Game REVIEWS

unWIRED Rating:

Tekken 6 Review

Developer: Namco Bandai Games America
Platform: Xbox 360, PS3, PSP
Category:Fighting
Available Now

An old favorite returns. Tekken 6 was never as big as Street Fighter, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good. Tekken 6 forgoes special moves and supers in favor of a more (mostly) realistic approach to fighting. I say mostly because among real martial arts like Sambo and traditional Karate, there are some fighting styles that are more or less based on different styles. However, fans of this game have fallen in love with its quirkiness. Tekken has tried to have a story. It was good for a while, then took a turn for the indecipherable and hasn’t come back. Fighting robots are common, old dudes beat people down, a family tree’s infighting has resulted in world war, and people just feel like fighting to solve their problems. Everyone has their reasons to fight, some a little less ridiculous than others. The graphics are very well done, but they won’t blow you away by any means. Other than the characters, which look the best they ever have, everything else is around average for nowadays.

This outing has the biggest roster of any Tekken ever. Every Tekken Character from previous series (except Gon Tekken 3 exclusive) appears in this titles as well as new faces bringing the total character roster to 42 playable characters. All the characters are somewhat well balanced, with no character so ridiculously over powered that they feel cheap. Everything is just right in terms of characters. With the exception of maybe one capoeira fighting duo, there are no copy characters. Some have a real fighting technique, and others are crazy; it’s a fun mix. It has approachability for newcomers, as button mashing can win you a few matches. For those who go down the rabbit hole, there is a complex system of juggles and parries that allow gamers that put in the time to master a character; there are enough to keep you busy mastering them all.

The Scenario Campaign is a side scrolling beat ‘em up with the Tekken engine (here, the depth is gone). You’ll use the most effective combos over and over again with the camera fighting you the whole way. It’s a distraction to the actual fighting and the makers of the game made it so you pretty much have to play it to earn money for the unlockables. It’s the easiest way, but it’s not very good. There are an enormous amount of unlockables: alternate costumes, colors, weapons, equipment, hairstyles, and accessories. Those with OCD (for those who don’t know what OCD stands for: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) will find themselves extremely busy.

The online is a letdown. Lagging is a major issue, to the point that juggles are near impossible and commands show up a few seconds after they are inputted. With Street Fighter 4 and others having little to no lag; it’s a shame to see such a big title succumb to it. It’s not unplayable, but some matches will come down to pure luck. Luckily Bandai Namco games have announced a patch that will be released soon to fix this problem. So stay tuned, when we update the review with the patch.

Tekken 6 is a good fighting game with the same tried and true Tekken mechanics. The story is still there, but it doesn’t look like it’ll make sense any time soon. Getting some buddies for an all night Tekken grudge match-athon is still quite the entertaining way to burn a night, but some unnecessary lag issues, a not quite good Scenario, and load times that range in the 10-20 second range each match (sometimes longer) really bring a great game down.

** Written by Mark Marquez