Buy this game and kick endangered species in their loveable and scarce faces.
“The King of Iron Fist Tournament. Enter the… TEH-KENNN”
This little phrase is among my earliest memories of video games. After punching, kicking and throwing your way through eight matches of gruelling martial arts combat and beating up a big, hairy, flying troll at the end (not Bill Bailey with wings, in case you were wondering), the fight announcer would speak this line, pronounce the name of the game in a funny way, and the Tekken 3 credits would roll.
This was one of my favourite games for a long time, despite not being allowed to own a copy (or even the console to play it on) because I would ‘just copy the fighting and end up hurting my brothers’. The many hours I spent playing the game at my friends’ houses however ensured I was more than clued up enough to try powerbombing my youngest brother whenever it seemed appropriate.
I’ve always thought that Tekken 3 played a big part in how my interest in video games developed over the years, being one of the first games that really stood out to me and showed me how much fun they could be. Perhaps this explains why I’ve felt compelled to buy each new addition to the series as they are released, regardless of how much I continue to suck at them year after year. Maybe in some corner of my mind, my inner child is sitting around waiting for a chance to relive the good times he had while button-mashing his way through Arcade mode while pretending to know what he was doing. Whatever the reason is, I now own game number six in the Tekken series, and I think it’s safe to say that the King of Iron Fist Tournament is still as fun as it’s ever been.
Those of you who are familiar with the Tekken series will be pleased to know that not much has changed from the previous five games in the main series. The core of the game focuses around one-on-one fights between different characters, with your goal being to knock out your opponent before they do the same to you. It’s a very much tried and tested formula that has been around in gaming for years, and its continued success proves that there’s no point in fixing what isn’t broke. Tekken’s distinctive control scheme is still the same, with character movement being controlled by the left joystick or d-pad, and each of the four main buttons being assigned to a different one of your character’s limbs. In comparison to some other fighting game controls, those in Tekken 6 make you feel like you’re really in control of your character, so when you do pull off a 10-hit string you feel like you’ve actually achieved something rather than just hammered the punch button repeatedly.
Speaking of combos, there’s a new feature that has been introduced in this sixth instalment that really separates the men from the boys (of playing Tekken at least). This feature is the ‘bound’ system, and it involves using certain attacks to knock your opponent into the air to start a juggle combo, then slamming them back into the floor and ‘bouncing’ them up into the air again. Skilled players can use this strategy to unleash some devastating attack chains, battering their opponent again and again while the victim flails about helplessly in mid-air. The good news is that many characters’ combos aren’t too difficult to learn if you’re willing to put in a little bit of time to practise, and this is what I consider to be one this game’s major strengths. Whether you’re a laid back dude or dudette that just wants a few casual matches, or a ‘hardcore pro’ that wants to show off your ‘epic 1337 5ki11z’, Tekken 6’s easy to learn but challenging to master style of gameplay will welcome you with open arms. But then it will probably try to bear hug you and break your spine. This is a fighting game, after all. It’s probably not that into cuddling.
Another aspect of this game that contributes to its mass-appeal factor is the selection of characters you can play as. A varied cast is an important part of any fighting game, and Tekken 6 definitely doesn’t disappoint in this area. Almost every character that has ever appeared in the series is playable, and with the addition of six newcomers this brings the roster to an impressive total of 40 different fighters. There is a wealth of fighting styles to choose from including taekwondo, wrestling, muay thai, karate and capoeira. For those of you who just enjoy a good arse kicking regardless of how it’s done, there is also a range of less orthodox characters such as the cyborg samurai Yoshimitsu, the living training dummy Mokujin, and the cleverly named Kuma the bear and Panda the panda. Fans of the series will find all their favourites here as well, with long time Tekken veterans such as Paul Phoenix, Nina Williams, and iconic bad guy Heihachi Mishima joining the line up. And of course, what modern fighting game would be complete without the mandatory Bruce Lee homage character; in this case taking the form of my personal Tekken nemesis, Marshall ‘Spammy McBackflips’ Law. Thanks to this massive cast of characters there is bound to be somebody in Tekken 6 that suits you, regardless of what your personal tastes or skill level may be.
Most of the good times in this game come from the multiplayer experience, and as with almost every game made these days this comes in either offline or online flavour. Despite some initial problems with connection speeds that plagued Tekken 6 during its first few months (which have now been largely fixed with the addition of a downloadable patch), the game’s online community is every bit as developed as any other popular game. Which of course means that online matches are full of high pitched eleven year olds screeching obscenities at each other, basement dwellers who take the game way too seriously, and normal people who are all silently hoping they don’t match up with person type 1 or 2. If you do venture out into the online modes, be prepared to face off against a variety of skill levels. In the thirty matches I played I encountered everything from one guy who pummelled my face off without taking a single hit to another who would only stand perfectly still and use the same unblockable (yet easily avoidable) attack over and over again. Playing against strangers online is a risk with any game, and Tekken 6 is no different in this respect.
If you should ever find yourself without an internet connection or any friends willing to play with you *cough*loser*cough* you can always try out one of the game’s single player modes. Fans of beat ‘em ups should be familiar with the standard Arcade, Time Attack and Survival modes, all of which can be played with any character right from the moment you start playing the game. I found two main sources of beef with Tekken 6 in these game types. The first being that the CPU controlled opponents can be brutally merciless to inexperienced players, with the difficulty level suddenly spiking after the first three or four matches, and the second being the absolutely horrible final boss character. I often wonder if developers of fighting games have a secret competition going to see who can come up with the worst idea possible for a final boss, judging by the amount of crappy creations I’ve seen in recent years (Alpha-152 and Seth, I’m looking at you). If this is so, then bravo Namco, I would say that Azazel is a strong contender. This Ancient Egyptian dragon/god/monster has an arsenal of ridiculously cheap tricks up his sleeves, including projectile attacks, teleporting counters, and the ability to completely ignore your moves 50% of the time. More often than not fighting this Yu-Gi-Oh! reject can completely drain any enjoyment you were getting from the game out of your body, reducing around half of the single player modes to an experience so frustrating and mind numbingly boring that you’ll be unlikely to ever want to play them again.
However, the single player side of Tekken 6 is saved by the presence of the new Scenario Campaign. Way back in the days of Tekken 3 you may remember a Streets of Rage style minigame called ‘Tekken Force’. Over the last few generations of Tekken this minigame has been expanded and developed, eventually evolving into the current Campaign mode. The basic gist is that you take control of one of two newcomers to the series, Lars Alexandersson; the Swedish bastard son of Heihachi, or Alisa Bosconovitch; a robot girl with jet boosters in her back and chainsaws for hands. Your goal is to fight your way through waves of enemies as you make your way to the boss of each stage, who is usually one of the other characters in the game. Once you’ve beaten this boss you are able to play as them instead, or you can use them in the special Arena stage to play through a mode reminiscent of the Story modes from previous Tekken titles. Now, there is supposed to be some kind of narrative that links each stage together and explains Lars and Alisa’s adventures. However, this story is largely told through a sequence of rubbish cutscenes, which are filled with dialogue that rarely makes sense, lingering shots of expressionless characters attempting to portray human emotions, and badly directed action sequences. Trust me when I say you won’t be missing anything special if you decide to ignore the story and get back to the fighting, since that’s where the Campaign shines most. It may not be as complex or engaging as the main game, but it’s a great way to relax if you fancy a break from the rest of the action.
A nice touch that has recently been added to the Tekken series is the character customisation system. This has been expanded in Tekken 6 to give each character a wide range of different outfits and looks for you to experiment with, which allows you to give your copy of the game its own personal look. If you want to kit your characters out so that they look like extras from The Matrix, you can. If you want to create an army of colour-clashing hideous freaks that offend the eyesight of your online opponents, you can. And I personally haven’t tried this yet but I’m sure it’s possible due to the bizarre facial structure the character designers have given him, if you want to change Lee Chaolan into a Michael Jackson look-a-like, you probably can. Most of these clothing items have to be purchased or unlocked in the Campaign mode, and while playing this mode different clothes will give your character special effects such as increased attack power or health regeneration, which adds a little more depth to the harder levels of the game (though due to the random nature of these effects, you will probably have to sacrifice aesthetic appeal for power at some point). Overall what you get is a game with a style that you can cater to your own tastes, even down to the option to add “BAM!” and “POW!” visual effects to your characters’ attacks. It’s hardly a game changing factor, but it’s pretty cool anyway.
All in all, I would say that Tekken 6 is a very well rounded game. The core of the gameplay is simple enough to appeal to casual gamers as well as complex enough to provide more serious types with a decent competitive game. Surrounding this core are many layers of extra bits and pieces that didn’t necessarily need to be in the game to make it good, but their presence is (with the exception of Azazel) a nice bonus. There is plenty to do in this game and I’m a strong believer that the more variety a game offers you, the better it is. Most importantly of all, the things that Tekken 6 offers allows for hours of fun to be had with friends and other gamers from around the world. As long as Namco continues to focus on this quality of the series and doesn’t get caught up in trying to tell stories any more, I can imagine that the King of Iron Tournament and the exploits of those mischievous Mishima and their crazy hairdos will continue to play a strong part in my memories of gaming for years to come.
Tekken 6 – 8 / 10
LikeTags: BBFC, Beat em' Up, Bruce Lee, Hatred Of Endangered Animals, Irish Gimps, King Of Iron Fist, lol, Old People, One On One, Online Play, PS3, Revenge, Review, sexy fun time, Tekken 6, violence, WTF, X-Box 360
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good article
I LOL at Spammy McBackflips.
Good review, i haven’t played a tekken since 3, if i finally get a ps3 i may pick this up.
Computer games companies were a good investment back in the ’80s. Just ask my father.