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TEKKEN 5


With its first arcade success in the autumn of 2004, Namco created its first PlayStation port game that would eventually brand to another side game coming out to the PSP in June of 2006. Within the Playstation 2 version, they’ve added an assorted amount off side-games within the fighting game such as Time Attacks, Story Modes, and the Devil Within mini-game… And many more.


When our testers first played the first rounds of the game, they mentioned good reviews regarding the sound and in-game audio. The music had a complimenting mix of both heavy rock and ambient tones that easily enhances the gaming experience. Though the voices of certain characters we’re a little standard, the voice acting was still a great boost to the audio experience.


Concerning the graphics from the previous Tekken series, Tekken 5 did a slight improvement of graphics that justice to overall look to this game. The stage backgrounds also compliment the game’s overall game play with stunning environments and excellent animations. Another impressive feature is the character endings that each fighter has after completing story mode. With animations that could rival cinematics such as Final Fantasy, we feel that Namco paid heavy details to graphical detail. However, our testers felt that environmental damage seemed to be overdone with certain moves. For example, when opponents are thrown to the ground, the animations of the ground shattering in certain stages seemed over exaggerated.


In previous Tekken installments, the game play was a simple matter with two punches and two kick variations where one could easily make variations within moves. But, inside Tekken 5, players could play in a more tactical manner by introducing juggles and 10-Hit combos into the fighting experience. But, at times these tactics were frustrating to perform for beginner and veteran players alike. But an impressive addition to the game is the many varied move lists that each individual character controls with their individual styles of fighting.



As I talked to the company testers after they played this game for about fifteen minutes, I managed to write down a quote describing the game as: “… A game that I can never seem to put down.” Other reviewers were satisfied by the many features that could be unlocked in the midst of the Tekken experience. But, what really impressed our critiquers was the intensity that game play creates. Along with multiplayer game play, game players could also spark competition between friends and other gamers. The set back was the lack of online play, which would have helped a great deal to make the game more successful.