Tekken 3: The Pinnacle of Playstation Fighting

The arcade version of Tekken 3 was one of the greatest fighting games I have ever played. Now, it is converted to the Playstation, with tons of secrets, extra modes, characters, and moves!

Namco knows how to please. They basically launched the Playstation console with Tekken, and now, Tekken 3 comes along with many improvements over previous installments, making this the perfect Playstation Tekken, and one of the best PSX fighting games around.

Let's begin...

Tekken 3 is the third game in a series of 3-D fighting games that started on the Playstation back in 1995. Tekken, while primitive by today's standards, was excellent at the time. Tekken 2 came along and was greatly improved, but compared to Tekken 3, they are nothing.

Tekken 3 is your basic 3-D fighting game, with throws, strikes, special moves, combos, evasive maneuvers, jumps, running attacks, dashing, and flashy special effects. Energized music, distinct characters and fighting styles, and well-used sound effects are all present in this package.

Tekken 3 takes advantage of the third dimension well. You can side step to avoid tackles, throws, or strikes, or to set up your own attack. However, Tekken is really just a basic fighting game with the third dimension added in. How it distinguishes itself from Street Fighter and Virtua Fighter and other fighting games are it’s long combos, real fighting styles and insane amount of moves for each character.

Besides the Arcade Mode, where you have to beat all the opponents the game throws at you, Namco has added in a bunch of extra modes to increase replay value significantly. Team Battle lets you pick between one and six people and put them on a team, fighting another team. The first team to have all their characters defeated loses. Time Attack mode lets you fight through Arcade Mode, seeing how fast you can beat it. Survival Mode makes you see how many people you can beat in one-round battles, keeping your energy level after each fight you win, besides getting a slight boost. Practice Mode lets you attack a lifeless opponent to practice button combinations, practice combos with on-screen aids, spar an opponent of any difficulty level endlessly, and anything else you want to do with your character and your opponent. Later on, Tekken Ball mode lets you and opponent play a fighting/volleyball hybrid… very interesting, and Theater Mode lets you watch all the CG ending movies you’ve opened up by beating the game. Finally, Tekken Force Mode sends you on the street as any fighter, and you face opponents who are defeated with a few hits, like Final Fight. At the end of a stage, you face a boss, who is one of the fighters from the standard game.

Graphically, Tekken 3 is marvelous. Character models retain the look they had in the arcade, and the fighting arenas are very detailed, even if you don't go up or down any; you are always walking around on an endless level plain.

Each of Tekken 3's fighters has an incredible amount of moves to perform, from one-hit specials, to high-hitting combos, to special and chainable throws, to sidestepping attacks and reversals/ counters. Not only that, but each fighter uses a real-life fighting style, and has unique fighting stance, and some have other fighting stances, like Lei and Ling Xiayou. Each of the characters in the game is unique, and even though some share a few moves, it's nowhere near as bad as in the previous Tekken games.

Now, all this graphical pizzazz and variety would be enough to sell the game, but there has to be a good engine underneath all this, or else the game would be quickly forgotten. Fortunately, Tekken exceeds here to. Control is very good, and there are many ways for characters to get hit and fall. There are tons of animations in this game.

The game is very fast. It is much faster than previous Tekken's. Overall, Tekken 3 is a very solid game with a ton of variety, and it will keep you busy for a long time just learning the moves and getting the timing down and learning the finer points of the fighting engine.

However, just because Tekken 3 gets a five out of five doesn't mean it's perfect. The AI in the game ranges from pathetic (standing there and not attacking for a few seconds) to incredibly cheap (not giving you a chance to get up by pulling off the same move over and over again.

Also, even though the game has a lot of moves, the game may have too many moves. Characters like Gun Jack, Nina, and King have way too many moves... too many to memorize and use effectively in the heat of battle. Plus, some of the more complex chain throws and combos are just too tricky to use when fighting someone. You'll just receive a beating as you try and implement them. This gives a game a sense of being a button-masher more than a strategic fighting game, which is disappointing due to how solid the game is.

The endless arenas that you fight in don't feel right. When you and your opponent can walk around forever... it's just lame. There are no ring-outs, but there really should be.

Some of the secret characters, like Gon and Dr. B are just plain lame... they aren't legitimate fighters in an otherwise solid game.

In the end, Tekken 3 remains one of the best fighting games on the Playstation, overshadowing such great franchises as Street Fighter and Toshiden.

If you at all into fighting games, then Tekken 3 is a definite purchase. Just expect to spend a lot of time if you want to master it.