Story:
Shrouded in mystery, the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5 came to an end with the
defeat of Jinpachi Mishima at the
hands of Jin
Kazama. Jin took control of the Mishima Zaibatsu and began using the special
Tekken Force unit to carry out covert disinformation and paramilitary
operations. As a result of its efforts, the general public became paranoid and
minor incidents around the globe soon evolved into major conflicts. Governments
around the world grew increasingly impotent as chaos spread. At the peak of the
carnage and confusion, the Mishima Zaibatsu arose from the darkness, flexing the
full potential of its military might and declaring its dominion over all
governmental rule.
The Mishima Zaibatsu took control of the world
with overwhelming force. In response, G Corporation materialized in opposition
to the Zaibatsu, setting-out to subdue the Mishima forces globally. Hailed as
civilization’s savior, The G Corporation offered a generous bounty to anyone
who captures Mishima Zaibatsu's leader, Jin Kazama. In an effort to lead the
next steps in the deadly dance between organizations, The Mishima Zaibatsu set
the stage for battle with its announcement of The King of Iron Fist Tournament
6. Some seek fame. Some seek the bounty on
Jin's head. Some seek solely to banish their own inner demons. Each fighter has
a unique agenda. Welcome to The King of Iron Fist Tournament 6.
General: The
sixth story-driven installment to the Tekken series features 4 new playable characters,
each representing unique new fighting styles; the
new 4 being Miguel,
Leo,
Bob,
and Zafina; as well as a new boss,
Azazel. Tekken 6 showcases the most characters to appear in a Tekken game thus far,
as EVERY selectable character from Tekken 5:
Dark Resurrection has made their return! There are 12 new
stages, each graphically impressive and unique in their own way. Certain
stages have breakable areas or "multiple levels" similar to the DOA
series, and some stages are actually connected to each other. There are
still several "infinite" stages in Tekken 6 (no walls), thrown in just
for the old school Tekken players.
With this installment, Tekken has received a true "HD" graphical makeover
from the ground up, and definitely pleased fans who've been longing for
a true "next-gen update" to the long running series; something we haven't
really seen since
Tekken Tag on the PS2. Nearly all animations have been
"tweaked" for Tekken 6, making the fighting styles, moves, and overall
gameplay look more fluid and more awesome than ever! Character stances,
classic moves, hit animations, and even KO animations were touched up!
Now, finishing off a standing opponent with certain mid or low attacks
will have a specific KO animation (And it's about damn time).
Character faces have been given incredible new detail and new facial animations
as well. Character models and clothing are more realistic than
ever, and next-gen shadowing effects show off some spectacular lighting!
No doubt Tekken 6 is the hottest looking Tekken thus far, and easily one of the best
looking fighting games to date. Along with a great new soundtrack and re-done sound effects, the voice acting for many characters has
also been refreshed for Tekken 6, which is definitely an appreciated enhancement for
those of us that play Tekken non-stop and might be getting tired of the
same old outcries of pain, WATAAAHS, and Doriyas (Then again, Doriya
just never gets old)!
As with Tekken 5, once again the designers put
a lot of effort into fleshing out their classic characters even further.
Marshall Law moves incredibly fluid and fights amazingly similar to the legend
that is Bruce Lee, Bruce's Muay Thai stance and kicks look more authentic (and
more lethal) than
ever, and Bob; well, Bob is a really fat guy who can somehow pull off acrobatic
kicks... Namco still has their sense of humor.
Returning Tekken characters are sticking to their roots as far as appearance
goes, most characters sporting nearly the exact same outfits and color schemes from
Tekken
5 (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). However, with much more detailed customization
options this time around, Tekken characters are able to get
some all new threads if you tire of their original costumes. Character models in Tekken 6 are practically "naked,"
so you are able to remove or switch out tops, bottoms, gloves, footwear,
and of course add those entertaining items!
A new feature introduced in Tekken 6, certain customization items have an actual effect or use during
gameplay, in some cases giving your character an extra move command (or
two?). In some shown examples: Bryan Fury can pull out his shotgun and
fire it for a quick 1 hit air juggle, Anna can kick off her shoe at her
opponent, and Armor King can attack with a baseball bat. In other cases, characters gain strange abilities and
taunts... Paul can grow his hair reeeeally long and Bruce drops baby
chicks out of his pants (WTF!!!). Those funny Namco guys... Always up to
something. The new items
add variety and flash to the game when they are used, and definitely bring some good comic
relief.
Thankfully, the new item effects don't effect the game in a negative way
since they don't take off much damage and aren't the type of moves that can be
abused... The items don't effect balance issues either, thus,
don't have a big effect on the overall gameplay at all. And speaking of gameplay,
the engine has undergone quite a few tweaks, including a re-worked wall game,
new "ground bounce" combos that are possible after "slam down" type of
moves; and the all new "Rage Mode," which allows for more damaging attacks
when characters have low life (and creates cool looking trails during the
character's moves). Rage Mode is automatically activated when your character's
health is knocked down to 5% or less, increasing your character's power
and making combos even more deadly... This adds a bit more strategy to the
gameplay and also makes for more intense fights.
Much like Tekken 5, Tekken 6 hit the arcades in a very raw state, and was
patched several times to remedy balance issues and "unintended" combos
that were found by top players. Even after being patched, combos in Tekken 6 are open ended, very damaging, and some of which end up being
quite "long" after a ground bounce (the longest combos in the series' history).
If your character gets launched into a combo, it's possible you may have
no control over your character for the next 7-8+ seconds... Hmm, at least
it gives you time to stretch your limbs and maybe take a sip of your drink.
Low parries have also become more rewarding then ever, as every character has
the ability to start a nice air combo after a well-timed low parry. Overall, combos in Tekken 6
are a tad more lethal since a few more hits are allowed
through the new ground bounce system, but thankfully many moves (like jab)
were toned down in the damage department during an air combo. Even so, the damage from air combos isn't that much worse than
getting combo'd by a skilled Tekken 5 player, unless
of course you get knocked through breakable ground, and get combo'd into a wall
soon after than (ouch!).
Gameplay
Engine
Story
/ Theme
9
/ 10
Overall
Graphics
9.5
/ 10
Animation
9.5
/ 10
Music
/ Sound Effects
9
/ 10
Innovation
8.5
/ 10
Customization
10
/ 10
Options / Extras
Intro
/ Presentation
8.5
/ 10
Replayability
/ Fun
"Ouch"
Factor
10
/ 10
Characters
9.5
/ 10
OVERALL
SCORE
Not Yet
Rated
Closing Comment: Even
thoughI know Tekken 6 deserves at least a 9
or 9.5, like many
Tekken fans all around the US, I still haven't been able to play the arcade
version because no arcades in my area ever got the game (there
wasn't a widespread U.S. release). It's even possible I may never
get the chance to play / review the original arcade version of Tekken 6 unless I
travel out of state and wind up at one of the few arcades that has Tekken
6.
On the brighter side of things, I will gladly wait to play and review the "more
complete" PS3 version of Tekken 6, which is of course based off of Tekken
6: Bloodline Rebellion... Also, the fact that they're simply dubbing the
home version "Tekken 6," shows that Namco feels that the original
arcade Tekken 6 wasn't a "complete game... Again, I'll patiently (and
painfully) wait for the complete home package.
~F.Yagami,
Webmaster
of TFG
.
.
Returning Tekken characters are sticking to their roots as far as appearance
goes, most characters sporting nearly the exact same outfits and color schemes from
The new items
add variety and flash to the game when they are used, and definitely bring some good comic
relief.
Low parries have also become more rewarding then ever, as every character has
the ability to start a nice air combo after a well-timed low parry. Overall, combos in Tekken 6
are a tad more lethal since a few more hits are allowed
through the new ground bounce system, but thankfully many moves (like jab)
were toned down in the damage department during an air combo. Even so, the damage from air combos isn't that much worse than
getting combo'd by a skilled Tekken 5 player, unless
of course you get knocked through breakable ground, and get combo'd into a wall
soon after than (ouch!). 
~F.Yagami,
Webmaster
of TFG
