PlayStation Holiday Preview ‘09 – Tekken 6

Being the huge Tekken fanatics that we are, it was no surprise that we spent the better part of our time at the PlayStation Holiday Preview Event seated in front of Namco Bandai’s Tekken 6. Despite being heavily involved in the arcade scene for previous releases of Tekken, we had yet to try Tekken 6 due to its very limited North American arcade release, so the entire experience was new to us. However, it wasn’t long before we were modifying our strategies to incorporate new moves and learning the new properties of old favourites. We even managed to take a few notes!

The first thing we noticed is how great Tekken 6 looked running on the PlayStation 3. We’ve sunk hundreds of hours into the PlayStation Store release of Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, which is a great looking game in its own right, and were expecting only a marginal leap in graphically quality. Instead, we were treated to to a blazing fast visual feast, running at what seemed like 60 frames per second in 720p. The character textures saw a great deal of improvement, with each character featuring more realistic facial expressions and more believable clothing, and the environments are quite breathtaking. There was one level in which I kept getting distracted during the fight as fighter jets would fly over us, causing the air to distort and ripple with the heat of their afterburners. But no need to worry, GameNorthians, as I still managed to win that fight.

The environments themselves are more interactive now as well. Some levels feature multiple tiers, similar to those found in the Dead or Alive franchise (I know, I know, this comparison is blasphemous!), but in our experience, can only be accessed by smashing your opponent against the floor with exceptional force. When the floor collapses, both fighters will tumble to the tier below, but the victim of the original attack will still be at a disadvantage, taking more damage from the fall and being prone to Bound.

The Bound System is a new addition to the Tekken 6 that sees opponents bounce slightly after hitting the ground. This bounce gives skilled players a chance to lift their opponent back off the ground with miniature juggles, leading to more damage. When we first heard of the Bound System, we were worried that it would be too abusive, and although we haven’t spent enough time with the game to learn how to take advantage of it properly, our fears were absolved. Juggling damage (damage done to an opponent while they are in the air, for those that haven’t dropped a million quarters into Tekken machines) has been greatly reduced, leading to a less effective juggling game overall. This was a nice discovery, as it means that getting juggled twice by Bryan was no longer an automatic loss, but it does force players to take advantage of the Bound System during their juggles if they wish to make the most of their opponents’ mistakes. The Bound System also has great potential for carrying opponents to the wall on walled levels, which could be a problem in its own right. Time spent obsessing over impossible combos and frame data will tell.

Another new addition to Tekken 6 is the Rage System. The Rage System kicks in when your character’s face gets kicked in, dropping them to below 5% of their starting health total. When a character enters Rage, they begin glowing red and benefit from a boost of attack power. Like the Bound System, we were uneasy about the addition of the Rage System in our beloved franchise, but soon discovered that it rarely became a factor. We engaged in several dozen matches over the course of the afternoon, and only two of the many rounds were won as a result of Rage. It still seems a little unnecessary, but it forces the dominant player in a given match to play more intelligently. Will another juggle finish them off or leave them in Rage? Perhaps you should poke them a bit more first. Furthermore, the Rage system is functionally identical to the Netsu Power system found in Tekken Tag Tournament, save for the Rage System’s signature red glow. Those that are worried about the Rage system need only recall that Tekken Tag Tournament was considered one of the most balanced fighting games of its time, and perhaps the most balanced release in the Tekken franchise.

But enough about the system, the cornerstone of every fighting game lies within its cast of characters, and Tekken 6 certainly has that covered. When we launched the game to engage in our first versus match, we were greeted with a character selection screen that featured more than forty characters to choose from. The number of characters were so overwhelming that we had difficulty finding our favourites at first. Old favourites, such as Armor King and Baek Doo San (my arch-nemesis) have returned, as well as six new characters: Alisa Bosconovitch, Bob, Lars Alexandersson, Leo, Miguel Caballero Rojo, and Zafina. Alisa is the robotic daughter of Dr. Bosconovitch, Bob is quite literally the largest Karate master in the world, Lars appears to have mysterious ties with the Mishima Zaibatsu (but who doesn’t these days), Leo seems beginner-friendly and is, much to my surprise, actually a girl, Miguel is a bull-fighter that looks like he’s seen better days, and Zafina is just plain creepy. Seriously, just fighting her made me uncomfortable, and she gave me a vibe similar to Voldo from Soul Calibur.

All of these characters are fully customizable, and the customization options are much more extensive than those found in Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection. When we entered the character customization screen for Nina Williams, we were given the opportunity to customize several slots, including clothing for her torso, legs, feet, individual arms, hands, head wear, masks and facial wear, four different hair slots (front, back, left side and right side), auras, and even Rage colours. Better yet, Namco Bandai included a preview option for purchases, which will help us spend our hard-earned money more wisely than we did in Dark Resurrection. As with the rest of the game, the customizations looked great, and unlike some of the items found in Tekken 5, were seamlessly integrated with the character model.

And the fastest way to earn some scratch for these items is Scenario Campaign, the console-exclusive adventure mode found in Tekken 6. We spent some time with it at the Holiday Preview Event, and it was pretty much what you’d expect: an updated version of the Tekken Force modes found in previous Tekken games. You run around in the three-dimensional environment and get attacked by wave after wave of generic bad guys, just like any other self-respecting beat-’em-up. Namco Bandai went out of their way to make Scenario Campaign a little more involved, however, by adding a detailed story, beautiful cinematics, and, of course, online co-operative play. That’s right, you can now clean up the mean streets of the Tekken universe with a friend online, and earn truckloads of cash for customizations in the process.

When we first read about Tekken 6, we were admittedly apprehensive. Tekken resembles the winning formula of gameplay and character design for many hardcore fighting game enthusiasts, and with each change made to that formula, Namco Bandai risks losing the delicate balance that makes it so great. However, with each release, the masters at Namco Bandai prove time and time again that the series is in good hands (let’s not talk about Tekken 4). And with the console release of Tekken 6 just around the corner, we can’t wait to return to the King of the Iron Fist Tournament.