Tekken 2 (SNES)

Tekken 2
Publisher	DVS Electronic Co (possibly)
Console	SNES
Date	1996/1997 (Undetermined)
Engine	SNES Fighting Engine

Tekken 2 is a pirated fighting game based off Tekken 2, created for the SNES by an unknown company.

Overview

The graphics are taken from the original game and simplified, with the characters being original hand drawn 2D sprites made to roughly resemble a the 3D models used in the original arcade board. The backgrounds are simple and unanimated, often being mirrored horizontally like many other pirates in order to conserve ROM space. Many of the backgrounds appear to utilize poorly digitized elements. It is currently unknown how many backgrounds appear or if they are the same as the Mega Drive version. The music appears to be original although it's undetermined if it is used in any other games. The ending is a simple Congratulations screen.

The title screen and character headshots are taken from the original Tekken 2 screens and reduced in color. These seem to be the only elements lifted directly from the arcade source. There is a crude win/lose screen after a match showing what appears to be a blocky rendition of the victorious character.

Gameplay / Presentation

This game includes the following 8 characters:

1. Kazuya Mishima
2. Lee Chaolan
3. Paul Phoenix
4. Jun Kazama
5. Yoshimitsu
6. Heihachi Mishima

The controls are somewhat limited, with using two buttons for punch and two for kick similar to the arcade Tekken 2 game. In this game, there is no difference between the punches or kicks delt out by either button, so it is in essence a two button game. Additionaly, blocking in the SNES version was accomplished by simply holding back or down/back similar to the Street Fighter series. Unlike the original game, it seems to be possible to pull off projectile attacks, but the movenents to pull these off are known. Awkwardly, to jumpkick, the player has to press the attack button at a specific spot when they're about to jump, which is a common flaw on the SNES fighting engine it was based on. The character movement is inheritently choppy due to this same reason.

The game exists on an entirely 3D plane with no line-sway or dodge moves available, as were included in the SNES version of Soul Blade. Although there are no ring outs, the wide playing area does eventually lead to an undefined boarder where no further scrolling is possible.

Connections / Trivia

• The SNES version's remake of Gravity Beetle's theme was also used in the SNES version of the Pokémon Stadium pirate. Other music tracks are remade from the arcade version of Virtua Fighter 2.
• Although it is unknown if this or Tekken 3 Special were released first, it seems likely that this was the original version due to having less characters and having the older "2" rather than "3" added to the title.
• Also uses a special "pixelating zoom-in" featured on several licensed SNES titles, and uses it right before the match begins just like the SNES verison of Soul Blade.
• Even though the cartridge size is the same as the Mega Drive version of Tekken 3 Special, it is unknown exactly why there are two less playable characters
• The original print run of the game was distributed mostly in the South American SNES market. It is unknown when the ROM dump was originally made available, but the image was unplayable until in 2010 SNES programmer D4S documented and overcame the copy protection located within the ROM.
• After the unprotected ROM of Tekken 2 was in circulation, recent pirates of it have appeared made by an unknown manufacturer that are newly produced cartridges that contain the cracked version of the ROM. They are manufactured in new Japanese SFC style shells with a cartridge label that closely resembles that of a legitimate release.