Tekken 5: Taking Back the Crown

Overall: 9
Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 9
Sound: 10
Replay Value: 9

Few video games inspire sequels the way fighters do. The Street Fighter series, for example, is well into the double digits if you include the multitudinous spinoffs. It's as if no version is ever final, no game ever perfected, so new characters, new moves, and new extras are added for a new title. Sometimes it feels like we'll always be waiting for another Soul Calibur or Virtua Fighter, but no series feeds the anticipation of gamers quite like Tekken.

In the past this has led to both gaming glory and criticism. Tekken 3 was widely hailed as the best 3D fighting game ever, but the debut of Tekken Tag Tournament early in the Playstation 2's life wasn't a success with fans, and Tekken 4 had everyone wondering if Namco had lost the crown to Sega/AM2's Virtua Fighter franchise. Fortunately, Tekken 5 proves that the formula still works, and places the series back on the top of the heap.

The heart and soul of Tekken 5 is the story mode, bringing the player through the sagas of nearly two dozen fighters, three of them new to the series and several returning from previous versions after a brief hiatus. In a break from tradition, most of these stories are whimsical and even amusing, save a few connected to the core story of the Mishima family. Speaking of which, Tekken 5 may just win the award for most related characters in one fighting game; not only are Heihachi, Kazuya (Heihachi's son), and Jin (his grandson) present, but Jin's sister is a new character and Heihachi's father, Jinpachi, is the final boss. If you add in the characters indirectly related to the Mishima clan by adoption or employment, about half of the roster is connected somehow.

More important is that this lineup is excellent, perhaps the best in any Tekken title so far. There's a huge variety, enough that anyone can find a character they like, and veterans will find some challenge in the three new additions, one of which looks awfully similar to Wesley Snipes' Blade character from the movies. While there are some characters that are very similar, like Hwoarang and his master, Baek, the overall diversity is hard to beat, and there are no real throwaway fighters. Even Kuma, a bear, and Roger Jr., a kangaroo, are viable in the hands of an expert.

In addition to story mode there are familiar time trial, survival, and practice modes. There's also an arcade mode where, instead of playing like the arcade version, is more of a simulation of playing in an arcade much like in Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution. By defeating computer opponents of various skill levels who are based on real life players, your rank as a player of each character increases. Taking another page from Virtua Fighter, money earned from these matches can be used to buy custom clothing and accessories for each character, giving the game a bit more single-player value, Tekken's typical downfall.

Namco has also replaced the flawed Tekken Force minigame with an entirely new game in its own right titled The Devil Within, a 3D action game that explains more of Jin's history and the "devil gene" lurking inside him. As opposed to Tekken Force, which tried to incorporate the fighting game engine into side-scrolling action, The Devil Within is its own creation. It's pretty good, and could have been a $20 budget title by itself, making it a nice bonus feature.

If a fighting game and an action game on the same disc weren't enough, Tekken 5 also includes arcade versions of the original Tekken, Tekken 2, and Tekken 3 games, as well as an early Namco shooter, Starblade. Playing the old Tekken games, originally available on the PS1, is a nice bit of nostalgia and a clear demonstration of just how far the series has come. With all of these extras, it's more than worth the $50 asking price.

All of this wouldn't matter if Tekken 5's actual fighting was horrible, right? Thankfully this isn't the case, and the elements that made the earlier games hits are still in place. For novices, the learning curve is fairly shallow; it's easy to learn the basics, and most characters have similar fundamentals. If you know how to do an uppercut with one character, you pretty much know how to do it with the rest. The difficulty comes from learning the button commands and timing for the character-specific combos that Tekken is famous for, especially aerial juggles. When playing with a seasoned veteran, expect to be launched into a number of combos that, once started, can't be stopped.

Namco never skimps on the graphics, and Tekken 5 is an excellent example. The characters are some of the most detailed seen in a console game, and are animated all the way to their eyebrows. The environments are slickly designed, and the backgrounds are crisp and clean. The cutscenes during story mode are practically movie quality, though often a bit short. Even down to the menus, everything looks solid with no major flaws.

Where the game really excels, and what many players will overlook, is the audio. The music is excellent, but the sound effects really shine. You might not notice them because they're so well integrated, yet each punch lands with a solid sound, fighters hit the floor with a convincing crash (or thud), and grunts and yells are well voiced. The familiar announcer is back and also serves as the narrator in story mode, sounding less hokey than before. Competitors take note: Tekken 5 is an example of how audio in a fighting game should be done.

Complaints are few and minor. Jinpachi is not the most difficult final boss, but is certainly one of the cheesiest. Once you've got him figured out he's not much of a threat, but some of his techniques and combos are needlessly frustrating. It's fair to criticize the arenas as well, as most of them are simple flat rings with walls on each side. Not only are there no grades to the surfaces or different levels, but being pounded against the wall is unfair and unfun no matter which side of the pounding you're on. The female characters are also overly sexualized, and this combined with the generally violent themes may not make this appropriate for small children. None of these gripes are enough to bring down the overall enjoyment, but they are things to focus on in the inevitable sequel.

While Tekken 4's poor performance opened the door for Virtua Fighter to take top honors in the 3D fighter genre, Tekken 5 slams that door shut and piles all of the living room furniture in front of it. It not only has gorgeous graphics and an addictive multitude of play modes, but a true "easy to learn, difficult to master" style of play that's accessible to anyone. There's no doubt; The King of Iron Fist Tournament is the king of fighters yet again.