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TekkenFlyer

Tekken arcade flyer.

Tekken (鉄拳?) is a fighting game and is the first of the series of the same name. It was released at arcades in 1994 and on the PlayStation in 1995 and was later released again in Tekken 5's arcade history mode. It was developed and published by Namco.

Gameplay[]

Tekken is one of the earliest 3D fighting game franchises, with the first game applying many of the concepts found in Virtua Fighter by Sega.

As with many fighting games, players choose a character from a lineup, and engage in hand-to-hand combat with an opponent.

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.

Story[]

A worldwide martial arts tournament is nearing its final, with a large purse of prize money to the fighter who can defeat Heihachi Mishima in the final round of competition. The contest is sponsored by the giant financial group, the Mishima Zaibatsu. There are eight fighters that remain after winning death matches all over the world. The winner of the tournament will receive The King of the Iron Fist title. Only one will have a chance at defeating Heihachi and taking home the prize money and fame. The player is initially able to select one of those eight fighters at the start of the game, each one having their own personal reasons for entering the tournament aside from the prize money.

Kazuya Mishima is the main character. Heihachi's biological son, he was thrown into a ravine by his tyrannical father when he was five years old. Heihachi, believing his son was too weak to ever inherit his conglomerate, decided that if he were truly strong enough, he would be able to survive the fall and climb back up. Kazuya barely survived a fall that left him with the scar prominently visible on his chest. Fueled by hatred for his father, he enters the tournament to exact his revenge.

Although all playable characters in Tekken have their own ending upon completion of their particular scenario, depicting events following the tournament as if they were the one victorious, it became a staple in later Tekken games of having only one character's ending as the true canonical one, and the following sequel's storyline is based on what happened after that particular ending.

Playable characters[]

Unlockable characters[]

  • Anna Williams (Nina's sub-boss)
  • Armor King (King's sub-boss)
  • Ganryu (Yoshimitsu's sub-boss)
  • Kuma (Paul's sub-boss)
  • Kunimitsu (Michelle's sub-boss)
  • Lee Chaolan (Kazuya's sub-boss)
  • Prototype Jack (Jack's sub-boss)
  • Wang Jinrei (Marshall's sub-boss)
  • Heihachi Mishima (Final boss to every character except himself)
  • Devil Kazuya (Final boss when playing as Heihachi)

Ports[]

Tekken was later ported to the PlayStation. The PlayStation version allowed players to unlock mid boss characters when the game was beaten and had FMVs. The PlayStation 2 version of Tekken 5 features the arcade version of Tekken (being an emulated version of its arcade counterpart as well as the other two that were included in the arcade history mode).

In 2005, Namco re-released Tekken as part of the NamCollection compilation for the PlayStation 2 to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary.

Reception[]

Tekken was met with many positive reviews, with critics claiming it was a good start to the series. Its success and popularity has spawned five sequels. The Tekken games have been highly popular with the martial arts community due to moves of the fighters being close to the actual style of fighting.

Tekken was the first PlayStation game to sell over a million units.

Guinness World Records awarded Tekken with multiple records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. These include, "First PlayStation Game to Sell Over One Million Units", "First Fighting Game To Feature Simulated 3D", as well as a record for the entire series as "The Best Selling Fighting Series for PlayStation Consoles."

External links[]

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