Tekken 4: Web Wombat: Games

Probably not the best beat 'em up there was at the time, but certainly the freshest, 'Tekken One' introduced arcade goers to a whole new world of fighting.

In an age where fighting games offered only a handful of characters, expected to wield around 5 moves each, Namco broke the mold with a whopping 17 characters and literally hundreds of moves to pull off.

The fighting engine itself could have done with some tweaking, and that's just what it got in Tekken 2.

This time the fighting engine was tweaked, the visuals souped-up and the cast grew even larger. There were 10-hit combos, counter attacks, new juggling moves and so much more to be discovered. Tekken was evolving.

Each new installment brought something new, making it deeper and much more enjoyable. Tekken 3 pushed the speed up a bit and introduced the side step and the parry, adding another dimension to evasion and new strategies to be considered.

Tekken Tag Tournament then added the team-up antics leaving fans guessing what Tekken 4 would have in store for them.

Tekken 4 sports the most drastic change of all, namely enclosed spaces. Gone are the days of the open fielded, infinitely stretching stages, and in are the rooftops and garages. This time Namco wanted to make the fighting more up close and personal, and so pillars, railings, phone booths and even bystanders are thrown in as obstacles to spice things up.

There's also the addition of the odd multi-plane area where you can fight uphill and, while this doesn't really have any noticeable difference to the gameplay, it's a pleasant change from boring old flat stages.

The Tekken Force mode is a great addition

Reaching the wall of the level is bad news for whoever has been cornered. Being beaten against a wall stuns the character momentarily before the poor fool is bounced back towards their attacker.

This opens a window for some pretty nasty combos to a walled foe, so generally the idea is to try and keep the wall and yourself as the bread of the sandwich and your opponent the ham and mustard.

Luckily, when walled in, all is not lost - timing a button press with the impact of the wall just right results in a tech roll to safety. A new anti-wall grapple has been implemented too, aptly named the position change. You can swap places with your opponent or push them further away to your advantage.

A nice touch is the inclusion of destroyable obstacles, which act like walls until they shatter. Spin throwing an overly muscly bald man through three phone booths is always a crowd pleaser. On the whole, Tekken 4 is a lot more balanced than previous installments.

Sadly, there were always some characters in the past who were more gifted than others in terms of useful moves and reversals. This time around, every character provides as much a threat as any other and players are less likely to be called 'cheap' for choosing a particular fighter.

The movements themselves don't need much explaining, the game still plays like Tekken. A lot more mathematical than most games in the genre, the tappy-tap maneuvers and perfectly timed combos are the prevalent fighting form.

A big complaint among some of the more fluidly-buttoned controller freaks is that the sequential fighting engine may not be the most natural in the world. But it still works.

Tekken 4 has also gone much heavier on the storyline too and it's a damn cool one. Basically Kazuya, who was killed 20 years ago in Tekken 2, has been brought back to life thanks to modern science and wants revenge on Heihachi and seeks his son Jin Kazama, who is the key to harnessing Kazuya's devil gene.

My fists are like lightning - lucky I wear rubber shoes

Newcomers to Tekken will probably think that is the silliest story in existence, but die hard fans will love the series of events that have taken place between the ends of T3 and T4.

Because of this newer and more complicated storyline, Tekken 4's new main mode is no longer the Arcade Mode, but Story mode.

After choosing a fighter, players are treated to a narrated prologue with some pretty spiffy handrawn artwork to set the scene. It's nice to know what you're actually fighting for, for a change.

Also worth note is the extra effort that went into the endings this time. Gone are the days of wacky and confusing 20 second endings: Most of T4's endings last several minutes each and have dialogue too.

Some of the american accents don't seem to suit folks like Marshal Law or Hwoarang, but luckily most of the more serious endings are left in Japanese with subtitles. The overall presentation of Story Mode is very slick and keeps you coming back for more time and time again.

Arcade Mode is still intact, but it's not entirely special or necessary with Story Mode available now. No prologues or epilogues, Arcade merely rewards you with a little message of "You are the Champion" upon completion before returning you to the main menu - woo hoo...

Tekken Force makes a return from T3 too, and this time around it's much more complete and less frustrating. More importantly, this time it's 3D!

Run through corridors and around corners, knocking out wave upon wave of Mishima soldiers while eating eggs and chicken to replenish your health. The biggest problem with the T3 incarnation was the players inability to choose which enemy to lock onto, resulting in some annoying attacks from behind. This has been fixed, and in fact anything you might have hated about Tekken Force mode has been addressed and improved. It's tons of fun, but four levels is a bit on the short side.

Getting up close and personal often pays off

Visually this game is spectacular. Say hello to the first PS2 game in Australia to support progressive scan mode.

If your TV can handle it, you'll notice the visuals are amazingly sharp and detailed. This is up there as one of the prettiest PS2 games to date -- the levels are alive with swaying trees, crowds of fans and some frighteningly realistic water.

The fighters have flopping hair and clothing that get caught in the breeze, they have detailed facial expressions when they talk, get thumped and walk, punch and kick so fluidly, you'd mistake them for people from the real world.

I'm happy to announce that the framerate is much more acceptable than previous home versions of Tekken as well. Tekken 3 and Tag Tournament unfortunately did not match the speed of their arcade brethren and at times it was so slow that it felt as if the bouts took place underwater.

Sluggishness is not in issue in T4. For once battles are as fast and furious as Tekken should be.

The music in T4 can be described as a somewhat jazzy style, that reminds me more of the days of T2. Full of blowing horns and crazy pianos, most levels have fitting music, although some stages, such as the airport, have something of a carefree and jolly theme to them.

Not really appropriate when two people are slapping each other silly, now is it?

The grunts and groans are all done nicely as per usual, whacks and thrashes all sound perfect. It's more or less flawless in that department, and always has been as far as the series is concerned.

There is no good reason why anybody should not own Tekken 4. With a deeper storyline, around 20 unique and lovable characters and a revamped fighting engine, it delivers more than any fighting fanatic dreamt of.

Granted, some may miss the tag feature, or the classic never-ending stages, but this game still has enough to keep you occupied until a newer Tekken comes along. It's my favourite game without question, alone or with friends. Go get it now.

Game: Tekken 4
System: PS2
Players: 2
Memory Card: Yes
Developer: Namco
Distributor: Sony

Rating: 90%

(Ratings Key/Explanation)

Tekken 4 is on the shelves now.

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