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The arcade fire
Tekken 5 gets found in translation
BY MITCH KRPATA

Game publishers take note: this is how you can charge 50 bucks for a video game and get away with it. The home edition of Namco's arcade fighter Tekken 5 is packed with so many added features, goodies, and unlockables that it almost feels like a steal.

Not that all of the features are fantastic in and of themselves. Included is an action-adventure game called Devil Within, which features Tekken regular Jin Kazama; although 3-D, the game is a throwback to side-scrolling beat-'em-ups like Double Dragon and Streets of Rage. In Devil Within, Jin prowls bland industrial corridors fighting hordes of JACKs and other assorted androids. Although the level design is rudimentary, the art bland, and the looping electronic soundtrack like a Daft Punk wet dream, there is a kind of Zen purity in beating the holy hell out of a bunch of jump-kicking robots. Devil Within is a great way to blow off some steam from the rigors of Tekken 5 proper, and the sort of thing you'll work your way through without realizing you've put any effort into it.

As Ron Popeil might say, "But wait – there's more!" In an inspired move, Namco has also thrown in arcade-perfect versions of Tekken, Tekken 2, and Tekken 3. All are accessible right from the start – none of that "unlocking" malarkey here. It's fascinating to watch the series evolve from the standpoints of both technology and gameplay. With each iteration, the AI sharpens, the game mechanics deepen, and the graphics smooth out.

There's one other game in the "Arcade History" menu that does have to be unlocked – Namco's 1991 space shooter Starblade. Starblade is not a good game – at least, not when you're playing with a control pad instead of in a spaceship-shaped arcade cabinet – but it does display several polygons at a time. As a historical document, it's priceless. (For some reason, the first thing that loads when you boot up the Tekken 5 disc is a brief, playable snippet of the game.)

Veterans of the PlayStation Tekken scene will also not be surprised by Tekken 5's story mode. Each character is given a text intro read by a man with an unidentifiable dialect who appears not to have read the script beforehand (judging by the way each new word seems to bewilder him). He does, however, gamely attempt to alter his voice whenever reading a character's dialogue, and ends up sounding like a children's-show host. Each character is given a unique in-game cutscene at certain points during the King of Iron Fist tournament, and then a pre-rendered ending sequence. Metal Gear it ain't, but again, it's the effort that counts.

That's the sizzle – what about the steak? Namco claims the fighting engine is "brand new," but it's instantly familiar. The controls are mapped to the four main Dual Shock buttons, one button for each hand and foot. Special moves are accomplished by pressing fairly rudimentary directional and button combinations (it is sometimes difficult to hit, for example, the circle and square buttons simultaneously, but that's a gamepad for you). Sounds simple, and to an extent it is, but this is an incredibly rich fighting experience. Fully nine pages of Tekken 5's instruction manual are devoted to "basic maneuvers."

Tekken is not, and has never been, a mindless button-masher. It's an elegant and subtle game – at least, as elegant and subtle as a game can be that features a man with the head of a cheetah performing a pile-driver on a samurai wearing full body armor. Tekken 5 requires timing and strategy, not rote input of bizarre button sequences. The differences between characters extend to all facets of their fighting style, from their most devastating maneuvers to how they punch from a standing position. I can't even imagine how long it would take to fully master Tekken 5, particularly with its myriad unlockable characters (the boxing kangaroo is back, baby!).

Tekken and Virtua Fighter have been jostling for the crown of 3-D fighters for a decade now, and with this release the advantage goes once again to Tekken. Between its gorgeous, multi-faceted presentation and its superb gameplay, what's not to love?

Score: 8.5 (out of 10)


Issue Date: March 18 - 24, 2005
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