Tekken 3

The Good
A massively popular hit in Japanese and American arcades, many expected to be a bit disappointed with the home console port of Tekken 3, as the arcade technology had surpassed that of the aging PlayStation. And while the models have slightly fewer polygons and the backgrounds are again in rotating 2D, Namco threw in a plethora of extras and home exclusives, and while they were hit-or-miss, the hits more than make up for the slight drop in graphical quality.

Not that the game doesn't look terrific. One of the first last-generation titles on the PSX, Tekken 3 pushes the limits, sacrificing 3D backgrounds for some of the most detailed character design possible. The characters animate much more smoothly than the somewhat stiff, blocky motions of it's predecessor, and overall the controls are looser and more forgiving.

The combo system is also extremely deep, especially with King and Nina's linkable throws, and Lei's Funky Chicken stances or whatever the hell they're called. It takes a LONG time to master one character in this game. Namco has also fleshed out the secondary (unlockable) characters a bit more, in Tekken 2 they seemed to be blatant ripoffs of other characters within the game, sharing the same moves under a different skin. Now even Anna has a different set of moves then her twin Nina, and the only characters who still seem to be the product of incestous design shortcuts are Kuma (the bear) and Gun Jack (the android).

The techno music doesn't seem quite as good as the more sweeping instrumentals of the previous two, but it fits the darker mood of the game and the tracks are well suited to the characters.

All the standard Tekken modes you know and love are here, including Arcade, Vs., Team, Practice, and the fruit-bearing Survival, and Namco threw in three eclectic new modes to boot:

Tekken Force - A homage to Streets of Rage, Tekken Force lets you control one character in a series of side-scrolling, 2.5D streets. You fight lots of baddies, mostly Mishima henchmen with about one-quarter to one-half a life bar. It's a decent diversion, yielding a nifty hidden character, but it's not as good as Tobal's Quest Mode.

Tekken Ball - Quite possibly the most bizarre fighting game extra ever, Tekken ball is a very simple concept: do special moves on a ball to "charge" it and send it to the opponents side, where he can hit it with a special move and send it back to you with more charge, send it back with no extra charge by doing a standard move, or block it and then hit it. Let it hit you or touch the ground on your side and lose health. This mode is very fun and a blast in 2-player mode, but they didn't bother including a seperate AI for the Ball Mode, and so the computer is incompetent at best.

Theatre - Yes Yes YES! With this option, you can view any of the quality ending cinemas or listen to the music trackes. You can also pop in your Tekken 1 or 2 disc and view the media there. Very nice.

The Bad
The problem with Tekken is that it is very friendly towards button-mashers. There is not that much of a visible difference in the ability of beginners and good players and only a real master has noticeably better odds against a newbie. While Tekken looks superb when it's played like it's supposed to, it can be ugly watching a newbie mash for half the match only to figure out one move he likes, and then use it exclusively for the rest of the round hoping his opponent does not figure out how to counter it.

Namco doesn't help by including at least one newbie-friendly win-at-no-cost cheap character. It was Law in the first one, Lei in the second, now say hello to Eddy Gordo. Pity the coolest fighting style in the game is so cheesy.

Gon. G-O-N. Some cross-promotion with a Japanese comic resulted in this abomination. Do yourself a favor and don't unlock this character. He is ridiculously small, rendering normal character's mid-high attacks ineffective. You can't throw or counter him, making him ludicrously advantaged. When someone picks Gon, it just makes me want to put the game down. Sigh.

The Bottom Line
The graphics are the best you could expect from the PSX, and the numerous home extras make this another better-than-perfect arcade port.

The Good
Tekken can be easily said to be one of the best games (especially, in the fighting genre) available on Playstation. A marvellous, yet simple button configuration allows the players to control their character by using only 4 buttons, each assigned to each limb. A new sidestepping system was integrated into the classical mechanics of Tekken fighting system, which allowed the players to sidestep (slightly pressing up or down button) in both left or right directions to dodge the opponent moves and/or to get an advantage. Tekken 3 fights runs on 2D background with 3D models of the characters. It contained all the modes of the of the previous installment 'Tekken 2', with some new modes like Tekken Ball Mode & Tekken Force Mode. Tekken Ball Mode is a mode in which players charge the ball with attacks and send it to opponent's court for damage, whereas Tekken Force Mode is a beat 'em up mode where player fights waves of Tekken force mercenaries.

The Bad
There isn't much in the game that makes it boring, yet there are some flaws in the game like the useless characters like Panda, Kuma, Dr. Boskonovitch which are pretty useless according to the game's context. These players can be easily be an eyesore for an veteran player, even if controlled by a newbie. Besides this, the game is nearly a perfect art.

The Bottom Line
A must playing game for the lovers of Tekken and Tekken 2 players. Also proved to be enjoyable by the fighting genre lovers. Tekken 3 has a lot of replay value as there are 20+ characters which will take a lot of time to learn fighting with each of them or to master a single/limited number of characters. I'll give it a 4.5 rating out of 5!

The Good
Everything! This is quite possibly the most innovative of all fighting games, of course, this did come out in the year of the great video games, 1998. The King of Iron Fist Tournament returns in this third installment of the famous Tekken series, and with some new faces. This game introduces Jin Kazama, Eddie Gordo, Hwoarang, and Ling Xiayou. The inclusion of these new characters makes this game even more enjoyable because of all the new fighting styles, which blend in perfectly with the superb controls. Yet another great thing about this game is the new Tekken Force mode. In Tekken Force, You go through four levels of side scrolling action, fighting minimal enemies trying to get to the stages boss, all the while replenishing your health with CHICKEN!!!!!!!!!!!!! This game requires no words to tell of it's greatness, just look at it in motion, it is a thing of beauty(and it shows just how much of a piece of crap games like Fighting Vipers is). If you do not own this game, you must go out right now and but this game, buy it now, for the love of God please go buy it.

The Bad
Pretty much nothing. The only complaint I would have is that Kazuya isn't in it, but that's what Jin is for, so I guess I really have no complaint with this game.

The Bottom Line
Buy it now. This is the best fighting game on the Playstation, I picked it up complete for two dollars, and I would have gladly paid more for it. Bottom line, this game is worth every penny that any game store asks for it. CHICKEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!