Tekken 3

"A step down from Tekken Tag...but a wonderful one at that.."

Tekken 3 is a new way of looking at the world of Tekken before you start moving into the Tekken Tag and Tekken 4. With the addition of some new characters and several new moves, you’ll find that Tekken 3 is a good place to begin before moving into the Tekken Tag and probably a good place to hide if you hate Tekken 4! Adding in characters such as Eddie and Bryan Fury, you have a balance of characters that range from ultra fast to ultra powerful.

The story line is still extremely vague with most of the characters, and you won’t get an ending in the game once you’ve defeated it. Like most fighting games, there are no modes other than a one-player fight fest and a two-player versus that you can compete with another player. Unlike Tekken Tag, there is no tag in feature and you’ll have to practice up on a single character to learn all of their moves before you actually move onto all of the characters!

The Game Play

Tekken has been known for one on one battle against the computer or an opponent with some technical fighting that is almost akin to Virtua Fighter and its subsequent games. If that wasn't enough, some of the characters that have returned have some tricks that really show off some spectacular moves! If you add this into the fact that most of the characters also have a new move set to compliment their new look and attitude. Some of the missing characters include favorites like the high kicking Baek, and the sensitive Jun, only to be replaced with characters such as Hworang and Jin! The list of characters goes on and on, and really the focus of the game is to try and create a rather unbeatable character team that will dominate over anyone or anything that comes your way.

Now, what you have to remember is that there is a dodge feature in this version of the game that goes a long way in determining whether or not you are actually going to make it through the battle. Every character has a strength and a weakness, with most of the game characters having a pretty good selection of offensive and defensive movements. Throws are important with the dodge feature and the fact that you can now attack while dodging to the side makes for a whole new world of fighting against either a human opponent or the computer!

The Control

Tekken has been 50 percent control and 50 percent fighting and nothing in Tekken 3 is any different. You'll find that the massive amount of moves in the game will keep even the seasoned Tekken player playing for weeks just to learn the ranges on all of the moves, all of the moves themselves and then to learn how to control the character in side stepping situations! With that being said, the advanced combinations and moves have a learning curve depending on the character used. Where a seasoned Law player will remember the moves, a King Player will find that the timing required is completely different then it was before to execute the massively damaging multi-throw combination that made him famous!

The Visuals

Although they aren’t as impressive as Tekken Tag and not as clean as Tekken 4, Tekken 3 does a good job with the speed and character design that you would expect and hope for in a fighting game. The visuals are a step up from the first two games, in which Tekken 3 is now starting to completely move away from sharp edged polygons and into a more stream-lined state. Every move and action on screen is near fluid, and some of the more advanced throw combinations are truly killer to look at and watch as well as at a respectable speed that doesn't show the much in terms of slow down. However, Tekken 3 does in fact suffer from a bit of small break up during some throws and certain special moves that won't really catch your attention unless you're looking for them!

The Audio

The audio here comes across as dance type music set in a fast paced fighting game. Each stage has its own personality that is set up by the stage music. While it doesn't interfere, or take away from the action, it merely accentuates the fight you're in. The sound effects range from your basic thuds and crunches to the ever popular bone snaps that sound truly sickening and add a bit of flare to fights! With that being said, most of what you hear is nothing that will detract from the game play and will actually get you more into the mood when you hear the announcer tell you to start fighting.

The Verdict

Tekken 3 is a great place to start in the series because of the advanced moves that you can’t find in the previous two games. Although this sequel is nothing compared to Tekken Tag or Tekken 4, it does have a simplicity to it that will keep you pumping quarters into it. With the amount of characters that you find here with different fighting styles, there is little or nothing that a Tekken fan can find wrong with this arcade smash hit!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/10/02, Updated 05/10/02