Tekken 2 battling its way onto US mobiles

We enjoyed Virtua Fighter's recent mobile conversion, and were as impressed by its polygon-based abilities as we were when the original coin-op rocked the gaming world. And just as it was years ago in the arcades, Namco (along with carrier Verizon) is hot on Sega's 3D fighting game heels with a mobile conversion of Tekken 2.

"Tekken is one of the most popular and well-known fighting games available, and its mobile debut is as exciting for amateur fighters as it is for series veterans," says Scott Rubin, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Namco Networks. "In addition to giving consumers the ability to play anytime and anywhere on their Verizon Wireless phones, the optimized controls and the one-button special attacks make it easy for anyone to fight like a pro."

Tekken 2 has been completely redesigned to suit the mobile platform, but still features the popular ten-hit combos, counters and eight different characters you'd expect to see. The game begins with a choice of three fighters, with more unlocked as you progress through the King of the Iron Fist Tournament.

There are also three game modes available – Tournament, Survival and Beginner. The latter caters for the inexperienced (but often annoyingly efficient) button masher – activating random attacks from a single button press. Nice idea, that.

"We're excited to be the first in the United States to bring this popular game to our customers," says Ed Ruth, director of digital media at Verizon. "By bringing Namco's Tekken 2 to Verizon Wireless customers, we're giving gamers a chance to experience the thrills and excitement of this game wherever they are using the Verizon Wireless network."

That's right, international kung fu masters – Verizon is US only. Join us now in demanding Namco brings Tekken 2 to Europe immediately. Now, Namco! We want it now! Wah!