Tekken

This article is about the game series. For the first game in the series, see Tekken.

Tekken
Developer(s)	Namco
Publisher(s)	Namco
Platform(s)	Arcade, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation Portable, Dreamcast (as a part of Bleemcast!)
Release	(Tekken) 1994-1995, (Tekken 2) 1995-1996, (Tekken 3) 1996-1998, (Tekken Tag Tournament) 1999-2000, (Tekken Advance) 2001, (Tekken 4) 2001-2002, (Death by Degrees) 2003, (Tekken 5) 2004-2005, (Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection) 2005-2006 (Tekken 6) 2007
Genre(s)	Versus fighting game
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer

Tekken (鉄拳, lit. Iron Fist) is a series of fighting games developed and produced by Namco. Originally an arcade game, versions exist for the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, WonderSwan, and Game Boy Advance.

Information

The Tekken series is one of the earliest 3D fighting game franchises, with the first game releasing less than two years after Virtua Fighter. There are five Tekken sequel games: Tekken 2, Tekken 3, Tekken Tag Tournament, Tekken 4, and Tekken 5. An update of Tekken 5 (dubbed Tekken 5.1 by fans), and a further update titled Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection have also been released. Tekken 6 is also announced to be in development for release on the PlayStation 3 console in 2007.

The Tekken series also includes Tekken Advance, (a GBA version of Tekken 3) which was released for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance in 2001. However, Namco did not release any other Game Boy Tekken titles subsequently, due to the franchise's exclusive deal on the PlayStation platform. A PSP version of Tekken 5 retitled Tekken: Dark Resurrection, was released in Japan and the U.S. in summer 2006. The European version was released September 15 2006.

As with many fighting games, players choose a character from a lineup, and engage in hand-to-hand combat with an opponent. It is primarily a competitive two-player series, but a human player can fight an AI-controlled character for practice or amusement.

In the original Tekken game, the characters would fight on arenas. The name of the location was displayed in the bottom right corner of the screen. The locations included Angkor Wat, Szechwan, Monument Valley, Chicago, Kyoto, Fiji, Lake Windermere, Venezia, Akropolis, King George Island, and Chiba Marine Stadium. Subsequent Tekken games do not have the names of real locations displayed in-game during fights.

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.

The Tekken games are popular within the martial arts community thanks primarily to the fact that most of the characters' fighting techniques can be found in real life martial arts. However, there are questions as to the accuracy of the style labels ascribed to certain characters. For example, in previous releases of the game, the character Paul Phoenix is listed accurately as fighting using integrated martial arts based on judo, despite judo not generally allowing punching and kicking, especially in competition. Similarly, the character Marshall Law is listed as being a practitioner of "martial arts", which is not a specific discipline. Similarities exist between Marshall Law and Bruce Lee, including Jeet Kune Do as well as appearance. The misunderstanding concerning Marshall Law's "martial arts" is commonly attributed to the fact that in the manual for the American PlayStation release of Tekken 2, the translator for the manual missed a small pun where Marshall Law practiced 'Marshall arts', a reference to his own name. Other Tekken characters also draw heavily from real life action heroes, such as Lei Wulong and Craig Marduk, video game analogues of Jackie Chan, and large wrestlers/mixed martial artists, such as Bill Goldberg, Nathan Jones, and Bob Sapp, respectively. Namco themselves have stated that the styles in Tekken are not supposed to accurately represent real styles, but merely give the impression of them. The characters Paul Phoenix, Nina Williams, Yoshimitsu and Heihachi Mishima have been in all Tekken games.

Apart from Yoshimitsu and Heihachi, there are many cross-overs between Tekken and Soul Calibur series, such as King's mask available for custom characters in Soul Calibur 3, Isabella "Ivy" Valentine's hairstyle for Anna in Tekken 5. Yoshimitsu and Heihachi, being originally Tekken characters, obtained many new moves when brought to the Soul Calibur series. In later Tekken versions, some of these attacks were added to their moves lists.

Gameplay

File:Kazuya vs. King.jpg

Kazuya vs. King in Angkor Wat

The Tekken series uses separate buttons for right and left limbs, resulting in four buttons, while most other 3D fighting games used two buttons. Other trademarks include throw escapes, and starting from Tekken 2, autoblock. Each iteration was improved upon both graphically and technically. Tekken 3 introduced the ability to move into the foreground or away from the background, commonly referred to as "sidestepping". Also, Tekken 3 reduced the amount of time the player tries to recover off the ground than 1 & 2, and each game afterwards include rolls to recover instantly after hitting the ground; getting the player back into the fight instead of pounding on buttons just to try and get up. Tekken 4 gave characters even greater mobility by adding true 3D movement while simultaneously including geometrically complex arenas with unlevel ground, obstacles, and walls. This differed from previous Tekken games, where one of the characteristics of previous games was that all of the arenas were level and had no boundaries, meaning the player could walk forwards or backwards without limit. Tekken 5 saw the return of both walled and infinite arenas, with the fluid mobility of Tekken 4 being toned down to appease many players who felt it made the game more focused on evasion. Tekken Tag Tournament, released between Tekken 3 and Tekken 4, is not a part of the Tekken storyline. The game allowed each player to control one of the two selected fighters, who could be swapped in and out of the fight by the additional fifth button, which can be used for tag team attacks and juggles, amongst other tactics.

Rounds

By default, there will be two rounds of combat. However, the players have a choice from one to five rounds, as well as options for the time limit of each round. If the winning character retains all his or her health without the time having run out, the announcer will say, "Perfect!". If the winning character is near knock out, the announcer will call, "Great!". Occasionally, both characters will be knocked out simultaneously, and the announcer will call "Double K.O.". If the time limit for the round expires, the character with more health will be declared the winner. If one does not exist, the round will be a draw. In other cases, the announcer will call "K.O." when one character is triumphant.

Characters

The "edgy", creative, and often eccentric character designs within the Tekken series have contributed to its popularity and appeal. Characters hail from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds and fighting styles.

Appearances in other media

• Tekken: The Motion Picture, an anime movie, was released in 1997.
• The Young and Dangerous series features scenes where the cast plays Tekken 3.
• The film Kuen sun (a.k.a. The Avenging Fist) is loosely based on the Tekken storyline.
• Charles Stone III is directing a live-action movie tentatively titled Tekken, which is said to only be loosely based on the Tekken series.
• Tekken Forever, a comic book published by Image Comics in December 2001 features a story that focused on the Kazama family and also the Unknown character from Tekken Tag Tournament. The comic only has one issue, with no reason given for the comic's cancellation.
• Characters and settings from the series appear in the collectible card game Epic Battles by Score Entertainment.
• On Comedy Central Presents, Comedian Dane Cook makes a reference to Eddy Gordo, a playable character in Tekken, in a skit where he tells a story about the first time he had seen someone get hit by a car.
• An episode of the British TV show Spaced features a scene where the two main characters have an argument, ending with Daisy winning the argument, the Tekken announcer voice saying "Daisy Steiner wins" and Daisy imitating Nina Williams victory pose.
• In the video for the Blind Guardian song, Mirror, Mirror for a few seconds, footage from it can be seen.
• In the film Shawn of the dead, a character mentions "staying up all night playing Tekken 2".

Games

The following is a list of titles in the Tekken series:

• Tekken - Arcade (1994), PlayStation (1995), PlayStation 2* (2005)
• Tekken 2 - Arcade (1995), PlayStation (1996), PlayStation 2* (2005), PlayStation 3 (2006)
• Tekken 3 - Arcade (1996), PlayStation (1998), PlayStation 2* (2005)
• Tekken Tag Tournament - Arcade (1999), PlayStation 2 (2000)
• Tekken Card Challenge - WonderSwan (1999)
• Tekken Advance - Game Boy Advance (2002)
• Tekken 4 - Arcade (2001), PlayStation 2 (2002)
• Tekken 5 - Arcade (2004), PlayStation 2 (2005)
• Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection - Arcade (2005), PlayStation Portable (2006), PlayStation 3 (2007)
• Tekken 6 - Arcade (2007), PlayStation 3 (2008)

* Denotes that the platform is part of Tekken 5's Arcade History mode.

Developers' opinions

Developers of non-Tekken game have commented on the series.

• Creator of Mortal Kombat Ed Boon revealed in one of his interviews with GameDaily, that his favorite fighting game is Tekken, and he likes to play it in his free time.

• In contrast, Tomonobu Itagaki, creator of the Dead or Alive series, has repeatedly criticized the series, calling it an annoyance and, in particular, stating that "Tekken 4 is a piece of shit"[1]. As well as that "Tekken sucks. I don't know what you're talking about"[2] [3] when asked about an upcoming Tekken 6 game.

• Also, both Sega and Namco have shown interest in a possible crossover between Virtua Fighter and Tekken[4].

See also

• Tekken: The Motion Picture

External links

• Template:Ja iconTekken Official Website
• Official English Tekken website
• Tekken Portal Site
• The h2g2 page on Tekken