Tekken 5 – PS2 – Review

Every
fighting game takes a fall. Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter, all
of them. Some recover through massive changes, others don’t recover at all.
Fear of repetition, coupled with the demands of this highly competitive genre
make it difficult for developers to stay in the same place.

Tekken took
its fall with number four. I hate to bring up the past, but if you rented or
purchased the game, chances are you know where I’m coming from. You’re jaded,
maybe even a little angry. You don’t want to think about Tekken 5 and all the
weird gameplay mechanics that might have been designed for it.

Namco didn’t
earn the title of most successful fighting-game developer because they didn’t
know what they were doing. Tekken 4 was disappointing, but it was an
experiment that needed to be made. Namco needed to see that the series was
right where it belonged. We shouted, they listened, and now we can let
ourselves become fighting-game zombies once more with Tekken 5.

Is this classic
Tekken or what?

Let’s go
over the facts:

• No more eight-way run!
  (Classic side-step move takes its place.)

• No more real-time endings
  (all are computer-generated and worth watching).

• Several new moves to
  learn, with very few taken away (only a Tekken master will notice what’s
  missing).

• TONs of characters to
  choose from, both old and new (almost as many as Tekken Tag).

• Incredible graphics engine
  that breathes new life into the console.

• Infinite replay value.

You won’t
believe your fists! … er … thumbs, er … you won’t believe anything. In a
nutshell, Tekken 5 is the sequel to Tekken 3. Forget the fourth game exists.
Namco certainly did. Very few Tekken 4 gameplay mechanics remain. Instead you
get a game that plays just like Tekken 3 but with more intensity. The
characters don’t move any faster. When it comes down to it I’m not sure I’d
want them to.

Namco still
managed to increase the intensity by employing techniques used by filmmakers.
For starters, each fighter looks meaner, tougher, and more realistic. Second,
they appear to hit much harder than in the previous King of the Iron Fist
tournaments. This effect is backed by the impressive number of new,
highly-destructive environments. Glass floors can be cracked; statues can be
destroyed; cement blocks will fly into the air if the character hits them hard
enough. Walls can be used to corner your opponents, leaving him/her with fewer
options.

They could
fight back (if they’re fast enough), or use a reversal of some kind (either to
retaliate with an attack or to reverse character positions). Or they could end
up getting combo’d so badly that they won’t know what hit ’em. Most newbies
will fall victim to this immediately. They’ll also quickly pick up on it as an
easy way to score wins. This move can be used to succeed while learning the
ropes. Don’t expect to use it forever though. It can be reversed, remember?
And you can be certain that if you face someone like me (and you eventually
will), your opponent will do everything possible to escape a trap.

Tekken: Devil Within

Ever since
Namco introduced the first beat-’em-up-style mini-game, no Tekken game has
been released without one. Tekken 5’s mini-game, titled Devil Within, is the
best yet. It’s played from a third-person perspective (with 3D levels, mostly
corridors). Jin Kazama is the star, and once his meter is full he can be
transformed into the devil, increasing his strength and agility for a limited
time.

The button
layout is weird: only two buttons are set aside for attacking (square and X,
which are punch and kick, respectively). Normally pressing up on the
directional pad would make your character jump, but since this mini-game
doesn’t take place in a 2D environment, you need a specific button to jump.
You also need one for guard, and I’m sure you can figure out why.

Devil Within
is mostly repetitive and the enemies are usually cheap, but it’s still more
fun to play than all of Death by Degrees. Even those who disagree will want to
play this mini-game because of the force gems awarded for good performance.
These force gems are the equivalent of cash, which is awarded to winners of
the standard game modes.

What can you
get with all your loot? Items for your characters that slightly change their
aesthetics, and in some cases, and entirely new outfit. This isn’t something I
go for – if the outfit is there I might select it just to have something
different, but I never play specific parts of a game just to unlock a new
piece of clothing. If you do, you’ll love this. If not, it won’t damage your
love for the game one bit.

Tekken 5’s
visuals are simply incredible. It’s hard to look at a PS2 game these days
without rolling your eyes. You can try to roll your eyes at this game, but
first you’ll have to put them back in their sockets. The sun bouncing off
buildings; the damage endured by the environments; the floating of feathers
that seem to appear out of nowhere. It’s like watching a beautiful anime movie
come to life. The characters are more detailed than Tekken Tag and Tekken 4,
but the backgrounds – that’s what you and your friends will be talking about.

This is one
of the most beautiful stages.

Like Default
once said, it’s Tekken my life away. In a matter of seconds I went from
thinking, "man I hope it’s good," to thinking, "it couldn’t be much better!" I
won’t call it the perfect fighting game – that label was given to both Tekken
3 and Tekken Tag. Namco topped those. They’ll do it again. For now, Tekken 5
is not only the King of the Iron Fist Tournament, it’s also the king of the
genre. And that’s not because there’s nothing else. There’s plenty of
competition, including Namco’s own Soul Calibur 2. Tekken 5 trumps ’em all.

Review Scoring Details for Tekken 5

Gameplay: 9.6
Arcade-perfect
gameplay from a game you’ve never seen in an arcade! It’s ironic, but that’s
our society. Most people don’t like the stinky, dirty arcade atmosphere – they
prefer the stinky, dirty atmosphere of their own bedroom. Thankfully this
hasn’t stopped Namco from making Tekken 5, a game that is very close to being
the best in the series. (I can’t really make the call until I’ve spent six
months playing it.)

The controls
and gameplay mechanics are identical to Tekken 3, and include many new nuances
that only the diehard fans will be able to distinguish. You might be tempted
to pass on all console games with the PSP’s release just a couple of weeks
away, but don’t be so foolish: Tekken 5 is a PS2 exclusive. You won’t find
anything comparable on the PSP, Nintendo DS, Xbox, GameCube, or anywhere else.

Graphics: 9.0
Gorgeous. Tekken
5 looks like a million bucks. It reminds me of the PSone’s fifth year, because
that’s when we got to see the very best the console had to offer. We’re
starting to see that with PS2 in its fifth year, the year that could be its
Swan Song. More beauty is sure to come, but as far as fighting games go, it’s
unlikely that anyone will top Namco until the next console war begins.

Sound: 8.6
Awesome,
entertaining, and filled with an unusual amount of depth, Tekken 5’s
soundtrack is comparable to Tekken 3’s stellar soundtrack, if not better. It
doesn’t sound as epic as Soul Calibur, but who cares – great music is great
music.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
If you look up
"Caught Me Off Guard" in the videogame dictionary, you’ll see my picture next
to a copy of Tekken 5. The final boss is not only new, but he’s also one of
the fastest and cheapest adversaries you’ll ever face. Just remember: if you
can defeat him with ease, you’re that much closer to defeating the real enemy:
your friends.

Boss aside, Tekken 5 is
anything but easy to master. The new moves add to the existing list of things
to memorize and perfect.

Concept: 8.0
A new Tekken game
that plays like Tekken, not Soul Calibur. Lots of new content. Tons of
fighters. Endless love.

Multiplayer: 10
I’m obsessed. I’m
obsessed. I’m obsessed.

“Mrs. Rauth,
may I please go home now?”

“No Jimmy.
You cut class to play Tekken 5 today. Now you’re going to fill that entire
board or else I’ll call your parents and tell them how you decided to spend
your afternoon.”

Jimmy puts
down the chalk and walks away.

“Jimmy, get
back in here or I’ll call your parents!”

“That’s alright. I was
playing against my dad.”

Overall: 9.6
Too good for
words, too memorable to forget, too addictive to ignore. Tekken 5 brings the
series back to the glory days of the late 90s. I spent my life (literally)
playing Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag, and I can’t wait to stop writing so I can let
Tekken 5 take their place.