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Tekken      by Namco
Available now (Japan)
3-D realistic fighting
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	Do any of you remember reading the video game magazines around
July of 1992?  To refresh your memory, this was the time when Street
Fighter 2 had just been released for the Super Nintendo.  Many will
recall that almost every magazine had a universal statement about this
game:  that it was "arcade perfect".  Since then, the phrase "arcade 
perfect" has been used liberally to describe other games, such as 
Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam, and Virtua Fighters, to mention but a few.
While many enthusiastic readers of these magazines (read: gullible
kids) take this phrase at face value, I feel that most industry-wise
people recognize it as hype.  There are, in fact, very few "arcade
perfect" translations out there, and the ones that are perfect are
16-bit translations of 8-bit arcade games.

	Enter Tekken, Namco's Virtua Fighter style fighting game.  The
arcade bears more than a coincidental resemblance to Sega's Virtua
Fighter series.  Some even say that Namco has run out of fresh ideas,
and that the company will only find success by riding on the coattails
of giants, such as Sega.  This may be true, since almost every big
Namco game is similar to a Sega game from the same genre.  For Namco's
Ridge Racer, there is Daytona USA.  For Ace Driver, Virtua Racing and
so on.  Still, Tekken can stand its own in a market flooded with fighting
games.

	You choose from eight characters, each an accomplished martial
artist with their own moves.  The characters are all unique; you won't
find many similarities between them.  They are Kazuya Mishima, a 
"Mishima Dragon-fist" Karate master;  Paul Phoenix, the Judo street punk;
King, a professional wrestler who wears a leopard's mask; Nina Williams,
an Aikido queen; Jack, a top heavy "Power Fighter"; Martial Law, a Bruce
Lee type; Michelle Cheng, a farm girl and student of Kakushu Chuugoku
Kenpo (Chinese Boxing?);  and Yoshimitsu, a swordsman.

	The special moves in Tekken are like those found in Virtua
Fighter.  There are no fireballs or flaming kicks here- each special
is a powerful kick combo, or an uppercut that sends your opponent
into the air.  You must find the right combination of button presses
in order to do a continuous combo.  Using the right moves, you can
sometimes chain 2 specials in a row to form multiple hit combos.
The moves are done with basic commands- usually forward twice and
an attack button will produce sufficient results.  There are four
attack buttons...a right and left punch, and right and left kicks.
Your basic attacks include crouching kicks, mid-section punches, and
jumping kicks.  There are two levels of jumping- a high jump sends 
you flying far into the air when you hold up on the controller.  A
short jump is used for attacking your opponent's head with a jumping
attack, caused by tapping up for a short duration.

	There are many moves for each character, so far I've only
discovered about 10 with each (!).  Oh, there's something else...
if you ever get tired of the 8 normal characters after finding out
all of their moves/combos, there is an option on the PSX version
that allows you to play as (at least) nine more.  For each character,
there is a boss exclusive to that character.  After you defeat that 
boss, then defeat the final boss, you can choose that character!
Also, if you finish the game without losing a fight, you can choose
the final boss, Heihachi Mishima.  If you play the game with him, 
all of your opponents are the eight new characters, and the last 
character is Platinum Kazuya.  There may be a method of using him,
but it is not yet known.  

	What really makes this game special is the animation.  There
is much talk lately about animation frame rate on rec.games.video.misc.
I don't know how fast Tekken moves, but I can say that it looks to
me like the best animated game out there.  Namco has obviously spent
a great deal of time and effort into the character animations; the
movement is very lifelike.  When you see some of the moves in action,
you may realize that Namco probably researched many styles of martial
arts extensively.  The throws the fun part to watch.  One of Law's
throws, he literally runs up his opponent's chest, jumps off of their
shoulders- doing a complete backflip- and lands on their exposed chest.

	The graphics are also top notch.  They use a hi resolution
polygon-based environment with vivid colors.  The music is also
good, being standard Namco Tecno style  (no complaints! =`)...
All said and done, I love this game.  I don't want anybody to 
think that I'm some kind of Virtua Fighter nut, either.  The 
first VF hald nothing for me, and I'm barely getting into the
second one.  For some reason, these games didn't appeal to me.
However, Tekken makes me very happy to own a Playstation.

	It may be true...Namco may borrow more than a little from
Sega's games, but let's face it- Namco and Sega both make the best
arcade games out there.  Both companies are trying new stuff to
make us happy, and I couldn't be happier.  I look at it this way-
there is no game out there that couldn't use a little innovation
to make it better.  Tekken is merely an innovation on Virtua
Fighter, and that's good news for us! 

	Is Tekken "arcade perfect"?  Well, except for the missing
character video at the selection screen (why?), I'd have to say this:
PIXEL PERFECT BAAAAAAAAYYYBEEEEEEEEE!!! =`)  I'm looking forward to
many more arcade to 32-bit platform translations.  This means 
NO MORE COMPROMISE IN QUALITY.  Considering the price of Tekken in
the arcade compared to the price of a Playstation and Tekken, you
get one hell of a deal.  I can't wait for PSX Ace Driver!

	Bottom line...If you own a Playstation, buy Tekken and
make yourself and Namco happy.  If you don't own a Playstation,
buy both and make yourself, Namco, AND Sony happy =`).

RATING: 8 out of a possible 10.  8 = Fine addition to a proven genre.

						-Tony