Tekken 5

A triumphant return to form for the franchise, Tekken 5 revitalizes the series with crisp combat, a roster packed with classics (and newcomers like Asuka), and the addictive Devil Within beat-’em-up mode. The arcade-perfect mechanics and stunning (for its time) visuals hold up, though the storytelling remains hilariously over-the-top.

This is the most complete package for a fighting game on the PS2.

Tekken 5, on top of having really solid gameplay and fantastic presentation, has loads of content that would be impressive even today. It took what did and didn't work in Tekken 4 and molded it into one of the best fighters the PS2 ever saw. The replacement for Tekken force is awful, it has some dumb shit that makes the balance wonky, and I think it doesn't encourage aggressive play as well as Tekken 3 or VF does, but it's a damn fine title.