Tekken 5 Review - Heihachi went out like a Jack and a bomb

Release(s):                  
                 February 24, 2005 (North America)                 
                 March 31, 2005 (Japan)                 
                 June 24, 2005 (Europe)
Platform(s): Arcade, PlayStation 2
Genre(s): Fighting
Developer(s): Namco
Publisher(s):                     
                  Namco (Worldwide)                     
                  Sony Computer Entertainment (Europe)
Player(s): 1-2 

Overview

Though the glory days of Tekken 2 and 3 are well behinds us by this point that hasn't stopped the franchise from still going strong. After the non-canonical fun of Tekken Tag Tournament and the innovative (yet controversial) Tekken 4, fans were hungry for more especially with the franchise's 10th anniversary on the way and that's where Tekken 5 comes in being released on arcades of late 2004. Does it make for a sufficient anniversary gift? Let's find out.. 

Gameplay

Most of the mechanics introduced from Tekken 4 have made a return for this title but Tekken 5 brings the 3D combat system a bit closer to it's roots so the control scheme is back to what it once was. Position Change has been removed pretty much entirely from the game meaning the secondary grab attack move is back to it's original command input and the stages are no longer have uneven terrains like in Tekken 4, but at least there's no pesky obstacles to get in the way of combat. You can still use the walls to your advantage and there are even some "infinite" stages like the ones in pre-Tekken 4 games.

Another thing about Tekken 5 is that it goes through all the stops to make characters as balanced and unique as possible (thus removing any hyper-similarities they once had). In fact, the only characters that can be seen as OP are Nina Williams and Steve Fox but not nearly as OP as Jin Kazama in Tekken 4 (where he's just broken). Speaking of Jin, players now actually have to play their cards right as he lost his overpowered moves. The new characters are a nice addition like the Canadian Ninja Raven who probably could give Yoshimitsu a run for his money, the tomboyish Asuka Kazama (Jin's younger cousin) who uses the Kazama Style Traditional Martial Arts but with her own little twist to things, and the psychotic Chinese Kempo master Feng Wei. Old-school characters who haven't been in any Tekken since after Tekken Tag like Ganryu, Bruce Irvin, and Baek Doo Son have made a return with revamped movesets     

Content

The game modes you expect to return are back in this game. Story Battle is mostly the same as it was in Tekken 4 only there's 9 stages in total and the final boss is... Jinpachi Mishima (the father of Heihachi Mishima), who's arguably the cheapest character in Tekken history but good thing he's not playable. The hidden characters are also unlocked through here once again entirely on how many characters you complete it with and all of them are unlocked this way except Devil Jin (who unlocked after fighting 200 times in Arcade Battle or completing Tekken: Devil Within). 

It also seems Tekken has taken a page out of Virtua Fighter's book by having you play through Arcade Battle as long as you want and choose whoever to fight next just like VF4: Evolution's Quest mode. There's also a new ranking system just like the Quest mode where you can go from Beginner to 5th Dan to Tekken Lord. This ranking system determines how tough your opponents are and the amount of G (multiplied by the occasional bonus) you earn after winning each match as well as your chances of being promoted while fighting against tougher opponents. Be careful not to lose too many matches or you may get demoted as well.

Now, you're probably wondering what purpose does G (an obvious abbreviation for Gold) serve in this game? Well they can be used within the Customize mode to modify a character's appearance with different color schemes, additional gear or different clothing, and even a new super expensive costume... but these accessories are purely cosmetic so they don't have any real purpose unless you want your character look cool. You can also earn G from Story Battle (which gives you 100,000 after completing it with a character), Time Attack, Survival, and Devil Within (which gives you 2,000,000 after completing it) but Arcade Battle provides faster and more consistent results.

One thing I've neglected to mention in my Tekken 4 Review (since that game was the first to make that change) is that you can now pause during gameplay in Time Attack and Survival. Another thing I've neglected to mention is within the Attack Replay option of Practice is you can make the computer repeat any move from their Command List with varying input speed instead of just replaying their 10-hit combo moves (which is a good thing because not every character had a 10-hit combo move... they do now, though)... but the Training mode has been removed.

As celebration of the series' 10th anniversary to gracing Playstation with it's ports, Tekken 5 comes with the arcade versions of the first three Tekken games plus another arcade classic by Namco called Starblade (which is unlocked after completing Story Battle with every character or completing Devil Within) in Arcade History. Despite including four extra games into one disc the transition are done to perfection with no signs of slow-down or graphical errors (like distorted character models or misplaced colors).

Lastly, we come to Tekken: Devil Within which is the action-platformer spiritual successor to the Tekken Force mini-game only it uses it's own mechanics instead of using the game's core gameplay as a base. In Devil Within you take control of Jin Kazama as you go around various corridors and fight off generic monks to discover a way to rid himself of the Devil gene and find his missing mother with a boss waiting at the end of each stage. This most likely takes place shortly after (or during... I dunno) Tekken 3 as Jin fights using his old mix-pot style with a very simplified combo system and you can even turn into the devil form (at the cost of gradually losing health) with the lasers and whatnot... if your red gauge is high enough. Admittedly, this sounds great on paper but the whole experience is bogged down by repetition and a bogus difficulty curve which saps out much of the fun had rather quickly.

Graphics

With 3 years of development under it's belt there is definitely a graphical improved and this game is easily the best-looking Tekken has ever gotten on PS2. No matter how you slice it, Tekken 5 is a gorgeous game- everything is just so crisp and detailed. This game may be one of the best-looking to ever be released on PS2. The animation on both the characters and especially stages have been improved as well making the whole thing very lively. You can even cause damage to the floors and walls of most stages.

Sound

Most of the voice clips are recycled from Tekken 4 but some returning characters have reprise their roles so now all the voice actors/actresses sound perfectly good. The SFX now sound crunchier and are overall much more viscerally satisfying than before. As expected the music is quite good... in fact, I'd say this game has the best soundtrack in the series aside from Tekken 2. It's very diverse with each stage having music that's atmospheric/region-specific.

Aesthetics

Much like Tekken 4 most of the story in Tekken 5 is told through text-based prologues and epilogues (though there aren't as many epilogues in this game) on top of an ending movie for each character to set things off. We also now get a few interludes for each character.

The main story of Tekken 5 is shortly after Jin had defeated his father and grandfather respectively, Homaru is under attack by a bunch of JACK models but suddenly during fighting off the JACKs, Kazuya had left Heihachi for dead and one of the JACKs went kamikaze thus killing Heihachi... or does it? This explosion destroyed the Homaru building which allowed Jinpachi, who was trapped under the building and starved to death, to break free and take back the Mishima Zaibatsu (which was founded by him) from his crocked son. 2 months later... Jinpachi had started the 5th Iron Fist Tournament so he can find an opponent strong enough to beat before the demon possessing him (which awoken from the very presence of Jin's devil form in Homaru) takes full control and destroys all of mankind. Now this point in Tekken is where I believe is where the story started to become wack whatnot from the needless retcons of Tekken 2 and 3's great storylines to turning once respectable characters into just comic relief (including my fave Paul Phoenix).

On the other hand, the look and feel of the menus continue to get better and better but this also seems to imply to characters' intro and winning sequences during battles including more dynamic camera angles and subtitles so you can understand the foreign characters. 

Overall

Despite the increasing niche of the fighting game genre and the dying arcade scene outside Japan, Namco still managed to pull out yet another great game for this franchise... but how long can Tekken keep up this momentum before it hits the wall like the Virtua Fighter series? Only time will tell...

Overall, I give this game a 9.5 out of 10.

Tekken 4 Review - Step into the next millenium

Release(s):

March 28, 2002 (Japan)
September 13, 2002 (Europe)
September 23, 2002 (North America)

Platform(s): Arcade, PlayStation 2
Genre(s): Fighting
Developer(s): Namco
Publisher(s): 

Namco (Worldwide)
Sony Computer Entertainment (Europe)

Player(s): 1-2

Overview

With three games and one non-canonical title under it's belt, Tekken has proven time and time again it can hang with the big boys of the fighting game genre. The true fourth installment was also in the makings and was set to be released in 2001 for arcades... to make way for a new era of fighting in the 21st century. Just how far does it take this re-revolutionary movement with 3D fighters? Let's find out...

Gameplay

Once again the award-winning 3D fighting from previous Tekken games have return so that's good but there are a couple fundamental changes that makes this game stand out. For one you can't jump backwards or vertically... you can only jump forward which isn't a big loss but it's something you'll notice when it's gone. A new grab move which allows you to shift your opponent to a more favorable position and it's done by pressing LP + LK of which the secondary attack grab is supposed to be. A couple other control schemes have been made but the biggest change Tekken 4 makes of the combat system is that for the first time ever, Tekken takes full advantage of the 3D fighting concept by actually having you fight on a 3D plane instead of an illusion of one. You can use the environments to your advantage by slamming your opponents to walls or trapping them into stage obstacles on uneven terrain stages forcing a slower and more strategic approach to combat. Now, I understand why Namco would make such changes and a couple of these concepts are quite good but at the same time they are alienating to long-time fans.

The new fighting styles are also a mixed bag. For example, Jin Kazama no longer fights with a mix of the Kazama Style Traditional Martial Arts and Mishima-ryu in favor of traditional karate which makes him his own character now but he is really OP in the game notably due to his Laser Scraper move. Tekken 4 brings in new characters with completely unique movesets like the Vale Tudo fighter Craig Marduk who uses a grappler style not quite like no other (especially with his tackle) but his moveset just feels... incomplete. Though on the positive there's also the british boxer Steve Fox who, instead of using his additional punch attacks for his kick buttons like most fighting games would for boxing character, uses he left and right sway dodges for the LK and RK buttons which makes him an especially fun character to master. Lastely there's Combot... an ever-so-pointless replacement for Mokujin who instead of switching to a different character's fighting style each round he does it after an entire match. 

Content

All the game modes from Tekken 3 have returned for Tekken 4 but one in new game mode this game introduces which also becomes a staple in the Tekken series from then on is Story Battle. Story Battle is just like Arcade (Arcade Battle) only it actually goes out of it's way to tell the story of Tekken (which honestly makes Arcade rather redundant). You will fight 6 randomized characters then a possibly character-specific sub-boss and Heihachi Mishima as the final boss... though some character's stories may play out differently and will unlock a specific character (if they aren't already). Another player can't attempt to challenge you so they can take over like Arcade Battle.

The Tekken Force mode in Tekken 4 has received something of an upgrade from Tekken 3 as it takes full advantage of the whole interactive environment mechanics within the game's combat. You can also lock-on manually to an enemy instead of automatically locking onto the closest enemy and losing no longer means a game over (though you lose your total score from previous stages... not that it means much in the end) but the actual difficulty has increase with enemies potentially attacking you at every corner even during his boss fights. Speaking of boss fights... they are no longer character-specific... every character in the end of each stage will face Combot, Kuma/Panda, Kazuya, then Heihachi. 

Aside from that stuff there's a mode called Training which determines how fast you can input each character's bread-and-butter moves, and you can record a battle by pressing the select button at the end of the match and it can be viewed within the Theater mode. You can now pause in Time Attack mode and Survival mode.

Graphics

At a glance there's not much of a difference graphically between the Playstation 2 port of Tekken Tag Tournament and Tekken 4 but Tekken Tag was already a great-looking so it's not really to be taken as an insult. I suppose Tekken 4 looks sharper is especially evident with the stages naturally as they're now part of the gameplay experience and there's no sign of slowdown like what happens with Tekken Tag sometimes. There are no longer any character-specific stages however...

Sound

Almost all of the voice actors/actress have once again reprise their roles for Tekken 4 and they sound better than ever before. What's even cooler is that for the first time ever in a Tekken game the characters finally have actual dialogue instead of just making battle grunts and occasional laughs. Some voices are questionable like Marduk's battle grunts which are like weird animal growls but overall they do a good job. The soundtrack for this game also shows quite a drastic change in style to reflect with the changing with the times. The synthesized music is now largely downplayed in favor of a techno/rock mix and there are no character-specific themes for the stages. The soundtrack also isn't remixed for the console port like previous games but that aside... the soundtrack is still head-bobbingly good nonetheless. 

Aesthetics 

Like I said earlier Tekken 4 actually goes out of it's way to tell the story through the Story Battle mode including text-based prologues and epilogues so you aren't just left guessing what happens. Each character still has their ideal endings after completing Story Battle but also like I said earlier this game features dialogue and the endings themselves have much more relevance to the main story so most of them actually feel like they're telling a legit story instead of basically being slideshows. As for the story itself... Kazuya Mishima has mysteriously came back from the deadwhich is bullshit thanks to G Corporation and is out for revenge against Heihachi for foiling his plans while Jin Kazama, who now has a deep hatred for anything related to the Mishima bloodline after Heihachi's betrayal (including his lineage, his fighting style, and the Devil Gene within him), is out for the same thing so Heihachi had announced the 4th Iron Fist Tournament to lure both of them out so he can claim the Devil Gene for himself. There are some other cool twists to the story as well like the once respected and feared Vale Tudo fighter Craig Marduk being responsible for the death of Armor King (King's mentor) which lead to him getting an invitation to the Iron Fist Tournament despite being charged with manslaughter, Steve Fox trying to discover his real parents while ducking the Mafia (whom may not be quite what they seem), and Ling Xiayou getting involved in the complicated history of the Mishamas to reunited with her schoolmate Jin and discover the truth to Heihachi's intentions.

The game's interface is significantly improved from previous games like each game mode in the main menu given a description and a mini screenshot to give you an idea of what it's about, and the screen transitions have actual flare to them rather than them simply going to the next screen. This is also a clear move to the next millennium.

Another thing I must add is that the character also speak their native language (like the Mishimas and Jin speaking Japanese, Hwoarang speaking Korean, etc.)... though some characters (like the replacement Capoeira fighter Christie Monteiro and Nina Williams) who are foreign don't even have a discernible accent when they should... but that's no big deal.

Overall

What can I say about Tekken 4? It's a black sheep alright and it's a damn good one at that! It may not be the best in terms of gameplay (even though it has some REALLY good and even revolutionary ideas) but you can't deny it's done a lot of good in terms of aesthetics and content.

Overall I give this game an 8.6 out of 10.