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Tekken 3 (PlayStation) review

"Tekken 3 is in my opinion the greatest fighting game ever on any system including its PS2 sequel and the migty Soul Calibur, yes I love it that much! Why? "

Tekken 3 is in my opinion the greatest fighting game ever on any system including its PS2 sequel and the migty Soul Calibur, yes I love it that much! Why?

Realistic fighters, great plot, recognisable martial arts systems being used. Throws, reversals, parries, stances and a side-step for everyone. The sheer number of possibilities the game gives you is amazing. It's perfect for all styles of play from the casual button basher to the dedicated Tekken expert. The rendered movies are astounding in quality and the games options are huge. As well as Vs., Team battle, Time Attack and Survival, there is a side scrolling beat 'em up Tekken Force, Tekken Ball on the beach and the Tekken Theatre that not only lets you save and view all the endings as you unlock them, but also lets you insert the Tekken One and Two discs and play the films and music off those as well.

Graphically and muscially this game is still the tops, of course its own sequel has better graphics, but not gameplay and the music is the best ever. I'm always humming the throbbing bass-tastic Lei Wulong Theme, or playing air guitar to Heihachi's rocking beat!

Why do you hate your father? Is I because he threw you off a cliff when you were young?

Ah the storyline, the tekken story is one of the more complicated and ludicrous in videogaming history.
A range of new fighters stepped in to take on the God of Fighting, many of them related to previous characters.

Jin Kazama - Karate fighter and son of Kazuya and Jun. After revenge for his mothers death.

Hwoarang - Student of Baek, a Tae Kwon Do fighter out to avenge his master and get back at Jin who beat him in a fight.

Julia Chang - Adopted daughter of Michelle, out to investigate her mothers disappearance.

Kuma 2 - Son of the original Kuma who also hates Paul.

Ling Xiaoyu - Barmy 16 year old Chinese master of Wu Shu. Heihachi will build her a theme park if she wins.

Eddy Gordo - Brazilian Capoeria fighter. Suspects the Mishima coporation may help him find out who killed his dad.

King 2 - Student of the original King out to avenge his death.

Gon - Stumpy little dragon out to prove it's toughness.

Forest Law - son of Marshall. Out to win some cash and glory

Gun Jack - combination of Jack 2 and P.Jack. Jane wants to find his human program so Gun Jack enters the tournament to get it.

Dr Boskonovitch - Ethically dubious scientist out to retrieve Ogres blood to cure his daughter. Froze Nina and Anna after Tekken 2.

Ogre - the god of fighting who transforms into True Ogre as the final boss.

Tekken 3 ends with the devil inside Jin (inherited from his father) exploding out and after beating up Heihachi he spreads his wings and flies off into the moonlight leaving us all gagging for Tekken 4. Really the plot is a ridiculous as The Bold and the Beautiful, but it doesn't stop us wanting to know what happens next.

That is Tekken's true success, it creates likeable characters that we all care about. For example when Jack 2 is shut down at the end of Tekken 2 in front of the little girl he rescued from a warzone, it's heartbreaking. 19 years later we find that the girl (Jane) has grown up and become a physicist solely to be able to reactivate her metal friend..ahhh. Superb characterisation makes to game so much more than an exercise in friend humiliating and technical prowess.

No Julia, hatred is not the answer..now lets go home to Arizona, where the land awaits us.

Well you might have to deal with hatred especially once you master the gameplay. Because the game incorportaes such a huge variety of fighting styles you can create a unique approach to battle. There are many wyas to approach battle and many tactics you can use to find out what kind of player you are. For example here is some terminology you may want to learn to make yourself sound more knowledgeably and unnerve your mates.

Reversal - several characters have the ability to snatch attacks and 'reverse' them. Holding backwards on the d-pad and pressing the top back buttons easily pulls this off. If you miss the reversal, you are usually safe because you are blocking at the same time. Paul, Nina, Anna and Jin have punch and kick reversals. King has a kick only reversal.

Chicken - Usually triggered by accident. This reverses a reversal by holding forward and one of the top back buttons at the same time you attacker reverses you kick or punch. Very hard to time right, if you suspect you opponent is trying to reverse you, either throw them, attack their shins or violent hammer your attack buttons, forwards and back buttons all at once and if they do reverse you you'll crack them one back and a man's voice will say ''chicken'', like when you eat the chickens in Tekken Force.

Wake-up game - This basically means kicking the other character when they are on the ground and attacking them as they get up. Rising correctly is an art in Tekken and the slightly more well informed player is wise to take advantage over the others lack 0of ability in this area. Some casual Tekken fighters seem to hold back from this as 'dishonourable'. I feel that if several characters have been given killer wake-up games as part of their style, then these should be used.

Scrub/Scrubber/Scrubbing - The player who chooses only a couple of characters all the time and refuses to use more than a few moves from their huge repertory. Very irritating.

Turtle - A super defensive player, crouches a lot to avoid throws and only ever counter attacks. Setting strict round time limits is a good way of forcing them to come out and fight. Will often choose Heihachi because of his superb counter attacking abilities.

Button basher - The goonish thwacking of both kick buttons very fast with no tactics to speak of. Can be frustrating to play against at first, but typically they can't deal with reversals, parries or adapt their strategy once you have punished their overuse of the same few string attacks. Practice timing King's kick reversal and you can give the cheesy law or Eddy player a few shocks!

Cheese - An easy to pull off and effective move that constant use of can lead to accusations of cheesiness. Hollering ''more wine with your cheese?'' In the middle of a bout could swing the odds back in your favour

Yes so many tactics and only one lifetime to master them..sigh

Deep and involving fighting, becoming an expert Tekken 3 player is one of lifes most satisfying acheivements. Its replayability is phenomenal, with one or two players I still play it about once a week, 2 and a half years on from purchase. So what are you waiting for! Buy it, now!
5/5

Community review by falsehead (March 08, 2004)

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