Tekken 3

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Tekken 3
Developer(s)	Namco
Publisher(s)	Namco
Native resolution	640x480
Platform(s)	Arcade, PlayStation, PlayStation 2 (as a part of Tekken 5's Arcade History mode)
Release date(s)	Arcade March 1997 PlayStation JP May 19, 1998 NA October 1998 EU November 1998
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Up to two players
Input methods	8-way joystick, 4 buttons; Gamepad
Cabinet	Upright
Arcade system	Namco System 12

Tekken 3 is the third installment in the Tekken fighting game series. It was the first game released on Namco's System 12 hardware (an improvement to the original two Tekken games, which used System 11). It was the last installment of Tekken for the PlayStation. It was released for the PlayStation in 1998, and in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 as part of Tekken 5's Arcade History mode. The PlayStation version is widely regarded as one of the greatest video games of all time.^[1]

[edit] Gameplay

Tekken 3 maintains the same core fighting system and concept as its predecessors, but brings many improvements, such as significantly more detailed graphics and animations, 15 new characters added to the game's roster, more modern music and faster and more fluid gameplay.

Perhaps the most noticeable change from Tekken 2 fight system is movement reform - whereas the element of depth had been largely insignificant in previous Tekken games (aside from some characters having unique sidesteps and dodging maneuvers), Tekken 3 added emphasis on the third axis, allowing all characters to sidestep in or out of the background by lightly pressing the arcade stick (or tapping the controller button in the console version) towards the corresponding direction. Another big change in movement was that jumping was toned down, no longer allowing fighters to jump to extreme heights (as was present in previous games), but keeping leaps to reasonable, realistic heights. It made air combat more controllable, and put more use to sidestep dodges, as jumping no longer became a universal dodge move that was flying above all of the ground moves. Other than that, the improved engine allowed for quick recoveries from knock-downs, more escapes from tackles and stuns, better juggling (as many old moves had changed parameters, allowing them to connect in combo-situations, where they wouldn't connect in previous games) and extra newly-created combo throws.

Tekken 3 was the first Tekken to feature a beat 'em up Streets of Rage style minigame called Tekken Force. Tekken Force pitted the player in various stages against enemies in a side-scrolling fashion. If the player succeeds in beating the minigame four times, Dr. Bosconovitch would be a playable character (granted that you defeat him first). This was continued in Tekken 4 and succeeded by the Devil Within minigame in Tekken 5 - but Boskonovitch was dropped as a playable character after Tekken 3. There is also a minigame called Tekken Ball, similar to beach volleyball, where one has to either "charge" a ball (hit the ball with a powerful attack - note: the attacks powerful enough to charge a ball were not always more damaging in a regular fight than the non-charging ones) to hurt the opponent.

[edit] Story

Set fifteen years after the King of the Iron Fist Tournament 2, the story starts with Jun Kazama, who has been living a quiet life in Yakushima with her young son, Jin, who is the son of Kazuya Mishima.

Heihachi Mishima, meanwhile, has established the Tekken Force, an organization dedicated to the protection of the Mishima Zaibatsu. Using the company's influence, Heihachi is responsible for many events that have ultimately led to world peace. However, while on an excavation in Mexico, a squadron of Heihachi's Tekken Force is attacked and vanquished by a mysterious being. The only surviving soldier manages to relay a brief message to Heihachi, describing the perpetrator as an "Ogre" or a "Fighting God". Heihachi and a team of soldiers investigate, with Heihachi managing to catch a glimpse of the culprit. After seeing the Ogre character, Heihachi's long dormant dream of world domination is reawakened. He seeks to capture Ogre to use him for this goal.

Soon after, various martial arts masters begin disappearing from all over the world, and Heihachi is convinced that this is Ogre's doing. In Yakushima, Jun starts to feel the presence of Ogre approaching her and Jin. Knowing that she has become a target, Jun tells Jin about Ogre, and instructs him to go straight to Heihachi should anything happen. Sometime after Jin's fifteenth birthday, Ogre does indeed attack. Against Jun's wishes, Jin valiantly tries to fight Ogre off, but Ogre brushes him aside and knocks him unconscious. When Jin reawakens, he finds that the house has been burned to the ground, and that his mother is missing and most likely dead.

Driven by revenge, Jin goes to Heihachi and tells him everything. Jin begs Heihachi to train him to become strong enough to face Ogre again. Heihachi accepts.

Three years later, Jin grows into an impressive fighter and master of Mishima Style Karate. On Jin's nineteenth birthday, the King of the Iron Fist Tournament 3 is announced, and Jin prepares for his upcoming battle against Ogre. He is unaware, however, that Heihachi is merely using him and the rest of the competitors as bait to lure Ogre out in order to capture him.

Eventually, the tournament leads to the final confrontation between Jin and Ogre. After being beaten in the first round, Ogre turns into a much more powerful "true" from, known to players as True Ogre. The battle rages for hours, until Jin finally emerges the victor and Ogre completely dissolves. Moments later, Jin is gunned down by a squadron of Tekken Forces led by Heihachi, who, no longer needing Jin, finishes the job personally by firing a final shot into his grandson's head.

However, Jin, revived by the Devil Gene within him (which he inherited from Kazuya), reawakens and makes quick work of the soldiers, turning his attention to Heihachi and literally smashing him through the wall of the temple. Heihachi survives the long fall, but Jin, in mid-air, sprouts black, feathery wings and strikes Heihachi one last time. He then flies off into the night, leaving his bewildered grandfather staring after him.

[edit] Character Roster

[edit] Returning Characters

• Paul Phoenix
• Nina Williams
• Yoshimitsu
• Lei Wulong
• Anna Williams (unlockable)
• Heihachi Mishima (unlockable)

[edit] New Characters

• King II
• Jin Kazama
• Ling Xiaoyu
• Hwoarang
• Eddy Gordo
• Forrest Law
• Kuma Jr. (unlockable)
• Panda (unlockable, acts as a costume change for Kuma)
• Julia Chang (unlockable)
• Bryan Fury (unlockable)
• Gun Jack (unlockable)
• Mokujin (unlockable)
• Ogre (unlockable)
• True Ogre (unlockable)
• Tiger (unlockable, Eddy Gordo's alter ego)

[edit] Bonus Characters (PlayStation version)

• Gon (unlockable)
• Dr. Boskonovitch (unlockable)

[edit] Ports

Tekken 3 was originally ported to the PlayStation with two new characters - Gon and Dr. Boskonovich. Anna also suffered a rehash, giving her custom character select spot with unique portrait, voice, stance, few new moves (as well as her moves from Tekken 1 and 2, some of which were given to Ogre) and custom ending - compared of her being a model-swap of Nina in Arcade version. Still, she reused a lot of Nina's strikes and throws, making her a complete unique character only in Tekken 5.

The PlayStation version features new Tekken Force and Tekken Ball modes, as well as all modes present in Tekken 2. Due to PSX hardware limitations, in order for the game to run, the backgrounds needed to be transferred into 2D, the character poly-count was reduced, as well as the texture resolution. Also many animation frames were cut and the game ran at lower overall resolution.

The ability to play Tekken 3 on the Sega Dreamcast is via the Bleemcast emulator, which improves the graphics, not without minor glitches in some of the titles and cinema scenes. However, Bleemcast closed business before the enhanced Tekken 3 was released.^[2]

The PlayStation 2 release of Tekken 5 features the Arcade version of Tekken 3.^[3]

[edit] Reception

Tekken 3 became the first game in three years to receive a 10 from a reviewer from Electronic Gaming Monthly, with three of the four reviewers giving it the highest possible score (Tekken 3 was the first game to score a 10 under EGM's revised review scale in that a game no longer needed to be "perfect" to receive a 10; the last game to receive a 10 from the magazine was Sonic & Knuckles). The only holdout was the magazine's enigmatic fighting game review guru, Sushi-X, who said that "no game that rewards newbies for button-mashing will ever be tops in my book", giving the game 9 out of 10. In December 2006 it was ranked tenth on GameSpot's top ten list. In September 2004 it ranked #10 on PSM's "Final PlayStation Top 10". As of November 2008, the game is listed as the tenth-highest-rated game of all time on the review compiling site Game Rankings with an average ratio of 95.8%.^[4]

[edit] Reviews

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Tekken 3 at MobyGames
• Tekken 3 for PlayStation at GameSpot.com
• Tekken 3 for Arcade Games at GameSpot.com