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Playstation | Fighting | Tekken 3 | Review

There is no Boxart for - Tekken 3
  • GRAPHICS: 5.0
  • SOUND: 5.0
  • CONTROL: 5.0
  • FUN FACTOR 5.0
  • AVG USER SCORE 4.8
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 4.9
Winner of the GamePro Editor's Choice Award

Review: Tekken 3

Review by SCARYLARRY | 11/24/2000 | 14:47:41 PM PST

{There's no arguing that other games will try to topple Tekken 3, but that's a tall order to fill. Trust us - Tekken 3 is the best fighting game ever.} {Namco did an amazing job of keeping the arcade-style graphics intact on this home conversion. The graphics will stun you with their fluidity and speed, from the opening cinemas to the movie-like character endings.} {Excellent heart-thumping music complements the face-smacking, rib-cracking, crystal-clear sound effects. Other sonic nuances, like character grunts and yelps, also raise the bar.} {As in any great fighting game, the moves and combos have to be studied-and a little practice will make near perfect in Tekken 3. But for novice players, even rabid button-mashing produces some spectacular results.} {Tekken 3 is the standard by which all other fighting games will be judged this year. It's simply the best fighting game out there, with plenty of depth, more moves than you'll learn in one sitting, and hours of enjoyment for fighting-game fans everywhere.}

Every fighting game this year will be compared to the champion of all fighting games-Tekken 3. Now that we've seen what Tekken 3 can do, the question is: What can surpass it?

Tekken 3 is without a doubt the fastest, deepest, most intricate fighting game we've seen for the PlayStation. In order to outshine Tekken 3, a game will need to have a ton of moves (T3 has over 100 per character), multi-hit combos (all T3 fighters can pull off 10-hitters), outstanding graphics (T3 has no breakup on the fighters, no "blind spots" where clipping occurs, and no slowdown), and seamless gameplay that includes juggles, counters, and linking moves.

So far, nothing comes close. First off, Tekken 3 has such a vast array of special and regular moves that it's impossible to pull them all off in a single match. You could play through the entire game as one character and still not see all they have to offer. To augment T3's replayability, Namco threw in some exciting extras not found in the arcade version, like the Tekken Force mode, the Beach Ball mode, and an extensive and truly helpful Practice mode.

The Tekken Force mode plays a lot like the game Fighting Force: First, you select a character, then battle your way through an army of bad guys, street thugs, and hoodlums ? la the beat-em-up game Streets of Rage. At the end of each level, you'll face off against another Tekken 3 fighter as you grind your way to the finish.

The Beach Ball mode is a funny fighting game that plays like aggressive volleyball. You fight over a net line painted on the ground, while a beach ball floats overhead. If you smack the ball and the ball in turn hits your unguarded opponent, you score.

Tekken 3's Practice mode is one of the best we've seen in a fighting game. You can set the hit registers for three-, four-, or six-hit combos, track moves, and play against the computer (which does moves based on a menu selection) or a live player. The PM is perfect for beginners, and it will certainly help Tekken 3's intermediate fans become experts.

There's no arguing that other games will try to topple Tekken 3, but that's a tall order to fill. Trust us-Tekken 3 is the best fighting game ever.