Tekken 3

The Good
Graphics: Probably the best you'll get on the PSX, Tekken's graphics are smooth, nice, and just excellent, the movements of the characters are excellent.

Cinematics: Wow! The cinematics are excellent, the character's movements are even smoother in the movies.

Gameplay: Fabulous, the controls are simple and easy.

The Bad
Overall Enjoyment: Less than the other Tekken games, the fighting isn't as fast moving as the original Tekken or Tekken 2.

The Bottom Line
If you're looking for technical perfection, Tekken 3 is the game for you. But if you want a fast paced game, play the predecessors, or the Dead or Alive series.

The Good
The incestual pantheon of Tekken games comes to it's 3rd iteration, and this time things have changed a lot. Taking place many, MANY years after Tekken 2, the 3rd game in the series stars the sons and daughters of the original Tekken players, with only some of the original players back as aged veterans. The story this time continues the demonic crap of the previous games with Heiachi's plan to resurrect the ancient "god of fighting".....riiiiiiiight, anyway who cares about stories, huh?

While I count myself as one of the Tekken-hating fighting gamers, I still have to recognize that things have improved dramatically in the game series that coined the term "just mash all buttons and you'll be okay". For starters the animations and moves are much more fluid than on previous games, and the moves and combos have been multiplied to the stratosphere with each character holding an arsenal of literally thousands of moves.

Graphics have been jacked up to the max, granted, by 1998 the psx's technology was more than obsolete and the game does in no way match up to the visual quality of the arcade version (lacking the defined textures, using simplified character models and dramatically downgrading the originally 3D backgrounds). The psx version however does provide all the smooth animations and makes it's best effort to match up to the arcade original, pushed to it's limits or not, this is one of the most beautiful games to grace the playstation, and it shows.

Finally, the best aspect of Tekken 3 comes from a playability-value point of view. This game comes LOADED with stuff, with only Street Fighter Zero 3 surpassing it in the amount of sheer extras added to a game that comes on a single cd. For starters all the fantastic cgi/animé cutscenes are included in the game, from the incredible home intro sequence (much longer and involved than the original -also included- arcade one) to each character's end movie, that in a bizarre touch alternate between full cgi, cel-based animé cutscenes, and even cgi over live footage! Of course that would mean nothing if the game had 8 or so characters, but Tekken 3 for the psx has a gigantic lineup of characters, made mostly of new faces, old Tekken veterans, and a pletora of secret fighters unlockable after winning the game with most characters (instead of the time-based lockout system of the arcade original) or via winning the game through the other available game modes. Bypassing the Mortal Kombat syndrome, the hidden characters are actually original and have their own models and moves (with some exceptions) making them much more interesting than the usual 2545 hidden characters that are just faster/stronger versions of a given character.

Furthermore, the game also comes loaded with gameplay modes that range from the usual Arcade/Vs/Survival/Team combo to a couple of extremely original additions that include Tekken Force and Tekken Ball. Tekken Force essentially turns the game into a Fighting Force-like game, only with the characters from the game, and has you beating up Heihachi's enforcers through several stages a-la Final Fight. Tekken Ball on the other hand is a volleyball-like game where you charge up a giant beachball with attacks and try to send it to the other player hoping that it knocks him out and/or lands on his side of the court for points. Each mode awards an extra hidden character when completed and they offer great fun when played on multiplayer matches.

Also available is a pretty bare-bones practice mode and a theatre mode that lets you see all the media from all Tekken games, plus also a few other games as a sort of hack, pretty spiffy, huh?

The Bad
Still Tekken. No matter how many fanboys this game has, the reality of it is that it's a frenetic and hardly rewarding fighting game for casual gamers at best. Sure, the pletora of moves allows for someone to really, really, REALLY get into a character and master him/her to the point that he plays like a wushu master, performing all sorts of amazing feats and chaining millions of hits per move. However thanks to Tekken's "Everything's chainable!" policy it doesn't matter how much mastery you have placed over your character, because I can beat you just by mashing my buttons randomly and screaming LALALALALALALALALA.! It's frankly incredible how many people still support a series that puts mastery and practice at the same level than casual gameplay.

Characters are horribly unbalanced, with every hidden character somehow being extremely super-powered and with the usual "Tekken Super Character (Tm)" (Eddy, Gon, etc. for this edition) that makes playing with them as entertaining as sucking nails. And every character except for some extreme cases (like the end boss, Kuma, etc.) seem to have the same speed.

The AI sucks ass in just about every mode, and the graphics while good are leagues below the arcade's level. Finally Tekken still keeps going the sci-fi route, with every character still spurting out sparks and plasma explosions when hit (What the fuck are those?? They are the fighting game equivalent of the floating spinning weapons on fps games: cheesy and just a way of showing off the rendering capabilities of the developers), but anyway, I'm just bitching now.

The Bottom Line
Lots of value for those that like their games loaded with stuff, however it's still a Tekken game, meaning save for it's rabid fans most people will find it a flashy but mediocre action game.

In short: Fantastic port that may or may not (depending on your level of mediocre gameplay tolerance) make up for a crap game.

The Good
Everything! This is quite possibly the most innovative of all fighting games, of course, this did come out in the year of the great video games, 1998. The King of Iron Fist Tournament returns in this third installment of the famous Tekken series, and with some new faces. This game introduces Jin Kazama, Eddie Gordo, Hwoarang, and Ling Xiayou. The inclusion of these new characters makes this game even more enjoyable because of all the new fighting styles, which blend in perfectly with the superb controls. Yet another great thing about this game is the new Tekken Force mode. In Tekken Force, You go through four levels of side scrolling action, fighting minimal enemies trying to get to the stages boss, all the while replenishing your health with CHICKEN!!!!!!!!!!!!! This game requires no words to tell of it's greatness, just look at it in motion, it is a thing of beauty(and it shows just how much of a piece of crap games like Fighting Vipers is). If you do not own this game, you must go out right now and but this game, buy it now, for the love of God please go buy it.

The Bad
Pretty much nothing. The only complaint I would have is that Kazuya isn't in it, but that's what Jin is for, so I guess I really have no complaint with this game.

The Bottom Line
Buy it now. This is the best fighting game on the Playstation, I picked it up complete for two dollars, and I would have gladly paid more for it. Bottom line, this game is worth every penny that any game store asks for it. CHICKEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!