Tekken it back to the glory days of fighting games

In terms of fighting games, Tekken seems to be a household name now. How can I forget the countless hours, playing Tekken 1, 2 and 3 with all my friends, having tournaments and the rest! And of course, everyone remembers the classic characters that everyone used, Jin, Jack, Nina, Lei, King, the whole Roger dynasty, Eddie the Classics. With the release of the PS2, Tekken 4 came out, and was criticized by many true fans of the game, especially for a lack of characters, the confusing Tekken Force mode , and lack of originality. In other words, it really was not anything new at all. And of course, there was also the classic Tekken Tag Tournament that brought many hours of joy to all Tekken fans.
But enough reminiscing. Lets get down to the get down.

Characters
First of all, it's interesting to note than Namco has listened to a lot of what the fans demands. In Tekken 4 one of the main concerns was the low amount of characters. Gamers always want to see new characters in any fighting series, and for this reason Tekken 4 was considered a letdown for many. Namco has fixed all that, and now offers two dozen returning characters, the cream of the crop of all the Tekken series, as well as 3 new characters, the ninja assassin/ Wesley Snipes look-alike, Raven, the Marshall arts expert Feng-Wei, and the sexy Asuka Kazama. These characters were all incredibly fun to play with, and you quickly learn to get acquainted with them. Personally, I have to say that Raven, the token black guy in a fighting game quickly became one of my favorites. And of course, what would a true Tekken game without a couple of Bonus characters! I am not going to spoil the surprise for anyone, but fans will without a doubt enjoy unlocking the secret fighters !

The Story
When I play a fighting game, I want there to be some sort of a story behind it. In other words, I don't want to just be fighting uselessly, cut scenes and short movies, are in fact my favorite parts of playing games like these, and T5 definitely does not disappoint on this front. Once again, Namco listened to all the fans who were so disappointed at Tekken 4's lack of story mode, and they have now come back with a storyline designed for each unique character. And what I like most about these is that the short movies that can be seen when beating the final "boss" (Heihachi Mishima's father, Jinpachi) with each fighter, are each interesting and amusing in their own ways , and some, believe it or not, are even laugh out loud funny, which is a relief compared to the all so dramatic and cliche endings in the old Tekken games.
The game begins where Tekken 4 left off. Heihachi Mishima, the head of the Tekken Force, dies at the hands of the Knockoff Blade character, Raven. Unfortunately, Heichachi will not be playable in the game , however, Jinpachi, the demon like father of Heichachi, and the founder of the Mishima conglomerate, is the final boss, and for me was INCREDIBLY hard to beat. However, this is only a small sample of Tekken 5's storyline. Each character has their very own unique unique storyline, and ending that is unlocked when Jinpachi is beat.


Game play
In my opinion, Tekken 5 is going to be most remembered for its speed. Players will have no time to stop and do nothing during fights, because the fighters and the game play now moves at blazing speeds, compared to the old Tekken fighters, but still not as fast as Dead or Alive Fighters. This should be greatly appreciated by old fans of the game, however, newcomers may have a tougher time getting used to this, and might have to spend more time in the T5 practice mode, that has not changed much from previous Tekken games.
In terms of controls, not much has changed, except that Namco had gotten rid of the diagonal down as the crouch button, and has restored it to just being down. This may seem fairly trivial, however, one of my major problems with Tekken 4 was when I wanted to crouch when the opponent tried to hit me wit a high kick or punch, and instead I was moving forward toward the opponent, so this is a welcome change.

Besides this, not a lot has changed in terms of the button configuration, and basic defensive and offensive moves. High Kicks, high punches, Reverses, blocks, etc. etc., can all be used, however Fighting styles become a huge part of the game, and how you play .
Almost every recognized martial arts fighting style is represented in the game. Different characters use styles such as Tai Chi, Judo, Karate, as well as many lesser known fighting styles, which makes for a real diverse fighting game.

Graphics
T5 is easily one of the most beautiful games I have ever played. With top notch graphics for the PS2, T5 supports 480p progressive scan and 16:9 widescreen, and to make the experience even better, why not play it on a HDTV. Each character is beautifully detailed, and each express emotions and feelings that I have never before experienced as much in a fighting game. And the backgrounds alone, are so beautiful and well done, you'll be staring at them so long you'll forget to play the game. The levels that stood out to me the most were the Arctic levels, where you surrounded by amazingly well rendered penguins, and the level set in a moonlit field of flowers, as well as the Dragons Nest. All these make Tekken 5 the number one contender for the most beautiful game of this year.

Sound
The soundtrack of Tekken 5, really is nothing special, but then again how many players really need amazing music when they kick someone's virtual a$$while playing Tekken? All I really want to hear are the sounds that result from a good a$$ kicking, which is exactly what Tekken 5 gives you. When you beat your opponent down, you can hear them grunting in pain, or if you hit them hard enough, you can even hear the sound of their bones breaking.
However, something that I found really good in this subject, was the fact that each player speaks in his/her/its native tongue. Also, each character now talks throughout the game, during, before and after battles, which adds a whole new dimension to this already amazing game.


Online play
Nooooo!!! I have finally found something wrong with this game, the total and complete lack of online play! Who would not have wanted to go online with their customized players, and give other players around the world, THE BIZNESS ?!? Oh well, the game cannot be completely perfect! In fact according to sources, Namco released a statement saying that if they had included online play, then they would have to take out some other features on the game, and besides Devil Within, which I will address later, none of the bonus features seem dispensable, and all add to the Tekken experience in their own way.


Bonus features
Finally we come to the biggest, and best part of Tekken 5, the bonus features.

Many may remember Namco's attempt at making a single player RPG typed game in Tekken 4, with the Tekken Force mode. I honestly enjoyed Tekken force a lot more than T5's Devil Within, where you play as Jin Kazama, and just go around beating robots. The only thing good to come out of this action/adventure, and honestly the only reason I played it, was to unlock Devil Jin, which is the main point of the game.

Second is the arcade mode, which Namco has definitely changed a lot. In fact, some players may enjoy this mode more than story mode, when playing by themselves. Tekken 5 now has the complete Arcade experience, as you play CPU fighters, that each have nicknames and high scores, and so the point of arcade mode is to move up the rankings list and beat the top scoring CPU fighter, but all while making money. That's right, you now make money as you beat fighters. And what can this money be used for? That brings us to the third bonus feature I will talk about.

Pimp your character!. Now you can fully customize your character, and buy accessories and outfits for him/her. I'm not going to ruin any surprises by telling anyone what are some of the many outfits or accessories that are offered, but I will say this: King with a motorcycle helmet !. This is one of the areas where online play could really be exploited, as playing online against pirate looking Jin, or S&M Nina would be quite an experience.

The final bonus feature, is really quite amazing. When you buy Tekken 5, you are really getting 3 other games free, as emulations of Tekken 1, 2 and 3, can all be found on the CD, on the Arcade History mode! This really is quite interesting as while playing these, I saw what Tekken came from, and how far it has been. And of course, playing these with friends also makes for some great reminiscing!

In Conclusion I have to say that Tekken 5 is easily the best in the series, and might be one of the best fighter games I have ever played. Beautiful locales, over 30 characters (when they are all unlocked),captivating story lines and cut scenes, and amazing bonus features, make for one of the best games of the year, on any console. If it wasn’t for the complete lack of online play, and the sometimes impossible difficulty that this game does present in the story mode, this game would be the perfect Fighter. But do not let this stop you from buying the game!
I will end this review, with the most appropriate quote I can think of: "Fix your face, and go cop 50 million units if you don't have this joint already". In other words, Tekken 5 is a mighty good game.

(These are also the IGN criteria):

9.5- Presentation- Characters are amazing, game is fast paced, amazing bonus features...What it comes down to is that this game is just plain attractive, and once you start you will definitely not want to stop for a while.

10.0- Graphics- I gave the graphics a 10 just because I honestly do not think that PS2 can run graphics better than on Tekken 5. The levels and the characters, are so beautifully rendered, I do not think that there is a game out on PS2 with better graphics.

9.5- Sound- Namco went through a lot of trouble giving each character its own voice, and so I definitely think that this deserves a 9.5. Characters now have dialogue, and speak throughout the game, as well as give off grunts and moans, and other sounds of pain when being hit, which greatly adds to the experience.

9.0- Gameplay - The fighting engine is now a lot faster and more developed than previous Tekken games, however, because of the sometimes impossible AI difficulty, this game sometimes become un playable.

9.5- Lasting appeal- It really is hard to make a fighting game better than this. You can honestly play for quite a while before unlocking every bonus feature, including new characters and levels, and even when you do, you can still play Tekken 1, 2 or 3. So gamers must have quite a lot of time on their hands before buying T5 !