Tekken (series)

is a series of fighting games developed and published by Namco. Originally an arcade game, versions exist for the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, WonderSwan, and Game Boy Advance.

Information

The "Tekken" series is one of the earliest 3D fighting game franchises, with the first game releasing less than two years after "Virtua Fighter". There are six "Tekken" sequel games: "Tekken 2", "Tekken 3", "Tekken Tag Tournament", "Tekken 4", "Tekken 5" and "Tekken 6". An update of "Tekken 5", titled "", has also been released, and "Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion", an update of "Tekken 6", has been announced.

The "Tekken" series also includes "Tekken Advance", (a GBA version of "Tekken 3") which was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2001. However, Namco did not release any other Game Boy "Tekken" titles subsequently, due to the franchise's exclusive deal on the PlayStation platform. A PSP version of "Tekken 5" retitled "", was released in Japan and the U.S. in summer 2006. The European version was released September 15, 2006. . Tekken Cart was also released on the hand held Wonderswan.

As with many fighting games, players choose a character from a lineup, and engage in hand-to-hand combat with an opponent. It is primarily a competitive two player series, but a human player can fight an AI-controlled character for practice or amusement.

In the original "Tekken" game, the characters would fight on arenas. The name of the location was displayed in the bottom right corner of the screen. The locations included Angkor Wat, Szechwan, Monument Valley, Chicago, Kyoto, Fiji, Lake Windermere, Venezia, Akropolis, King George Island, and Chiba Marine Stadium. Subsequent "Tekken" games do not have the names of real locations displayed in-game during fights.

"Tekken" differs from other hand-to-hand fighting games in some ways. Traditional fighting games are usually played with buttons which correspond to the strength of the attack, such as strong punch or weak kick. "Tekken", however, dedicates a button to each limb of the fighter, making learning special attacks more of an intuitive process. The player could watch the animation on screen and figure out the appropriate command (if the character kicks low with their right leg, the move is likely to be executed by pressing down and right kick, or a similar variation). Traditional fighting games, such as "Street Fighter", involve inputting commands as rapidly and accurately as possible, whereas "Tekken" slows the action down, emphasizing rhythm, strategy, and deception over speed.

The "Tekken" games are popular within the martial arts community thanks primarily to the fact that most of the characters' fighting techniques can be found in real life martial arts. However, there are questions as to the accuracy of the style labels ascribed to certain characters. For example, in previous releases of the game, the character Paul Phoenix is listed accurately as fighting using integrated martial arts based on judo, despite judo not generally allowing punching and kicking, especially in competition. Similarly, the character Marshall Law is listed as being a practitioner of "martial arts", which is not a specific discipline. Similarities exist between Marshall Law and Bruce Lee, including Jeet Kune Do as well as appearance. The misunderstanding concerning Marshall Law's "martial arts" is commonly attributed to the fact that in the manual for the American PlayStation release of "Tekken 2", the translator for the manual missed a small pun where Marshall Law practiced 'Marshall arts', a reference to his own name. Other "Tekken" characters also draw heavily from real life action heroes, such as Lei Wulong and Craig Marduk, video game analogues of Jackie Chan, and large wrestlers/mixed martial artists, such as Bill Goldberg, Nathan Jones, and Bob Sapp, respectively. Namco themselves have stated that the styles in "Tekken" are not supposed to accurately represent real styles, but merely give the impression of them. Paul Phoenix, Nina Williams, Yoshimitsu and Heihachi Mishima have been in all "Tekken" games.

Apart from Yoshimitsu and Heihachi Mishima, there are many crossovers between "Tekken" and the "Soul" series, such as King's mask available for custom characters in "Soulcalibur III", and Ivy's hairstyle for Anna in "Tekken 5". Yoshimitsu and Heihachi, being originally "Tekken" characters, obtained many new moves when brought to the "Soul" series. In later "Tekken" games, some of these attacks were added to their moves lists.

Gameplay

The "Tekken" series uses separate buttons for right and left limbs, resulting in four buttons, while most other 3D fighting games used two buttons. Other trademarks include throw escapes, and starting from "Tekken 2", autoblock. Each iteration was improved upon both graphically and technically. "Tekken 3" introduced the ability to move into the foreground or away from the background, commonly referred to as "sidestepping." Also, "Tekken 3" reduced recovery time after being knocked down then previous games and each game afterwards include rolls to recover instantly after hitting the ground; allowing the player to get back into the fight instead of pounding buttons. "Tekken 4" gave characters even greater mobility by adding true 3D movement while simultaneously including geometrically complex arenas with unleveled ground, obstacles, and walls. This differed from previous "Tekken" games, where all of the arenas were level and contained no boundaries, meaning the player could walk forward or backward without limit. "Tekken 5" saw the return of both walled and infinite arenas, with the fluid mobility of "Tekken 4" being toned down to appease many players who felt it made the game more focused on evasion. "Tekken Tag Tournament", released between "Tekken 3" and "Tekken 4", is not a part of the "Tekken" storyline. The game allowed each player to control one of the two selected fighters, who could be tagged in and out of the fight by the additional fifth button, which can be used for tag team attacks and juggles, amongst other tactics. Otherwise, "Tag Tournament" used much of the "Tekken 3" gameplay engine and reintroduced characters who weren't available since "Tekken 2".

Rounds

By default, there are two rounds of combat. However, the players have a choice from one to five rounds, as well as options for the time limit of each round. If the winning character retains all his or her health without the time limit expiring, the announcer will call, "Perfect!" If the winning character is near knock out, the announcer will call, "Great!" It is possible that both characters can be knocked out simultaneously, and the announcer will call "Double K.O." If the time limit for the round expires, the character with more health will be declared the winner. If both players have equal health remaining, the round will be a draw. In other cases, the announcer will call "K.O." when one character is triumphant.

Characters

"Tekken" is notable and praised for depicting its characters with visual flair and style. Players can choose from a diverse cast that hails from a variety of ethnic backgrounds and fighting styles. Many characters have supernatural origin, such as Devil, while others like Roger Jr. and Kuma provide comic relief. In the story mode of the game, each character generally has their own personal reasons for entering the tournament and competing for the prize. When a player selects a character, completion of the game would assume that particular character won the tournament and their ending is shown, hence there are multiple endings depending on which character is chosen by the player. The plot of subsequent games in the series, however, assumes only one of the endings to be correct. The overarching plot of the series revolves around the Mishima family (Heihachi, Kazuya, Jin and most recently Jinpachi), who together are the only characters to host and win the tournaments canonically in the series so far.

Appearances in other media

* "", a two-part OVA series, was released in 1998.
* The "Young and Dangerous" series features scenes where the cast plays "Tekken 3".
* The film "Kuen sun" (a.k.a. "The Avenging Fist") is loosely based on the "Tekken" storyline.
* Charles Stone III is directing a live-action movie tentatively titled "Tekken", which is said to only be loosely based on the "Tekken" series.
* "Tekken Forever", a comic book published by Image Comics in December 2001 features a story that focused on the Kazama family and also the Unknown character from "Tekken Tag Tournament". The comic only has one issue, with no reason given for the comic's cancellation.
* Characters and settings from the series appear in the collectible card game Epic Battles by Score Entertainment.
* On "Comedy Central Presents", Comedian Dane Cook makes a reference to Eddy Gordo, a playable character in "Tekken", in a skit where he tells a story about the first time he had seen someone get hit by a car.
*Johnny Storm and Benjamin Grimm are shown playing Tekken 5 in issue 33 of Ultimate Fantastic Four. When Ben asks Johnny about an explosion that just occurred in their building, Johnny replies by saying, "Who cares? I finally mastered that face-kick thing."
* An episode of the British TV show "Spaced" features a scene where the two main characters have an argument, their verbal sparring mirrored by a fight between Nina Williams and Paul Phoenix, ending with Daisy winning the argument, the "Tekken" announcer voice saying "Daisy Steiner wins" and Daisy imitating Nina Williams win pose.
* In the video for the Blind Guardian song, "Mirror, Mirror" for a few seconds, footage from it can be seen.
* In the film "Shaun of the Dead", a character mentions "staying up all night playing "Tekken 2"."
* In an episode of "Room 401", "Tekken 3" can be seen in the background.
* In a sketch on "Saturday Night Live" where Sully (Jimmy Fallon) and Johnny (Ben Affleck) fight over Zazu (Rachel Dratch), Johnny tries to convince Sully that they have gone through too much to let a girl break up their friendship and reminds Sully about the time they "broke into the arcade and played "Tekken" until four-in-the-morning."
* In an episode of "Grounded for Life", Brad O'Keefe, the next door neighbor of the Finerty, has a new PS2 and mentioned having "Tekken Tag Tournament", which the youngest son, Henry, has exclaimed, " Brad's got Tekken Tag Tournament, why can't we play?"
* A live-action "Tekken" film is in the works, due for release for 2009. Production is expected to start in February. [ [http://imdb.com/title/tt0411951/ Tekken (2009) ] ] According to lafilms.org, it will be filmed in Louisiana. Luke Goss has been officially cast as Steve Fox. For this article, see Tekken (2009).
* Mokujin (or a whole lot of them) made a cameo appearance in the manga Mahou Sensei Negima. In one of the ending songs of the Negima! anime, one of the characters made a reference to Tekken.
* In the movie Drillbit Taylor the main characters play Tekken 5 to prepare for a fight with a bully.
* In the music video Picha Pie by Filipino band Parokya ni Edgar, the fight scene parodies Tekken, in a comical manner.

Developers' opinions

Developers of non-"Tekken" games have commented on the series.
* Ed Boon, the co-creator of "Mortal Kombat", revealed in one of his interviews with GameDaily that his favorite fighting game is "Tekken", and he likes to play it in his free time. [Dawson, Bryon (2006-06-26). [http://www.gamedaily.com/games/mortal-kombat-armageddon/playstation-2/game-features/interview-ed-boon/4964/1044/ Interview: Ed Boon] . GameDaily. Retrieved on 2008-09-04]
* In contrast, Tomonobu Itagaki, creator of the "Dead or Alive" series, has repeatedly criticized the series, calling it an annoyance and, in particular, stating that "Tekken 4" is a piece of shit". [ [http://archive.gamespy.com/previews/august01/doa3/index3.shtm Preview: Dead or Alive 3] . GameSpy. Retrieved on 2008-09-04] He also stated at a later time "Tekken sucks. I don't know what you're talking about" when asked about an upcoming "Tekken 6" game. [Fahey, Mike (2007-08-02). [http://kotaku.com/gaming/from-the-mouth-of-babes/itagaki-+-tekken-sucks-285305.php From The Mouth of Babes: Itagaki - Tekken Sucks] . Kotaku. Retrieved on 2008-09-04] [CVG staff (2007-08-02). [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=169415 "Tekken sucks" says Itagaki] . Computer and Video Games. Retrieved on 2008-09-04]
* Both Sega and Namco have shown interest in a possible crossover between "Virtua Fighter" and "Tekken". [Dunham, Jeremy (2007-02-21). [http://ps3.ign.com/articles/766/766622p1.html Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection Interview] . IGN. Retrieved on 2008-09-04]

ee also

* ""
* "Tekken (2009)

References

External links

* [http://www.tekken.com/ Official English "Tekken" website]
* [http://www.tekken-official.jp Tekken Official Website]
* [http://www.tekkenpedia.com Tekkenpedia]