Ever since there’s been a console capable of 3D the developers instantly made the leap creating a brand of fighting games for this world. One of the pioneers of this genre was the first version Tekken that originally appeared in the Arcade and a little later the first Playstation. From there you’ve seen a version of Tekken appear on just about every home and portable game system you could name. Tekken has a lot of clout in the gaming world but after six instalments does the series stay fresh. Of the many 3D fighting you can choose, is this the crème de la crème or just another in a long list of games.

Anybody watching me play Tekken instantly noticed that the graphics looked great. The game doesn’t try to look too realistic or cartoony instead choosing for a happy medium in between both. This works out very well for the game giving it a unique look without treading on Street Fighter 4 or Virtua Fighter 5 territory. The music is great and will keep your heart pumping with its high beat exciting scores. The sound effects definitely have this exaggerated quality to them definitely gives the game a thrilling atmosphere.

I didn’t have high hopes going into the Scenario Campaign and my fears were instantly verified when it started off with a five part summary of the last 5 games doing so at snail’s pace. The story of Tekken isn’t really that interesting to begin with and this long cutscene doesn’t do it any favours.  Stories in fighting games from my experience should always be in the background and you shouldn’t try to shove it down somebody’s throat. That’s not to say there never could be a fighting game with a great story but I haven’t seen one yet. What you have essentially for this mode is a bad Beat ’em up that I haven’t seen the like of since Wrestlemania XIX for the GameCube where they thought having wrestlers beat their way through harbours for revenge against the company was a good idea. You have the same basic controls as normal Tekken except you can move in every different direction on a pre-defined path. This feels like they’re trying to make the engine do something it was never supposed to do and doesn’t work at all. You do go back to traditional Tekken style of play for bosses but this doesn’t help the mode much given you’d much rather just face CPU opponents in Offline Mode. Add to this terrible voice acting and you’ve got all the pieces for a disastrous campaign mode. This leaves it to be a largely uninteresting distraction that isn’t really the reason you bought Tekken.

While the Scenario Mode isn’t why you bought Tekken 6, the player versus player multiplayer is. I’m happy to say that if you’re a Tekken fan then everything you love about the series is here. You’ve got a large selection of characters, all with tons of moves to pull off. With that said though, if you’re not a Tekken fan then get ready for a rough ride because this game definitely has steep learning curve. Playing against a player that knows what they’re doing then you need to be prepared for them to juggle you around with combos that keep you generally defenseless. This isn’t at the Virtua Fighter level of difficulty but this isn’t a walk in the park either. Once you start mastering the characters then you may start to appreciate the game but this a long and tough road ahead. Putting that side, the game is fun playing with two people who have no idea what they’re doing.

Since the launch of Tekken 6 the online multiplayer has been widely criticized for its heavy online lag that made it unplayable. I’m happy to report that has been resolved through a recent patch and has become a non-issue. I only experienced noticeable lag during one match that I’d just chalk up to the usual problems with playing games online. Moving past that one match every other match I played was flawless and I successfully had my butt handed to me by people who know far more about Tekken than I. A minor complaint that I had was that I couldn’t play team battles and was left only to play single matches which would have been a nice touch if they had the option.  The game does have a four player lobby system if you want take turns facing each other like in a traditional arcade.

Tekken 6 definitely feels like the sixth game in the series where it’s become hard for a casual fighting game to really enjoy this game. It’s been designed from the ground up to appease hardcore Tekken fans and it does this job very well. For that reason it makes this game hard to rate because depending on who you are you’ll get different levels enjoyment ranging from absolute hatred because you don’t get what you’re supposed to be doing to hours of enjoyment; it depends on the individual player. If what you’re looking for is more Tekken, then you’ve definitely come to the right place.

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