduced new, now-staple game modes to the series, It was re-released as a playable game within Tekken 5 on PlayStation 2 (PS2) in 2005, digitally on PlayStation Network for PS3 and PSP in 2007, and on PlayStation Plus for PS4 and PS5 in 2023.

There are 25 playable fighters in the game, which includes 17 returning veterans from the original Tekken and eight newcomers, including Jun Kazama and Lei Wulong. The former boss, Heihachi Mishima, is now playable from the start as he seeks revenge in the plot, with Kazuya becoming the new antagonist. Tekken 2 was a critical as well as commercial success, with about 40,000 arcade units and PlayStation copies sold worldwide, and becoming one of the best-selling PlayStation games. Critics praised its graphical visuals and light sourcing, as well as its deep system of moves and combos, Each of the characters in Tekken 2 is composed of roughly 800 polygons and took between three days and a week to model. Roger the Kangaroo originated as a pet project of one of the development team members, who designed and modeled the character in his free time. When he showed Roger to some of his colleagues in the development team, they pushed to include the character in the game. Much of the time developing the PlayStation conversion was devoted to rewriting the code to fit the console's memory, which is roughly half the size of the game data used in the arcade version. (both based on the PlayStation version), on Zeebo via ZeeboNet, and PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 via PS Plus Premium (also based on the PlayStation version). Additional compositions in the game are credited to Hideaki Mitsui and Takashi Furukawa.

Official soundtrack CDs, Tekken 2 Strike Fighting Vol.1, Tekken 2 Strike Fighting Vol.2, and Tekken 2 Strike Arranges, were released by NEC Avenue in Japan in June, July and August 1996 respectively. In 2020, TEKKEN 2 (Original Soundtrack) was released by Lace Records as an LP record.

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="clear:none; font-size:90%; padding:0 auto; margin:auto;"

|-

! colspan="2" | Tekken 2 original soundtrack track list

|-

| valign="top" | Tekken 2 Strike Fighting Vol.1 (48:44)

  1. "A Man Of Artificiality " (Jack-2 stage theme) – 2:09
  2. "...Why?" (Jack-2 ending theme) – 0:24
  3. "Black Winter Night Sky" (opening movie theme) – 1:26
  4. "As Bald As" (Heihachi stage theme) – 2:50
  5. "Peerless National Defender" (Heihachi ending theme) – 0:52
  6. "Made of Stone" (Prototype Jack stage theme) – 1:39
  7. "Rhythm of China" (Wang stage theme) – 2:26
  8. "Late Night Show" (Anna ending theme) – 0:45
  9. "Eastern Dance" (Baek stage theme) – 2:24
  10. "Dream A Way" (Baek ending theme) – 0:33
  11. "Iron Man" (Armor King ending theme) – 0:37
  12. "More Vigorously!" (Roger stage theme) - 2:16
  13. "T-Rex Boy" (Alex ending theme) - 0:49
  14. "Hop Hop Hip!" (Roger ending theme) - 1:17
  15. "Your Fascinating Wave" (name entry theme) - 1:31
  16. "Surprising Truth" - 2:12
  17. "March To The Columns" (Kuma/Alex stage theme) - 2:17
  18. "Heat The Heart" (Bruce ending theme) - 0:59
  19. "P.J. Walk" (Prototype Jack ending theme) - 0:31
  20. "Two Different Sides" (Law stage theme) - 3:18
  21. "Dragon Boom" (Law ending theme) - 0:53
  22. "Almost Frozen" (Anna stage theme) - 2:49
  23. "Believe" (Wang ending theme) - 1:09
  24. "Ancient Temple" (Kunimitsu stage theme) - 4:17
  25. "Nobody Catch Me" (Michelle stage theme) - 3:31
  26. "Water Drop" (Michelle ending theme) - 1:08
  27. "Morning Field" (Jun stage theme) - 3:11
  28. "Forest" (Jun ending theme) - 1:01

| valign="top" | Tekken 2 Strike Fighting Vol.2 (54:03)

  1. "Are You Ready?" (character select theme) - 1:39
  2. "Silent Assassin" (Nina stage theme) - 3:20
  3. "Perspective" (Nina ending theme) - 1:22
  4. "The Head Shaker" (Yoshimitsu stage theme) - 3:54
  5. "Exit!" (Yoshimitsu ending theme) - 1:01
  6. "It Makes Me Higher" (Lee stage theme) - 2:46
  7. "Black Dream" (Lee ending theme) - 0:25
  8. "Cut In The Memories" (Kunimitsu ending theme) - 1:31
  9. "A Calm Before A Storm" (arcade opening theme) - 0:44
  10. "Paul's Miracle Deathfist" (Paul stage theme) - 3:30
  11. "T's Music" (Paul ending theme) - 0:23
  12. "All things are in flux and nothing is permanent" - 2:58
  13. "Quiet Interim Report" (sub-boss theme) - 3:32
  14. "The Place 1997" (Lei stage theme) - 2:51
  15. "Kwoolong's Eye" (Lei ending theme) - 0:57
  16. "Trial" (Kuma ending theme) - 0:56
  17. "Winner's" (Ganryu ending theme) - 1:20
  18. "Emotionless Passion" (Kazuya stage theme) - 3:24
  19. "Guilty or Not Guilty" (Kazuya ending theme) - 0:51
  20. "Hit Out" (Bruce stage theme) - 1:50
  21. "Here Is No Point of Return" - 3:01
  22. "Ring A Bell" (King stage theme) - 2:09
  23. "Sweet Home" (King ending theme) - 1:13
  24. "Be In The Mirror" (Devil stage theme) - 3:04
  25. "Devil!" (Devil ending theme) - 1:03
  26. "Angel Rising" (Angel ending theme) - 1:06
  27. "Go! Go! Go!" (results theme) - 1:21
  28. "Landscape Under The Ghost" (ending/staff roll theme) - 2:20

|}

Reception

Commercial

In Japan, Game Machine listed Tekken 2 on their September 15, 1995 issue as being the most-successful arcade game of the month. It went on to become a major worldwide arcade hit. In Japan, it sold about 15,000 arcade units and became the highest-grossing arcade video game of 1996. It was also highly successful overseas, selling 25,000 arcade units outside of Japan, for a total of about 40,000 arcade units sold worldwide . In the United States, RePlay reported Tekken 2 was the second most-popular arcade game at the time. It also topped the Play Meter arcade conversion kit chart in March 1996, and became one of the top five highest-grossing arcade conversion kits of 1996. In Australia, it was the fourth top-grossing arcade conversion kit in March 1996. and over by the end of the year, becoming the best-selling video game of 1996 in Japan. In North America, it sold nearly copies within four months. becoming the year's second best-selling PlayStation game in Europe. In the United Kingdom, it was a best-seller earning more than or by December 1996, and contributed to the PlayStation's UK installed base increasing to 750,000 units at the time. In Germany, it received a Gold award from the Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland for sales above 100,000 copies. Worldwide sales of the PlayStation version exceeded units by early 1998, and units .

Critical

The game was acclaimed by game critics, with the PlayStation version holding a 93% rating at GameRankings. Critics praised the game's light sourcing, detailed backgrounds,

In 1996, GamesMaster ranked the game 12th on their "Top 100 Games of All Time". In 1997, PSM named the PlayStation port of Tekken 2 one of the "Top 25 PlayStation Games of All Time" at number three, describing it as better than the arcade version in many regards due to added features and "one of the best fighting games ever." In a 1999 retrospective review, Official UK PlayStation Magazine wrote: "The very best in its day, Tekken 2 is still virtually perfect". It was also listed among the best games of all time by Next Generation in 1996, Electronic Gaming Monthly (both staff and readers) in 1997, Game Informer in 2001, GameSpot in 2006, Empire in 2009 and Guinness World Records in 2009.

Footballer David James was a notable fan of the game, crediting his passion for the game as the reason why his performance declined.

Notes

References

  • (archived)