The Beauty of Black Winter Night Sky
If you were to ask any serious gamer to make a list of the greatest cinematic introductions in video game history, one would find Final Fantasy VII, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Kingdom hearts 2, Fallout, Assassin’s Creed 2, System Shock, and, of course Tekken 2. The sequel to the successful 1994 fighting game Tekken, Tekken 2, like its predecessor, was able to successfully transition from arcades to the PlayStation. The 1996 port was lauded by critics for its vast improvements in gameplay mechanics and visual presentation. However, the game’s inner features were not the only parts that warrant praise. As with the first Tekken, the PS1 port for Tekken 2 added a new, introductory music video that played before showing the original arcade opening and transitioning to the start screen. However, Tekken 2 completely went out of its way to deliver an unforgettable segment into the game.
The opening video begins where Tekken 1’s ending left off. After winning the first iron fist tournament, Kazuya drops his father and mortal enemy Heihachi from a cliff.
Of course, the cliff dropping is more than a mere of act of cruelty after fighting. Kazuya was dropped from the same cliff as a child by Heihachi as a way to prevent a future overthrow of his own tyrannical corporation, the Mishima Zaibatsu. Nevertheless, in Shakespearean fashion, Kazuya managed to survive the drop, suffered through life being fatherless, and trained to become strong enough to enact revenge on Heihachi. However, the saga is not over, as Heihachi rises from same the cliff that Kazuya did, to get revenge of his own. As such, the cliff remains a symbol of justice from both characters. Having to suffer from the physical pain and a reflective trauma of the drop without any help is something that both have endured. Never is there any intention to completely obliterate the other in order to get revenge but rather to have a parallel sense of torment by having the same punishment.
After the stormy cliff scene, the keyboards start building up while Paul rides away in his motorcycle. The drums settle into a rhythm, as a crowd moves and June faces the fourth wall. Within a fraction of a second, Lei bursts from window holding a gun and the music kicks into gear with a ocean-like synthesizer swooshes in and out while a digital bass jabs into the music; from this moment the opening song “Black Night Winter Sky” completely dominates the sound. We then see Michelle walk into her home that appears to be ransacked with her mother missing as well. She punches the mirror in frustration and runs off.
From what has been seen so far, it is clear everyone is preparing to fight again in another iron fist tournament. Michelle, like Heihachi, her own motives for participating in such a dangerous event. In this case, not only has her home destroyed but her mother has been kidnapped by Kazuya’s forces. This multitude of interests and desires is something that is key in understanding the underlying theme of the tournament. There is always some obstacle in life that defines part of our character.
This theme of obstacles is further emphasized a few seconds later when the keyboard changes tone and see Nina in her Sharon Stone-like scene. She just flipping her hair and crossing her legs with attitude. In contrast, we see Law in a serene and solitary training in his dojo. They have different reasons for participating and convey various emotional ties to winning. As a result the difference in personality is reflective in their setting. With Law the light and warmth of his dojo inspires him. Law is noble and caring person and we can see that from the ambience that radiated from training in the dojo. while Nina is cold and calculative. We see Nina in a dark and mute studio which permeates with her demeanor. While their reasons may vary, their circumstances has brought together to fight against each other without necessarily realizing the complexity of these battles.
Of course not everyone has had it easy. At the climax of the song, the guitar spills into a tense solo while a downtrodden and drunk King stumbles down an alley after getting depressed. One of King’s orphan kids died which caused him to take up drinking and give up fighting. The guitar solo falls in scale as King falls sits by the trash. Still, a shadowy figure appears and throws King his wrestling mask. Armor King, friend of King, reminds him that he is worth more than the mistakes he made. He is not like the trash beside him but rather like he is like the jaguar his mask portrays, a warrior and passionate being.
Towards the end, in probably the most iconic scene of the opening, one sees Kazuya reflecting from the top of the Mishima Zaibatsu. From the look of his eyes, the devil gene manifests and Kazuya struggles to contain it. However, we can see angel holding on to Kazuya as a last resort to save him from evil. Kazuya had become what he sought to destroy in the first Tekken. He wanted to avenge the tyranny of his father Heihachi and rise to the top once more like he did from the cliff. Eventually, he did rise and made it to the top of the Zaibtsu only to become even more corrupt than Heihachi and lose his soul in the process. As one can see, not everyone who suffers though evil becomes morally good to combat it. At times, like Kazuya shows, an evil can produce an even greater evil.
As with all great openings, Tekken’s 2 is integral to its narrative and part of make playing it special. Knowing all the struggles that the characters go through makes the fights much more meaningful. But as with art, it tends to reflect life in various forms. Like Tekken, everyone has cliffs that they must overcome in order to reach their dreams. They must not only dream them but win the battles to make them a reality and reach the top.
Tekken 2 opening :
