Tekken 3

"Third installment. Third great game."

Tekken (1) created a solid basis, providing a great cast of memorable characters, stunning graphics and a never seen before smoothness and fluency of combats; Tekken 2 just strengthened these merits while reinforcing the storyline and at the same time adding new characters. Now the time has come for the 3rd installment of the series. We could say that this episode is the one that really started it all, setting move, combat styles and everything else.

GRAPHICS: 9.5/10

The graphics in this game are truly stunning: the combats are really spectacular not only because of the greatly drawn fighters but also because of the stages, which are designed to be in some kind of 3D environment, mainly a looping floor, so that this isn't really in 3D but gives you the idea. The only thing curbing me from giving a 10 is that, yes, there are FMVs, but while the graphics are ok (nothing great though), they're way too short, like in any other Tekken, and that's always the thing preventing me to giving out a 10. But apart from this slight problem, the graphics are truly amazing.

AUDIO: 10/10

At last. At last we get a true soundtrack with unforgettable tunes. Those of you who never heard Jin's theme, raise your hand... ohh, few, I can see... in fact. And that's not the only example. Also sound effects are great and voices (with "voice" I mean the various "oof! ack! yeargh! graugh!" you can hear in combats) are really well made as they're unique for each character. Sometimes punch sounds aren't completely "real" but there are... eh, some nice smacks. Overall, musics are great (and greatly produced too), voices and sound effects are good.

STORYLINE: 8.5/10

Low score? Remember you don't get storylines in fighting games that often: usually it's the restirred plot of every fighter lusting to become some kind of super champion or whatever. Well, not that here this kind of plot is absent, but either it's really the only goal of the character you picked or there's some other story completely drawing your attention. Basically, in this third installment, Heihachi Mishima has just thrown his own son Kazuya in a volcano, unaware of Devil, his evil spirit, who suddenly appears in front of Jun, who's pregnant with her child (Jin) whose father is the very Kazuya. Jun has a fierce battle with Devil which is defeated. Jun then grows her son alone. Heihachi then founds the Tekken Force and helps the third world, just to please the politicians. He then sends some men to an excavation site but when he gets there he finds only corpses, apparently they were killed by the Wargod. The days pass by, most of the world's strongest fighters start to disappear: Jun is worried, and the Wargod eventually kills her. Now Jin seeks revenge and goes to the grandpa's (Heihachi) place to train and avenge his mother... Heihachi knows what the Wargod wants: fighters, so he calls the Tekken 3...

GAMEPLAY: 10/10

What's the antonym of "frustrating"? That would be the best fitting word, as the gameplay in this installment is truly smooth and easy to understand: there are your basic controls (move the character with the pad, left punch with Square, right one with Triangle and such) which are easy to master. What isn't so easy to master, though, is the plethora of special moves and combos to perform. Not only that, you aren't humanly able to discover them all by yourself as you will find yourself often scrolling through the command list trying to choose one that fits you best. Anyway, there are various difficult settings, and they range from ridiculously easy to very hard and challenging. Note that hard doesn't mean frustrating. Ever. Then we have the ubiquitous theatre, survival, practice and team modes, plus a special mode: Tekken Force mode, where you've to guide a character through 4 stages in an almost 3D environment (basically you move in 2D patterns on a 3D world, think of Pandaemonium) like a side scrolling beat 'em up minigame. Plus you can unlock a special mode I won't spoil here...

FINAL THOUGHTS

There'll surely be a difficulty setting that'll please you, so don't worry about that. Plus there are so many amazing characters that it'll be hard to choose from. Everything in this game is absolutely or nearly perfect, so if you don't own a copy yet, just run and buy one because even nowadays it's still considered a masterpiece.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/23/05