Tekken 4
- September 23, 2002 16:19 PM PST
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Namco has taken its time in bringing out Tekken 4, but faithful fans won?t be disappointed with the result.
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The People?s Fighter
Tekken has always been extremely accessible to novices and button mashers while making experts work especially hard to try to dominate. This has created a unique experience where anyone can suffer an upset under the right circumstances. For better or worse, the addition of interactive walls to the arenas and subtle character balancing has shifted the edge, ever so slightly mind you, toward the elite. Juggle combos have been toned down in quantity and power due to the extra damage and stun effects walls provide. This takes some adjustment, but a few matches will get you up to speed. Each fighter has been balanced based on previous mismatches. For instance, Nina?s speed has been toned down a notch as has Paul and Brian?s power. For the most part, characters have received very few new attacks, while others like Jin had some re-fashioned or taken away outright. It?s all in the name of giving each brawler a fair shake, and thankfully the results aren?t as jarring as it sounds.
A Smooth Transition
Every visual detail found in the arcade version has been faithfully translated to the PlayStation 2 version. While the environments don?t quite match up to today?s highly competitive standards, the characters themselves fare far better. All the combatants look sharp and more detailed despite the fact that they?re made up of fewer polygons than in Tekken Tag Tournament. Although Virtua Fighter 4 has the advantage in most graphical categories, Tekken does not suffer from the dreaded ?jaggies,? making its overall presentation look cleaner. Clothes move in a convincing fashion, and there is even select flexing in muscles during attacks. More importantly, the animations of moves are much smoother than before, making combos look graceful and less thrown together. It?s still done in an over-the-top fashion, so don?t expect assaults normal humans are capable of.
The audio in Tekken 4 is the best the series has yet pumped out, especially the thumping soundtrack. The same trademark bone-crunching sound effects haven?t been tweaked much, but they were first rate to begin with. There?s also a lot more dialogue due to the extended story endings, and all of it is well done. The vocals help to expand the mysteries behind the convoluted plot.
School?s Out
Virtua Fighter 4?s in-depth tutorials and loaded feature set took a page right out of Tekken?s own book of ?things that delight gamers.? While the return of Force mode is nice and extended endings fill in lots of past plot holes, there does seem to be something missing. A training mode is included, but it?s the same basic practice session seen countless times before. The overall cast is smaller with fewer secret characters, although a level playing field is worth sacrificing fluff. Even so, the end effect is that you don?t have as much incentive to play the game with more than one character repeatedly, dimishing the overall value.
King of the Iron Hill
The competition among PS2 fighting games this year is fierce, and Namco?s champ has lost a few steps. There?s just a lot less to unlock and explore gameplay-wise compared to the competition, a fact that may leave players hungry for more. VF4 was a monumental leap forward for Sega?s series and it certainly wins out in the final point totals, but arguably this is an apples to oranges comparison. Gamers craving Tekken?s particular style of hard knocks will still greatly enjoy this latest installment?s fancy visuals and visceral combat. No other fighter plays quite like Tekken 4, and the changes to the play mechanics are not so overt as to alienate the faithful.
