Tekken Advance

"The King of Iron Fist Tournament in the palm of your hands"

It's kind of weird seeing a PlayStation exclusive franchise like Tekken outside Sony's territory but then again videogame as we know them won't always going to stay the same and Tekken 6 will be the first ever Tekken console game to become a multi-platform title but back in 2002, it wasn't like that. When the Game Boy Advance is on its second year of success in the portable realm, Namco (Bandai excluded since Wonder Swan still existed) saw an opportunity to do something most developers at the time are afraid to do. Namco decided to make a portable version of their popular fighting franchise, Tekken for the Game Boy Advance in the form of Tekken Advance. Unlike Midway who just had released an old port of a 2D Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Namco's game was very different and had proved to be something most other portable fighting developers failed to proved for better or for worse.

Graphics:

The first thing you will notice when you play this game is that unlike the console version, there are no opening cinema, meaning that you will whisk right into an attract screen similar to an arcade game rather than a console. Then when you actually start the game and get to the character select screen on any mode, you will be amazed. Colorful flashes of light filled the screen, a giant portrait of your favorite fighter are shown when you come to them, even during the vs. screen the visual looks nice. In the actual game play, you'll see pixelated sprites of both you and your opponent (though not in full detail). The arena backgrounds, though look good, lack a lot of details but they are quite large. There's not much in awe with the graphics in this game if you already play any of the console versions of Tekken but for a portable, they are quite cleverly done. One downer though is that most characters had to share the same stages (with a different color palette) which makes this game lose it originality very quickly but still since most of them are quite interesting it is still worth seeing at least for the first time. And to add a sort of 3D touch to the whole visual side of thing, the screen will zoom and scale in and out of view as you and your opponent clash face to face during a bout as well as rotate during side-stepping. A nice addition but still ain't enough.

Music/Sound:

Not every sound and voice from the console versions are heard here but you could still hear a few battle cries from Nina, a big yell from Paul or some haunting howl from Yoshimitsu but overall there aren't anything interesting to listen to in this game. The announcer is still there and you get to hear a few wonderful tunes of the whole King of Iron Fist Tournament but most of the other musical score from the console games didn't make it here so if you're looking to hear more than just the original tunes or same ass announcer, you're going to be disappointed with these.

Control:

Not bad for a portable Tekken. The directional pad is your main function of movement and side-stepping, plus you get the action buttons for punching and kicking and the trigger buttons for tagging and grabbing. It's simple to used and fun to master.

Gameplay:

There's not much in term of gameplay or strategy here in Tekken Advance since all you're basically doing is button mashing your way to victory. The only thing good about this is that not all characters play the same so once you master one character you could try the next but beside that combo mashing and butt kicking is key in this game. You also got a pause menu movelist to help you on your way as well and there's even a Practice Mode to help you get from Novice to Pro level so you aren't left with confusion when you do get into the competition.

Replayability:

There aren't much in unlocking stuff in this game but there are a ton of fun play time you could get if you and a friend had this same copy of the game. There's also a wealth of game modes for you to master as well such as the fun Team Battle Mode, Tag Battle Mode, Survival Mode and even Time Trial Mode but beside all that there aren't other unlockable feature offer in the game. It's a shame that Namco didn't put in at least three more characters to the roster since having only nine at default and one being unlockable isn't really enough. I could go happy with the addition of Lei Wulong, Julia Chang, or Eddie Gordo to the rest of the lineup, that will make a massive roster even though it's small but having only ten for play isn't that satisfying. Of course, with a small roster and a wealth of fun modes still doesn't break this game but it does lose a few replayability value by not doing that and the lack of character endings doesn't help.

Is it Worth Buying?

If you take it for what it is, then yes, as a portable Tekken game this game is an exception but seeing as there are more replayability in games like Super Street Fighter II, Guilty Gear X, or even the King of Fighter EX series among the large GBA library this game falls short on replayability. Nonetheless, the fun is still there and if you had a friend with the same copy, there's at least one moment you could enjoy.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/18/08, Updated 03/17/09

Game Release: Tekken Advance (US, 01/28/02)