It's no secret that the Mortal Kombat franchise didn't only copy from Tekken but also from Marvel vs. Capcom series. I may enjoy playing Tekken Tag Tournament 2 over Mortal Kombat (2011). However, I'n not going to shy away from trying to defend MK (2011)'s Tag Team mode and say that it may not be as broken as some people think. Yes, it's broken and sometimes, finding the right partner can make one an offensive but how broken was it?
I'm going to do a review of some older games to make a comparison. Until now, I'm upset that Capcom didn't make arcade-perfect releases of the previous entries such as X-Men vs. Street Fighter up to Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes. Those were great times then I thought about using them as analysis. A lot of games were really broken in the 90s. Who can remember how broken Mortal Kombat Trilogy is for the PSX and the Sega Saturn? I could remember easing the game using the boss monsters, especially MOTARO. It was fun while it lasted until I saw it for the broken junk it was. I was able to play the older titles at the arcade. MVC1 introduced the limited Special Partner which can only be used for a limited number of times. The EX Edition for the PSX allowed the Special Partner to be used infinite times but one wouldn't have a regular partner.
Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter introduced the Partner Assist function. Pressing MP+MK together would let the other partner do that one special move. For example, Ryu would fire a Hadoken while Cyclops would do a Jean's Splice uppercut. It could be called upon a number of times. It would be very incredibly annoying if someone was summoning Cyclops A LOT when one was about to do a jump attack. This was modified in the super-messy Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Super Heroes when one could select from three assist types. It does take some guessing unless you have a game guide. Right now, MVC2 is but an old shame to me. I enjoyed it for a while until I played MK (2011)'s Tag Team mode and realized that 2 vs. 2 tag team was better. That's why I almost hyped myself to buy Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite. That's until I realized the fun factor was removed by not having X-Men characters and NO CHARACTER ENDINGS. Like WTF Capcom?
The mechanics of MK (2011)'s tag team mode included tag combo, quick tag combo, and two types of assists. The Tag Assist was where the dormant partner performs an enhanced move but leaves ASAP. The Tag Attack move is where the dormant partner tags in with an attack. For example, Scorpion uses hellfire as a Tag Assist and uses his teleport punch as a Tag Attack. Sub-Zero could freeze the opponent then use the Tag Assist and still be on the round. Meanwhile, Sub-Zero calls Scorpion to do a Tag Attack which makes Scorpion the active player.
The "drawback" is that tag assists take one meter out of the super bar. It's essential to get the first hit to get a second-level status bonus quick. Meanwhile, one can only fill the meter by getting hit or by USING SPECIAL MOVES. I guess NetherRealm didn't want to let combos easily charge up the meter to balance the gameplay. It's only fair enough since the assists are enhanced moves. Still, it balances the gameplay because the inactive player can't be tagged in and out at a whim. Can you imagine the mess that can happen if Scorpion and Sub-Zero kept using their unenhanced tag attacks and tag assists at a whim? I guess NetherRealm may have noticed how broken Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter is if assist characters can be called almost any time except if they were knocked out.
I think Tekken Tag Tournament 2 can suffer from some broken issues. I'm saying it as someone who holds it as the best Tekken game ever. The Tag Assault is easy to misuse and abuse. Tag throws aren't really an issue. Since Tekken doesn't use a power meter then that mechanic can be easy to abuse without something to limit it. I think Tag Assault may have not been a popular mechanic among pro players. MK (2011) limiting certain tag mechanics via a meter made it less broken. I could say that because Tekken gives characters less health than Mortal Kombat - that's also where the mistake kicks in. In Tekken, mastering a 10-hit combo would make an easy win. In MK (2011) - doing so doesn't grant one an easy victory. I guess Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is more broken than MK (2011) even when I enjoy the former better.
While it's broken, I'd say it's not that broken. Maybe, it's a mode that's not so popular with the tournament players due to how cheesy it can get. I wonder if NetherRealm can fix this one soon. Instead, they decided to go with Kameo Fighters in Mortal Kombat 1 instead. Hmmm...
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