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You may not have seen or heard of Dead or Alive on PSOne, as it was criticised for having a dull environment and limited fighters. Tekken, everyone knows, was one of the best fighting games on the PSOne but how do they fair on the new machine?

The first thing to note about the new Tekken game is it's not a true sequel. There are a few new characters to choose from. Also not many of the moves or fighting styles have changed. Think of it as a Tekken compilation if you will. Starting the game, greets you with a number of very impressive FMVs. Also, you'll be instantly aware of the updated character graphics and the new fluid animation. With over twenty initial fighters and over eighteen to unlock, you'll have plenty to admire.

Dead or Alive 2 on the other hand is a graphically superior game. The characters have more clarity to them, and the arenas look beautiful. Not many FMVs to look at but it makes up for this computer controlled displays of the fighters sparing. My one main gripe with the presentation is that the 'surf dude' rock theme tune gets very tiresome very quickly. With only 12 fighters, plus two unlockable, it does have a limited lifespan in terms of gameplay, especially after you have mastered each character. In terms of gameplay, it's quite fast compared to Tekken Tag.

Back grounds are one of the main problems with Tekken Tag Tournament. There is an animated floor which the players move around on yet the background is no more than a curtain that moves so you never actually reach the boundary of your arena. True you'll never get cornered, but it's far too noticable. The floor and the background never look to be moving at the same speed. Dead or Alive 2 has a perfect fighting arena. With over 20 arenas, you have plenty of locations to choose from. Not only are all the arenas full 3D, some are also interactive. Some have electrical fences to smash fighters against, platforms to throw them off or windows to smash them through. A simple idea but brilliantly executed.

Characters is something Tekken Tag has plenty off. Each has their own fighting style, from the flamboyant Eddie Gordo to the slow but powerful Jack-2. Each character must be learned as they are all different. They also range in difficulty to master. For example, Eddie Gordo will suit many Tekken virgins as button mashing will produce a fairly effective offense. King on the other hand, takes plenty of practise but once mastered turns out to be one of the best characters in the game. However, Dead or Alive 2 has a limited character range and to make matters worse they are all too similar. Each has the same set of blocks and counters with only special moves to set them apart. To add the control system is overly complicated to master. With only two attack buttons (Punch and kick) it's a button bashers paradise. It's quite easy to beat a mastered fighter at this game, even the computer. (I managed to beat it on very hard using this tactic) Block for a start, is to stand still when the urge is to reach for backwards or a block button instead. Counters are back and then the direction of the fourth coming attack (High, medium, low) and the free button (Used also for circling). The majority of the time will have you guessing this tactic but mostly getting it wrong. (Especially fighting a button basher.) To make matters worse, the CPU opponents will counter you 99 times out of 100. It's impossible to tell what's coming next as you have no time to react to the attack making it very frustrating to play the computer.

The tag factor of both games is quite interesting. Dead or Alive 2 sticks with both fighter knockout whereas Tekken defaults to first fighter knock out (This can be changed to both fighters.) and to be honest it works better in Tekken Tag. Whether on your own, two player, or four it adds a tactical aspect to the game and to watch out for depleting energy bars. Dead or Alive makes it out only as a four fighter brawl, with which the last team standing wins. In it's defence Dead or Alive only uses the tag option as an extension to the gameplay whereas it's the main body of Tekken.

One important aspect to a fighting game is the storyline of each fighter. The whole reason for dragging a fighter through 10 rounds is to see their ending story. This unfortunately is where both games fall down. For a start, Tekken uses two fighters at a time yet only shows you one ending story, but allows you to save it for viewing again even with all costumes. The only thing is all the stories are about 20 seconds long and make no sence. Take Hwoarang's ending, what's that all about? It doesn't tell us anything and after 20 rounds you feel cheated. However this is nothing compared to what's in Dead or Alive. Story mode is a variation of the character's progression through the game and has a small FMV before most of the fights. You do have the choice to make the voices english or Japanese (with subtitles), the latter being slightly better. Trouble is this makes no sence either. Take Kasumi for example, she has to fight someone called Kasumi-X first who looks and fights like her. The start up dialogue is as so... Kasumi-X "hahahahaha!!!" Kasumi "How dare you, swindler!!" Eh? Excuse me? What was that about? We learned nothing from that. Sadly all the characters suffer from this and makes it very difficult for the player to relate to the characters. Added to this after about three characters, you no longer want to play the story mode. A nice idea but poorly executed.

Finally, comes replay value. Will you playing this in 6 months time, etc etc... Tekken Tag has over 18 characters to unlock which adds to the replay factor, not only to get new characters but their own endings. Also in the spirit of Tekken 3's Ball mode (A volleyball game with the characters), Tekken Tag has a Tekken Bowl mode which is a Bowling subgame, unlocked when you rackup more than ten championship victories. A lot of work went into making the game and it's great fun and high addictive. It's also hilarious to play, it's possible to knock out characters standing by the side with your ball or go shooting down the lane yourself, if you hold onto the ball too long or throw it too hard. With Survival modes and single player tournaments, Tekken Tag will keep you busy for months. Dead or Alive 2 has no subgames to speak off. There are two extra characters to unlock which will ensure some replay and after this each character has a number of costumes to unlock but after a few, they don't feel rewarding. After you've beaten the game 5 times you don't feel it's worth to go again.

To sum up, Tekken Tag tournament is really Tekken 3 with better graphics and a tag aspect. But that doesn't make it a bad game, far from it. Tekken has a massive following and so far is the best fighting game on the PS2, especially between 4 players. Dead or Alive 2 on the other hand is a beautiful game to look at but doesn't hold the same attraction, playability and replay value of Tekken Tag. Not even the scantily clad females of Dead or Alive 2 (Which was what the game was marketed around and has a option to adjust "jiggleness") could defer the Tekken fans. In my opinion, Tekken has dispatched the young pretender very well. But with the likes of Soul Calibor 2, Virtua Fighter 4 and Tekken 4, it's only a matter of time before it is bettered.