First of all, I should point out immediately that Tekken Hybrid isn't a single game, but is, in fact, a bundle of Tekken goodness. There is a High Definition version of the original Tekken Tag Tournament, a preview of the upcoming Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (appropriately named Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue, as well as Tekken: Blood Vengeance 3D, a 3D compatible full-length computer animated Tekken feature film. There are also special features for the movie, including an interview with Tekken Project Director Katsuhiro Harada and script writer Dai Sato, trailers and a making of video entitled, "This is Tekken."

The graphics in Tekken Tag Tournament HD are improved over that of the original Tekken Tag Tournament, but looks to be primarily in the detail of the textures. The models don't look to have been improved much, at least not that I could tell. For example, the "Unknown" girl's breasts looked like they could have used a few more polygons to round them out; as it is, they look a bit angular. Also, with the better graphics, it seems that the strange parallax effect where the fighting area meets with the background looks worse. It looks like the fighting area and the background rotate at different speeds when the camera rotates around.

While Tekken Tag Tournament HD is graphically an improvement over Tekken Tag Tournament, the models and environments in Tekken Tag Tournament Prologue are much more realistic. The faces look very real and the demon characters' skin has a nice looking sheen - almost a Chromaflair-style flip color effect. The environments are also extremely detail and high definition in appearance, taking Tekken to a new level of realism.

Tekken: Blood Vengeance 3D features what might, at first, seem liken an unlikely pair of main characters: Ling Xiaoyu (Carrie Keranen_[ENG]/Maaya Sakamoto_[JAP]) and Alisa Bosconovitch(Cristina Valenzuela_[ENG]/Yuki Matsuoka_[JAP]). Both are schoolgirls at a school that Xiaoyu gets transferred to (with a secret agenda) and end up becoming fast friends, until they find that they not only have a crush on the same boy, but similar secret missions. Their journey will find them at odds with each other (making for fight scenes with lots of action and a good number of school-girl upskirt shots), then allies with the world at their heels. They will have to work together to get to the bottom of what's going on, and even with the help of Xiaoyu's panda, the odds are stacked against them.

Tekken: Blood Vengeance 3D may be watched in 2D or 3D and your choice of either an English or Japanese audio track, both in 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround and, if you like, subtitles in your choice from around ten different languages. The movie features a host of known Tekken characters, including: Shin Kamiya (David Vincent_[ENG]/Mamoru Miyano_[JAP]), Kazuya Mishima (Kyle Hebert_[ENG]/Masanori Shinohara_[JAP]), Jin Kazama (Patrick Seitz_[ENG]/Isshin Chiba_[JAP]), Nina Williams (Mary Elizabeth McGlynn_[ENG]/Atsuko Tanaka_[JAP]), Anna Williams (Tara Platt_[ENG]/Akeno Watanabe_[JAP]), Lee Chaolan (Taketora_[ENG/JAP]), Heihachi Mishima (Jamieson Price_[ENG]/Unshô Ishizuka_[JAP]), Mokujin (Mary Elizabeth McGlynn_[ENG]) and even Ganryu (Paul St. Peter_[ENG]/Hidenari Ugaki_[JAP]) as the role of a physical education teacher. If that school teacher thing threw you for a loop... that's not the whole of it. The story might not be what you expect. For one, it's not about the Tekken(Iron Fist) Tournament. In fact, that doesn't get mentioned as a possible plot point until the end of the movie. Expect the unexpected. And rocket-propelled panda rides. And a larger than life climax that features Heihachi in what amounts to a magical Mech. It's a fun romp, just not what you would expect.

One interesting note is that not only is Tekken: Blood Vengeance 3D playable in 3D, but so is Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue, so if you or a someone you know is a Tekken fan with a 3D television they want to try out, Tekken Hybrid has a game and movie to test with.

Tekken Tag Tournament HD brings you the PS2 classic, with improved graphics. From the beginning, all characters are unlocked, as are all of the modes, although the multiplayer modes won't be accessible unless you have more than one controller plugged in and turned on, obviously. In addition to the improved graphics, Tekken Tag Tournament HD also features PSN Trophies, so you can show off the progress you've made and compare your progress with others.

There are a few fighting modes to choose from in Tekken Tag Tournament HD, which were also the same modes in the original. There is Arcade, Time Attack, Survival Mode, Team Battle and VS Battle. In Arcade Mode, you select two fighters to be your tag team and then you work your way through a series of increasingly difficult matches. Each round, you start with full health. If you lose a match and continue, you can choose new characters, if you wish. Time Attack plays the same as Arcade, with the exception that there's a timer running in the top left corner of the screen and it's all over when you lose, so you can't change characters. Basically, if Arcade Mode is where your learn to play the game well, Time Attack is where you show just how good you are.

In Survival Mode, you select two characters for your team, much like Arcade Mode. The difference here is that you only have one round per match and the damage you take during the match carries over to the next match. You will regain a little health after each round that you win, but you'll need to try to avoid taking much damage, as winning a fight by a small margin means you're most likely not going to have enough health to win the next one.

In Team Battle, you can choose from one to eight different characters to be on your team and the opposing team will have the same number of characters. Team Battle acts more like a survival mode, however, since your damage carries over to the next round, but note that characters don't regain health between rounds. It's your team versus the opposing team, in a battle of prowess and, well, resources.

VS Battle is the only multiplayer mode. In this mode, two players each select two characters and go at it. This mode is a single match long, making it a good mode for parties; two players can have it out, then one or both players can be switched out for the next round.

Also included is the Tekken Bowl Tournament, as was seen in the original Tekken Tag Tournament game. In this mode, you select two different fighters to play as your bowling team. For each frame, your first character tries to knock down the pins and, if you don't get a strike, your second character attempts to knock down the remaining pins.

There is also a Theater Mode which allows you to view all of the end animations for all of the characters.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue is merely a taste; something to whet your appetite for when the full game is released. As such, the only available play mode is Arcade and there are only four characters to chose from, at that: Ling Xiaoyu, Alisa, and the two Deviled characters, Jin and Kazuya. In addition to Arcade Mode, there is a model viewer which allows you to get a good look at the detail of these characters and play a few of their animations. Also, if you have a 3D television, there are settings in the Options menu for turning on 3D and for adjusting the depth.

It's been a while since I played Tekken Tag Tournament, and I was never the great to begin with, so I found it difficult to make it very far in the Arcade Mode. The first couple of matches are a piece of cake, but each match gets progressively more difficult. If you're playing Arcade Mode, however, you can always select to "Try Again," even changing up your team, if you like, when you lose a match.

If you find you need to brush up on your rusty Tekken Tag Tournament skills - or if you've never played it before - there is a Practice Mode in Tekken Tag Tournament HD. In this mode, you select two characters for your team and two characters to fight against. You can switch between having your opponents just stand there and take a beating or using various levels of A.I. to fight back. (To exit this mode, hit (Start) to go to the menu and select the "Reset" option... You'll thank me later.)

When playing with a human opponent in VS Battle Mode, the difficulty will obviously depend on your opponent. However, there are adjustment sliders to compensate for uneven skill levels. If you're playing someone much worse (or better) than you at playing the game, you can change these levels right after selecting your characters to level the playing field a bit and provide a more even challenge.

In any of the fighting modes, it pays to get familiar with the characters. In Tekken, there are some shared movements (mainly moving forward, backward, jumping and block), but the actual fighting moves can be drastically different between the different fighters. Some are more simplistic, while Ling Xiaoyu has three different stances, with a variety of different moves available, depending on her current stance, and with some moves changing her from one stance to another. She can even change stances as a result of being hit by her opponent, so she has fairly complex moves. It pays to try out the various characters so that you can find characters that "work" for your gameplay style, but you also want to have an idea of how the other characters fight so you can develop good strategies for playing against them.

Tekken Tag Tournament HD seems to be identical to the original, with the exception that everything is unlocked from the beginning, there are trophies to be earned and, of course the upgrade to the graphics and resolution. As J.R. Nip put it, the graphics are definitely better than PS2 graphics, but aren't quite PS3 quality.

The graphics in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue are much better, and the controls are a bit easier to execute. The tag moves in the original (and HD version) used to involve the use of the (R3) button, which is clumsy, at best, while the sequel uses an extra direction push on the D-pad, which is much easier to execute.

One thing worth noting is the careful and strict copy protection and performance warnings on this product. The two games each require that you install them before playing (for a total of just under 2.5 GB), but still require that you put the disc in your PS3 when you play. The icons look like typical (capsule) game install icons, so I thought that I'd be able to play without the disc, but when I tried, I found out that wasn't the case. In addition, the warning at the beginning of Tekken: Blood Vengeance 3D that says not to use it for public performances goes out of its way to specifically mention schools and oil rigs. Wow. Just, wow. Perhaps that's just the newest warning that all the cool kids are using these days, but this was the first time I've seen it. I had to go back a few times to read it, since you can't pause during the warning screen and it's only shown briefly.

The inclusion of Tekken: Blood Vengence sets the stage for Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue and, perhaps, provides hints as to what to expect. It also makes good use of the multi-format ability of the PS3 and Blu-ray, with both games and the movie being accessible individually from the PS3's menu and all fitting on the same disc. Further, it adds value to the product, although, perhaps only for existing fans of the series.

Tekken Hybrid is not game-of-the-year material, but it does a good job of stirring up some interest in the upcoming sequel and could be a good gift for a Tekken fan. However, unless they've lost their original copy of Tekken Tag Tournament or they really want to see the movie, this feels more like a rental than something worth a $40 purchase price.