It sure seemed like an incredibly long wait for a game many have been able to play at arcades for more than a year.
But gamers can now play "Tekken 6" in the comfort of their home with the release of this popular fighting game on PlayStation 3 and, for the first time, on the Xbox 360.
This T-rated game brings the return of more than 40 familiar characters, along with a few new faces.
The game play is quite similar to previous "Tekken" titles. You can play like someone who knows what they are doing by pressing a specific pattern of buttons, or you can be one of those players who mashes down on any combination of buttons to unleash a fighter’s special moves.
In an attempt to add some variety to the game, Namco added a Scenario Campaign story mode. This takes the characters out of the fighting ring and puts them into a side-scrolling fighting adventure. Although it was an admirable attempt, I found this new feature boring. It only reinforced my feeling that this game should simply stick to its strength: the fighting. I’m sure most will agree.
For single players, you’ll find familiar fighting modes, such as Arcade, Time Trial, Practice and Survival. But you’ll also find the Ghost mode, where a player fights against a steady stream of artificial-intelligence opponents, or ghosts, that possess different skill levels. This new mode greatly enhanced the single-player fighting experience, bringing bigger challenges and variety to the matches.
The online play against other players isn’t that bad either, although pretty standard.
The graphics are a step up from previous versions. The fighters move fluidly, and the addition of breakable floors adds a nice visual to the game.
My only real gripe about the game concerns its load screens. It seems to have more than any other "Tekken" game I’ve played. And theirs aren’t short, either.
Overall, if you are a fan of the "Tekken" series, you’ll definitely want to pick up this title.
Platforms: PlayStation 3 (tested), Xbox 360
On the Web: www.tekken.namco.com
