Been a while since I’ve done a review, and I thought I would make this review on a game that I was blessed playing back when I was a kid. This game didn’t seem as much back in the day, heck I didn’t even knew it was popular until I saw the third installment in a demo disc and to know it’s still going strong is an accomplishment knowing it’s been ongoing since 1996 (I think?). This game was one of my original PlayStation 1 collections and I am happy to write a review on this classic. This is Tekken for the PlayStation.

Story: 7

Billionaire Heihachi Mishima has created “The King of Iron First” (Tekken) with a huge some of prize money which is backed by his own company “Mishima Zaibatsu”. Competitors will fight against each other to reach the finals where they face the promoter of the event, with each having a story and motivation behind entering the tournament.

For the canon story. His son, Kazuya Mishima wants revenge on his father for throwing him off a cliff at the age of five and plans for a Coup d’etat on a worldwide scale. He would do anything to take his revenge on his own father and take over the company. This is what I got from reading the manual. A not too complicated and somewhat cliche story of son wanting revenge but a 7 would do.

Graphics: 6

The graphics of the game aren’t the best, even for 1995. Virtua fighter 2 and some other early 3D games surpass the graphical capabilities of which this lacks. I mean by no means this game isn’t bad to look at but you can clearly see the polygons and sharp edges of the character models and designs. The stages are beautiful though for its time like necropolis, Chicago and Fiji. A total of 11 stages are present in the game and each one has its own unique theme and personality to say the least. I would say since this is the first game of the series and fighting games are just stepping into the realm of 3-D it’ll be given some slack for its graphical appeal.

Gameplay: 7

You have a choice of 8 fighters with each of their own fighting style and combos to master. An additional 10 characters are unlockables through playing and winning with each character tho most are just reskins of the original 8 characters. The buttons aren’t a traditional 6 button layout like other fighting games. Each button constitutes a limb of their body (left hand, right hand, left leg, right leg) which may seem odd at first but very adaptable. The frame rate is what makes it a bit lackluster with 30 frames per second, it’s quite a slow fighting game to say the least. Most fights are also barebones which makes this feel like what other have used the phrase “a tech demo” and I wouldn’t blame them. For me personally, a character that I love using as a kid was Yoshimitsu, a samurai who uses a sword and spins to hit opponents. Overall though, a 7 should be decent enough for this rating.

Music: 9

I love the music of the game. The upbeat tone of Fiji to the winter tone of King Charles island. I would personally would listen to this as video game music on the go if I was into that type of thing. It’s really one of the best part of the game, and yes even the scratchy tones of Chicago and wind noises from monument valley. I recommend listening to the soundtrack and it deserves a 9 at least.

Depth: 5

A very barebones fighting as I stated earlier. It’s the first game so it’s understandable on how to make it work and how to appeal to the general audience.

One consolation is the combos and moves. Each player has their own set of difficulty to master their moves and each comes with a 10 hit combo that is devastating to the opponent if it connects. It is the beginning of a complicated play-style that doesn’t change, but rather evolves for each new entry of the series. This is what makes the game a bit more interesting in terms of depth but it doesn’t make up on how little it offers. A 5 is suited well enough.

Addictive: 8

Game is addicting. Even with its little to offer content, it is still fun to play once in a while, especially when playing against friends or other people on the console. I spent so many hours playing the game when I owned it and not once had I felt bored playing it. An 8 is justified for this.

Difficulty: 7

Game does has a difficulty setting to which you can choose how easy or hard you want to challenge yourself but I’ll leave this on normal. Difficulty of the game isn’t bad until the later levels where the cpu is able to “read” your moves and counter you with a few hits. Not once do I find this cheap against normal opponents and more so like “oh dang I knew I should’ve hit under” so it does give a bit of a challenge. One issue is the final boss which I do find cheap but not by reading inputs but by how hard he hits and able to counter almost anything that you throw at him. I wasted hours on end just to beat him and it’s so satisfying to finally beat him and not touch the game for the rest of the day.

Conclusion:

Being the first of the series it lacked so much what later games would offer but it sold so well and received favorable ratings. Being the first tekken game I played I was impressed at how it was back in the days but as time went on I got into tekken 3 then tekken 5 and learned how much this game evolved and become one of the best fighting game series to be developed. For the review I would give it a

My rating : 8.3/10

Review : 7/10

becerra95: Interesting seems like this game is similar to the popular street fighter series. Sounds like the main bad guy is similar to a M. Bison in Street Fighter. I have never played Tekken but a lot of my friends did. I remember it being a popular series back in the day.

I will always remember owning this disc. Everytime you loaded it up, a round of Space Invaders loaded first for you to play as the main game was being prepared. I don't remember just how many times I actually loaded the game for that instead of for Tekken itself when I was a kid xD

I will agree that it lacked a few things, but the first game of every series/franchise is like this. The lack of experience in the genre, the lack of a signature style, the introduction of different mechanics to stand out from the competition... And back then, the will to become a revolution in the genre with the ever-increasing technology we saw during the 90s. Still, like you said, it sold very well and the people loved it, to the point it has outclassed almost all other series of the genre.

As for the review itself, I find it very detailed and structured. It's also very complete, with in depth information for all aspects of the game, leaving almost nothing out of mention. And the fact you kept your own style throughout it is very welcome, it truly feels like a becky post

EX Palen : You know I totally forgot to mention galaga on the loading screen and such. I mean it’s fun no lie, especially since there’s a bonus if you clear all stages perfectly you unlock Devil (Kazuya skin) to play on the game modes. Not gonna lie I never been able to hit perfect on all stages