Tekken 3

"If you accept nothing but top-notch gameplay and wonderful graphics in a fighting game, Tekken 3 is a must!"

First off, I would like to thank you for just considering reading my review, so, thanks. Now, to the review. Tekken 3 is an awesome game that deserves many awards for quality and fun factor (for fighting games, aw, heck, for any type of game). For not being a huge fan of fighting games myself, I was reluctant to play it in the arcade, but as soon as I won my first match, it sucked me in!

I loved the game so much that I knew I had to buy it! To tell the truth, Tekken 3 was the reason that I bought a Playstation. Yeah, I would have to say that Namco has really hit the mark this time! I was thinking about how well the "arcade-to-console" conversion was gonna go, but, as with the first two games, it was nearly flawless! The only complaint I had was that I had to play over and over to get my favorite character, Bryan Fury. But if you think about it, that was a good thing!

This is a fighting game that even outclasses Tobal No. 1! As soon as I popped it in my PSX, I knew what I was in for. First, I picked Eddy Gordo, since Bryan wasn't there yet, and I saw that most amazing animation ever in a fighting game. The characters look so realistic, fight smoothly, and best of all, when I pressed the kick button, he kicked, and when I pressed the punch button, he punched! I know this sounds dumb, but think about it, how many times have you played a fighting game, and it was not responding? This amazed me because some other fighters on the Playstation and other consoles have horrible conversions from arcade-to-console (Street Fighter VS. X-Men, need I say more?).

Another great thing was they had a variety of style from Kung Fu, to Capoeira, to Kickboxing, to Tae Kwon Do, and so forth. When a fighter falls, it looks like he/she fell as in real life. The grappling moves are great, and the 10 hit combos a fantastic!

I haven't yet talked about the graphics, though. No. Don't worry, the graphics are excellent! The only think that's wrong about the graphics is the 2D background, but who really has the time to look at the background in this game anyway?

To tell the truth, Tekken 3 is BETTER than the arcade version. You get new modes, such as Force Mode and Ball mode. There is one more mode, but I'll let you figure out what it is. I'll tell you one thing though, if you have the entire Tekken series, this is the perfect mode for you! There are also more characters in it than the arcade version.

To sum everything up, Tekken 3 is the best fighting game out there today. This game would be a good deal at $45, too. Even when other games surpass Tekken 3, it will be remembered as a true classic.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 07/16/01