Fights for the Future

Tekken Tag Tournament 2

Speaking of Namco's hand slapping tag fest, the Expo's most crowded fighting game was none other than Tekken Tag Tournament 2 - which is less of a surprise when you consider the presence of the World Cyber Games qualifiers at the show. This wandering wealth of Tekken 6 talent saw me going from a respectable win streak on Street Fighter X Tekken to failing to win a single round on the Tekken Tag Tournament 2 arcade cabinets. Although that didn't stop me picking Marshall Law and Yoshimitsu in a vain attempt to pull off some bread and butter combos.

In terms of overall feel and presentation, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 looks and handles very similarly to Tekken 6 - right down to the multi-tiered arenas, bouncy juggles and character movesets which contain all the classic somersault kicks and windmill slashes. The sheer volume of characters also lets you pair obvious fighters like the kick-tastic Hwoarang and Baek, to more exotic combinations like capoeira queen Christie and the larger than life Bob. Certain teams even have flashy tag throws which range from Heihachi and Kazuya dishing out a dual Mishima head-butt to both Williams sisters crushing their opponent beneath their pointy heels.

The bound system also makes a welcome return with its gravity defying physics, and in keeping with the pair shaped tagline, the combo opportunities increase when you mix up the offensive capabilities of your characters. This is handled with the new Tag Assault system that lets both fighter's combo side-by-side (unlike the take it in turns style of the original) as well as a revised Netsu mechanic called Tag Crash that powers up your benched character if your point man, woman, kangaroo or cyborg suffers substantial damage. This also replaces the Rage mode from Tekken 6.

One slight disappointment, however, was the lack of original characters, as even though JayCee offers Julia Chang fans some saucy Luchador antics - including some suitably dexterous throws - there's not a single name on the select screen that counts as a genuinely new face. But with a console port that's scheduled between Street Fighter X Tekken and Tekken X Street Fighter, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 looks set to deliver on the combo flexibility that its forbearer promised but never truly realised. Namco just needs to include enough modes and functionality to make this a sure fire power dunk.

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3

While the chance of playing the second King of Iron Fist Tag Tournament in your living room is still way off in the distance Capcom is putting the finishing touches to the self-proclaimed "Ultimate" version of Marvel vs. Capcom 3. And judging by the steady flow of stick jockeys who were vying for the right to remain seated in the Tournament Area, plenty of us want to see which side of the coin has the superlative Phoenix - Marvel's Jean or Capcom's Wright?

Unfortunately, this build didn't allow us to go mano-a-mano with the Ace Attorney himself, but with four new characters apiece from the masterminds at Capsule Computers and Marvel Comics, there was still plenty of room for experimentation.