The home console version introduced new, now-staple game modes to the series,[9] as well as full-motion video endings for every character.

[9] The former boss, Heihachi Mishima, is now playable from the start as he seeks revenge in the plot, with Kazuya becoming the new antagonist.

Critics praised its graphical visuals and light sourcing, as well as its deep system of moves and combos,[9][12][10] and the soundtrack.

Team Battle mode allows the player to select up to eight characters to participate in single-round matches.

Ten of the twenty-five playable fighters are available by default; the other fifteen were made available via the arcade version's "time release" system and individual secret codes, whilst the home console version requires the player to clear Arcade Mode with specific characters.

The screen defaults the character option to Jun Kazama, but the arcade version contains a code that can toggle it to Baek Doo San and vice versa.

He hires assassins to eliminate any of his critics and rivals, extorts money from several businesses and organizations, and smuggles endangered species to conduct genetic experiments on them.

The reason for his evil deeds is that he has allowed the Devil within him to consume his soul and mind as a result of his hatred towards Heihachi.

Meanwhile, Kazuya is sentenced to being arrested by animal rights activist and operative Jun Kazama for his experiments.

Meanwhile, during the tournament, Heihachi defeats the opposing fighters, including his adopted son Lee Chaolan, who had sided with Kazuya and worked for him as a secretary at the Mishima Zaibatsu.

Later on, the tournament officials reinstated Heihachi, allowing him to replace Paul in the finals when the latter was forced to forfeit after getting stuck in traffic due to a multi-car collision on the expressway and, therefore, unable to make the match on time.

[15] Roger the Kangaroo originated as a pet project of one of the development team members, who designed and modeled the character in his free time.

[15] Adding the kangaroo character, as well as Alex the raptor and the devil, was also a way to break with the realism that was offered by rival series Virtua Fighter.

[16] Much of the time developing the PlayStation conversion was devoted to rewriting the code to fit the console's memory, which is roughly half the size of the game data used in the arcade version.

The arrangements in the console version were handled by a large team ("Namco Sound Team") consisting of Yoshie Arakawa, Shinji Hosoe, Ayako Saso, Nobuyoshi Sano, Takayuki Aihara, Hiroto Sasaki and Keiichi Okabe.

[18] The ending music, "Landscape Under The Ghost - KAMIMANO" was composed by Akira Nishizaki and Takashi Furukawa, with Ryoko Shiraishi being the vocalist.

[58] In Germany, it received a Gold award from the Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland for sales above 100,000 copies.

[24] Critics praised the game's light sourcing,[34][36] fluid character movement,[34][36][38][62] detailed backgrounds,[36][38][62] complex system of moves and combos,[12][34][62] accessibility to inexperienced gamers,[12][34][62] large set of playable characters,[12][34][36][38] and the practice mode, which several critics predicted would become a standard feature in fighting games.

"[64] In a 1999 retrospective review, Official UK PlayStation Magazine wrote: "The very best in its day, Tekken 2 is still virtually perfect".