Tekken 6 Platinum PlayStation 3

Released on 13/08/2010

• History Of Tekken Series

  The History Of Tekken

  With the imminent release of Tekken 6 we thought it was time to take a look back at the series that has so often set the gold standard for fighting games.

  Trying to chart the long and complex history of fighting games is like attempting to plot the trajectory of a drunken spider wearing four pairs of ill-fitting stiletto shoes. Fortunately, the Tekken series has followed a purer, more sober course over its 15-year life cycle, so let's take a look at what makes Namco's premier combat franchise so enduringly popular.

  Let the Games Begin
  Tekken is primarily an arcade game that has been developed for play on various home consoles over the years. The appearance of the first coin-op cabinet bearing the Tekken name was in 1994, followed by Tekken 2 (1995), Tekken 3 (1997), Tekken Tag Tournament (1999), Tekken 4 (2001), Tekken 5 (2004), Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection (2005), Tekken 6 (2007) and Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion (2008).

  With each iteration came console conversions and minor handheld detours with versions of the great game appearing on all PlayStation platforms, Xbox 360, WonderSwan and Game Boy Advance.

  

  What's it all About?
  For those new to fighting games, the idea is, essentially, to engage another person in hand-to-hand combat using on-screen characters endowed with heightened martial arts skills and abilities. Some of these fighting games are more bizarre and fantastical than others (the Mortal Kombat series goes for gore, for example) and while Tekken has its fair share of special moves and elaborate combos, martial arts fans like it because the charactersabilities tend to mirror those of real martial arts, albeit with important differences such as fusing a Judo style with full contact punching and kicking. So what you get in a Tekken game is a combination of fantasy fighting laced with real-world combat styles.

  The Art of Fighting
  Playing the game at a basic level is simply a case of moving a character around the screen with a control stick and using buttons to punch and kick. In Tekken there are two buttons for a character arms (left and right) and two buttons for legs (left and right). However, it gets a lot more complex than just bashing at buttons thanks to each character's extensive moves list. Different moves can be accessed by performing different button combinations and various moves can be strung together to devastating effect. This is called a combo. Add blocking, counterattacks and Tekken 6's new Rage meter feature (allowing weakened characters to access last ditch reserves of power), and you have a combat system that's fairly complex and, because each character has a different set of moves, features some interesting variations in fighting style.

  

  The World of Tekken
  We could fill up the whole internet (yes, all of it) with the Tekken series' storylines and various character rosters. Storywise, all you need to know is that each game is based on the fictional martial arts tournament The King of Iron Fist. The tournament is organised and funded by a corporation called the Mishima Zaibatsu and whoever wins tends to gain ownership of the organisation and goes on to host the following tournament. In the current iteration of the game, Tekken 6, it is Jin Kazama's turn to hold The King of Iron Fist Tournament.

  Tekken has, over the years, introduced us to a startling range of different characters, some of whom make brief appearances and others who come and go throughout the series. A few key characters (like Heihachi Mishima, Paul Phoenix and Yoshimitsu) have appeared in every single Tekken game. The characters come from all over the globe and bring a variety of fighting styles to the tournament. Also, as well as the more serious characters and their relatively authentic fighting styles, there are others such as Ogre and Devil who have a supernatural aspect to their character, and there are more lighthearted moments thanks to comedy characters like Kuma. Part of what makes the Tekken series such a joy to follow is that every character has his or her own backstory and their own special reasons for entering the tournament.

  

  Tekken Breaks Out
  So popular is the Tekken series that its influence has spilled out into other games and media. Yoshimitsu also appears in Namco's weapons-based fighting game Soul Calibur, Heihachi has been seen in Namco's party game Pac Man Fever and, bizarrely, Yoshimitsu, Eddy and Heihachi all made an appearance in Anna Kournikova's Smash Court Tennis. Appearances in other media include a DC Comics Tekken series called Tekken Forever, Tekken: The Motion Picture, and countless mentions and appearances in TV shows and movies including Eastenders, Spaced, Shaun of the Dead and Dude, Where's My Car?

  Tekken has been the fighting fan choice since it debuted in 1994 and has remained at the top of its game throughout its many iterations. Hopefully our brief look at the game's history will bring back some fond memories for fans, and, more importantly, persuade non-players to sign up because with Tekken 6 just around the corner you need to get into shape if you fancy becoming The King of Iron Fist.
  The History of Tekken

  

• Street Fighter x Tekken headed for the 3DS?

  With Nintendo eye-popping handheld hitting stores in the UK today, who up for a little bit of speculation? How this, then? Street Fighter x Tekken could be headed for the 3DS.

  The man who started the rumour is Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono, who told Eurogamer yesterday that a 3DS version of the crossover title hould happen

  "As far as fighting games are concerned, we've come a long way," he said. "It used to be that you had to go to an arcade machine, pay money and play it. Then it came to home console and you could play it in front of your TV. Now you can play Super Street Fighter IV anywhere if you've got a 3DS. I think that's an amazing thing. The next step would be to have Street Fighter x Tekken, which is the celebration of all top fighting gamers' dreams in one, to be on 3DS, where you can play anywhere you want. That's an ultimate idea. Personally speaking, it should happen. We should probably start making more noise about this. But officially, nothing has been considered yet."

  Whether it makes it onto the handheld or not, Street Fighter x Tekken is definitely headed our way: it should be arriving on the PS3 and Xbox 360 next year.

• Street Fighter and Tekken take the battle to the streets of Britain

  Fans of fisty-kicky fighting games should already be quivering in anticipation for Street Fighter X Tekken, which pits the warriors from Capcom and Namco's rival franchises against each other for the first time.

  To whet those whistles further, Capcom has just announced that it'll be taking the whole bruising affair on the road so fans can sample the game before its official release in March 2012. The tour gets off to a lavish start on August 20th at the KO Gym in Bethnal Green, London.

  Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono will be there, signing things and pretending not to be freaked out by people dressed as Chun Li, and there will also be grub and music to add to the party atmosphere. Capcom has also hinted that while the event is to promote Street Figher X Tekken, there may be ther secret thingsgoing on. The event kicks off (literally) at 7.30pm and you should get there early, as there are free gifts for the first fifty people at the door.
  
  The game will then head off to Bristol, Edinburgh, Norwich, Brighton and Liverpool. Dates and venues for the rest of the tour have yet to be confirmed in the next few weeks.
  

  In the mean time, get in some practice on either the superlative Super Street Fighter IV or the equally impressive Tekken 6.

• The Beat 'Em Up Resurgence

  
  

  

  Round 1 - Storied Reputation

  Fighting games like Tekken and SoulCalibur have enjoyed an unprecedented resurgence over the last two years. But before Mitsurugi's katana skills and Paul Phoenix's extreme hairstyle came into style, old-school gamers were playing The Way of the Exploding Fist and Yie Ar Kung-Fu on their humble ZX Spectrums and Commodore 64s. These early fighters - which were inspired by martial-arts films - then paved the way for the most important fighting game of all time.

  Street Fighter II: The World Warrior kick-started the golden era of fighting games in the early nineties. It achieved this with a cast of eight international fighters and an epic (and allegedly accidental) combo system. Street Fighter then matured into a globally adored series and inspired everything from Mortal Kombat and Killer Instinct to Virtua Fighter and Dead or Alive. But when the genre fell into decline in the years following the turn of the millennium, it seemed like the honeymoon period was finally over.

  

  Round 2 - Re-enter the Dragon Punch

  This all changed when Capcom pulled the pin on a grenade labelled Street Fighter IV in 2008 - because not only did the ensuing explosion revive the genre in spectacular style, it made it the strongest it's ever been. SFIV kept all the iconic characters and special moves from Street Fighter II, and by reworking the classic 2D controls with the new Focus and Ultra systems, it offered accessibility and depth in equal measure. But while Street Fighter IV set the benchmark, its 2010 follow-up, Super Street Fighter IV, smoothed out the kinks and offered unrivalled diversity.

  SSFIV could have been a lazy update. Instead it offered ten new faces and a choice of two Ultra Combos. This allowed each fighter to be played in two distinct styles. But Super isn't the end of the story, as it was ported onto Nintendo 3DS as Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition, and on June 7th, Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition will be released. The inclusion of Yun, Yang, Evil Ryu and Oni will bring the roster up to 39, making Arcade Edition the definitive Street Fighter.

  

  Round 3 - The New (and Old) Challengers

  Street Fighter IV was the game that led the charge, and in its wake, other fighting games followed. A particular highlight was BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger in 2009. This beautiful 2D fighter was the spiritual successor to the intense Guilty Gear series, and much like its eccentric forbearer, BlazBlue was brimming with innovation. It featured a rapid tempo and an ingenuous Drive system which made each fighter unique. Then, when BlazBlue: Continuum Shift tightened up the gameplay in 2010, BlazBlue established itself as the hardcore fighter of choice. An accomplished port of Calamity Trigger is also available for the PSP.

  But the award for “most accessible fighting game” goes to the long running Vs. Series. This Capcom-developed series began in 1996 with X-Men vs. Street Fighter. After a long hiatus, it returned to Europe last year with Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars on the Wii. But while Tatsunoko is massively popular in Japan, it only has a niche following in the West. So when Marvel vs. Capcom 3 launched earlier this year with its familiar cast of celestial wolves, bionic commandos, thunder gods and less-than-jolly green giants, it stole the show in style. Its rabid tag-team combat and X-Factor system also allowed for many astonishing combos.

  

  Round 4 - Fatal Fantasy

  Another classic that made a comeback this year is Mortal Kombat. This brutal fighter was on a slippery slope after switching haphazardly to 3D, but with a series reboot having just been released on the 360 and PS3, Mortal Kombat is back in the realm of 2D gameplay where it belongs. We get the classic Raiden torpedo dive and Liu Kang bicycle kick, as well as a new super gauge that allows for gory X-Ray attacks. But Mortal Kombat's crowning achievement is the variety of content it offers, because even after finishing the seven-hour Story Mode, a Tower of 300 challenges awaits.

  If a fully fledged narrative isn't surreal enough, how about a PSP fighting game based on Final Fantasy? Dissidia Final Fantasy is a 3D fighter that brought together the heroes and villains from Final Fantasy I through to Final Fantasy X. This allowed RPG fans to fight battles between Sephiroth and Squall using a unique combat system that centred on HP and Bravery attacks. The recent sequel, Dissidia 012 Duodecim Final Fantasy, included more characters - including Tifa and Yuna from Final Fantasy VII and X - as well as a significantly expanded single-player mode.

  

  Round 5 - Fight for the Future

  When you add all these excellent games to the likes of Tekken 6, The King of Fighters XII, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny, it's clear that fighting game fans are being spoilt for choice. But what's next for the genre?

  In the coming months we'll see the release of Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus on the Wii and PSP (May 6th), the manga-inspired Arcana Heart 3 on the PS3 and 360 (June 24th) and Dead or Alive Dimensions joining Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition on the new Nintendo 3DS (May 20th).

  After that, we have the Capcom-developed Street Fighter X Tekken to look forward to next year, as well as the long awaited Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and the Namco Bandai-developed Tekken X Street Fighter. All in all, there's never been a better time to own an arcade stick!

  Published: 01/04/2012

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