Tekken 5

Plot synopsis:
Mere moments after Jin Kazama's departure from the Hon-Maru dojo, G Corporation helicopters approach and begin deploying Jack-4s pods into the building. Heihachi Mishima and his son, Kazuya, are awoken to a squadron bursting through the walls. At first, the two battle the Jacks together until Kazuya leaves Heihachi for dead while escaping. The Jacks hold down Heihachi while one activates its detonator, creating a huge explosion that seemingly kills Heihachi. The only witness to the event is Raven, a mysterious ninja clad in black, who relays Heihachi's death to his superiors.
Heihachi's death is declared all over the world with everyone foreseeing the end of the Mishima Zaibatsu. However, somebody else takes over the company from the shadows and business continues as usual. Two months later, the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5 is announced. Meanwhile, Jin is plagued by nightmares triggered by his Devil Gene and tries to end it by entering the tournament. His father, Kazuya deduces that the Jack-4s were sent by G Corporation to assassinate him and decides to enter the tournament to take revenge against whoever had sent them.
The secret sponsor of the tournament and owner of the Mishima Zaibatsu is finally revealed to be Jinpachi Mishima, the father of Heihachi who was confined below Hon-Maru by Heihachi after a coup forty years ago. However, he was possessed by the Devil entity who granted him insurmountable power, after which he broke out of Hon-Maru during the Jacks' attacks. Jinpachi, in his last act of morality, had announced the tournament in the hope that someone would be able to kill him before his potential reign of terror could start. Jin makes it to the final round and faces his great-grandfather in a ferocious duel. Ultimately, Jin manages to defeat Jinpachi, who dissolves into dust and disappears shortly after, with his wish being fulfilled. Jin, after defeating him, becomes the new head of Mishima Zaibatsu, unaware that Heihachi survived the explosion and is working to retake the Zaibatsu.

Tags: revenge

Review:
One of the best fighting games you'll ever play..
After disappointing fans world wide with the gameplay changes in tekken 4, It must have been pretty clear to the development team about what action to take for the next tekken installment : make every one happy again!
And by that i mean take the game back to when it was at its very best- when their were juggle combos and a noticeable lack of gravity .Well, making every one happy is exactly what namco did with tekken 5 and it has paid off beautifully-Tekken 5 is one of the greatest fighting games ever made ,its the beat em up equivalent to heaven .Tekken 5 has it all- beautiful graphics, easy to learn/hard to master gameplay, a genuine sense of reward and a collection of well balanced characters -all unique in their own way .It even has arcade perfect versions of tekken 1,2,3 and starblade as unlocakble games that you can play at your own leisure!
The only problem with the game is its awful 3rd person adventure mode ,"the devil within"- an incredibly tedious mode of play in which jin wonders around drab halls and corridors solving boring puzzles and fighting hordes of uninteresting opponents.
Hopefully the next games attempt at a value increasing bonus game mode will be lot better.Thankfully though the devil within doesn't over shadow the absolute greatness of Tekken 5- one of the best beat em ups you'll ever play ..
Tekken 3½.
"Heihachi Mishimais dead", Or so the opening scenes of TEKKEN 5 would have you believe.
But not to worry; you're in for a (weak) "surprise" as the antagonist and mascot of the famed Sony PlayStation fighting series, rises from the grave (literally) almost as immediately as he's (supposedly) assassinated.The latest iteration of the Tekken franchise gets back to its "roots" Namco have proudly and loudly stated.
The truth is, Namco, the game's developer & publisher, has made a quick and cowardly retreat from the new and exciting territory it explored in TEKKEN 4.
The result is sadly unfortunate, because where as TEKKEN 4 felt new and fresh with it's multi-tiered & asymmetrical environments, wall-tech, position change and balanced damage levels, TEKKEN 5 basically plays as an updated TEKKEN 3 (1997).By removing many of the superfluous characters in TEKKEN 4 and adding a few new faces, the game felt like a much needed ground-up revision of a series that, though great, previously demonstrated little in the way of innovation.
The "Garage" stage sticks out in my mind, where the combatants attempt manoeuvres on each other against a car or cement pillar for a damaging combo and win.But hey, that's all gone now.
The stages of TEKKEN 5 are completely flat, symmetrical, bland uninspired plains, just as they were at the beginning of the series back in "TEKKEN" (1994).
Apparently, some of Tekken's older, newer and less experienced fans prefer the unornamented environs.
I say they're either heavily retarded, boring or simply lack the gaming skills (and grey matter) to adapt and appreciate the complexity of navigating and battling within interactive multi-tiered asymmetrical environments.Then there's the reintroduction of what can only be thought of as complete & utter nonsense.
Remember Roger, the boxing kangaroo from TEKKEN 2?
Or Mokujin the fighting tree of TEKKEN 3?
Well, they're back as unlock-able characters which the player must earn, to which I ask a resounding "Why?".
The minimalist approach of TEKKEN 4 as with TEKKEN 3 before it, with its smaller cast, has also been done away with in favor of bringing back just about everyone ever featured in the TEKKEN series, albeit Dr. Boskonovitch and Kunimitsu.
Yes, even those who were supposedly killed (Baek Doo San) or were long thought of as dead (Wang Jinrei).
I suppose it's hard to argue against a bevy of selectable characters, but it feels extremely overdone...like a very badly unorganized and unnecessary school reunion.The mitigating factor behind all of my gripes against TEKKEN 5 is that the game for what it is, is actually enjoyable.
I mean, come on it's TEKKEN!
Personally, I would have preferred the series to follow and continue along the trail blazed by the previous game (TEKKEN 4), but hey, whatever.
TEKKEN 5 is more of the same the way that every 'Nightmare on Elm Street' or 'Friday the 13th' is more of the same.
If you've either never really bothered with the previous Tekken games, you will most likely find favor with TEKKEN 5, probably in part due it's over simplification since the previous installment...erm...uh...sorry, I mean - designed to be more "accessible" and "user friendly" for 'new/general gamers' and PlayStation2 owners alike.Some of the returning cast absent in TEKKEN 4 (Ganryu, JACK-5, Bruce) are more than welcome back.
And maybe somebody out there actually likes trying to win using (a mockery of a character) the kangaroo in boxing gloves?
TEKKEN 5 introduces three totally new characters, one of which is Blade.
I meant "Raven", the complete and utter rip-off of Blade, the anti-hero played by actor Wesley Snipes, in the movie of the same name.
We can forgive this borderline copyright infringement as Raven is totally hip, just like Blade, therefore awesome.
Without a doubt, he's the slickest black video game character to date, who has fortunately been spared the type of horribly typical (Japanese) stereotype that's befallen black video game characters of other fighting games, past and present.
(Mohawk hair or Boxer's, anybody?) Also new on the scene is the infuriating final boss, Jinpachi Mishima (whom makes his first ever appearance in the intro), the supposedly long dead father of Heihachi Mishima.
Jinpachi is uber cheap - if he decides HE wants to win, well, there's really not a lot you can do in the way of dissuasion.
Just bite down on something hard, It'll be over soon.....and then press start to continue, and try again.Fortunately, Jinpachi's Achilles heel turns out also to be the very cheapness that makes him reviled.
The battles against him are not actual fights ; but in fact are experiments to discover your selected character's few strategies Jinpachi can't seem to avoid or block.
TEKKEN 5 also comes with an "Arcade History" mode which contains TEKKEN (1994), TEKKEN 2 (1996), TEKKEN 3 (1997) in complete playable arcade perfection!
A nice bonus for those not familiar with TEKKEN's rich history and former glory days.The side game included with TEKKEN 5, named "Devil Within", is nothing short of an utter waste of time.
Where as previous mini side games found on TEKKEN 5's predecessors (TEKKEN Ball, TEKKEN Bowl and TEKKEN Force) where short, fun and to the point; Devil Within is - painful, repetitive, overly-long and NOT fun in any way shape or form.
A complete chor with absolutely no replay value.Costume/Character customization is a neat idea (ripped off from Virtua Fighter 4:Evolution), but as to why the purchasable items are so few in number and limited to particular outfits only is a completely mystery.Anyway...just know that TEKKEN 5 is good for what ails you, especially if you didn't like TEKKEN 4..
Namco has always made sure that their games are original in design, appeal to the audience and most of all unique.
Their Tekken and Soul Calibur series become more and more refined with every release.
However, refinement is a long process and it just doesn't happen overnight.
That's why when Tekken 4 hit the arcades fans rejoiced when they saw that the game got a real 3D face lift.
Most importantly, Tekken 4 allowed players to not only utilize their actual skills in the game but also how well you use your environment.
Trees, cars, telephone booths, barriers and unique level design allowed fans to take advantage of the playing field.
Many characters also received minor tweaking and even the addition of a new fighting styles made Tekken 4 more about intellectual skill than actual gaming skills.
Tekken 4 was refined in it's design, in it's gameplay and unique in it's character design.
Then came Tekken 5 which is refined in it's graphics, but everything else seems rather underwhelming for Namco.
As we continue on keep in mind that I am not trying to persuade you to side along with me.
You have your opinion and I have mine so lets just leave it at that.Graphically, Tekken 5 knocks it's predecessor, Tekken 4, out of the ball park.
Everything is highly detailed and minor details, like moving pants and hoodies, actually move.
Namco really payed close attention and offered the fans real life-like details.
Characters mesh well with the stages and can even effect stage objects to an extent.
When characters hit the floor they actually cause the floor to crack.
This was used in Virtua Fighter 4 except the floor damage was permanent until the next round.
As soon as you crack the floor in Tekken 5 another crack in another area will cause the crack prior to disappear.
It's minor but I can't help but pay attention to it every time I knock my opponent down to see my first crack just vanish into thin air.I want to continue on personally about the stages in Tekken 5.
Stages no longer have the interactive feel that they once had in Tekken 4.
Stages are impressive in design but are ugly in their refinement.
There's nothing new about any of the stages that were not in previous Tekken's.
They lack any real thought to actually improve on this game whatsoever.
It's a shame too since Tekken 4 had excellent stages- no other game put so much effort or concept into stage design than Tekken 4 did.
All of the stages in Tekken 5 are pretty but shallow as they come.
There are wide stages and infinite stages and nothing else.In any case, the sounds are kinda boring and don't really and on anything new like they did in Tekken 4(Breaking glass, splashing sounds, engines roaring, people talking and the like).
Tekken 5 seemed to have recycled most of the sounds from Tekken 4 and didn't really do anything new...
but the graphics are pretty.
Some people may say that the music in Tekken was never that good but I disagree(Shinjuku and Airport are still my favorites).
(Anyone like Poolside let me know).Probably the worst part about gameplay is the characters.
Now many of the old characters did get new moves to add to their array of attacks while some don't react too well to their old combo's (Steve's Wildman Combo-Flicker Stance is one that comes into mind).
But the one thing that just shoves this series into the pretty but shallow isle is because of the returning roster of characters from Tekken 2.
Asuka, Feng, Raven and Jinpachi (ugh) are the only new characters to this installation of Tekken(I don't count Jack since he was already in the first Tekken).
The rest are recycled characters or recycled fighting styles from Tekken 2.
Asuka's fighting style is similar to that of Jun's in Tekken 2.
Raven is a ninja whose looks bare a similarity to actor and lover of Asian women Wesley Snipes Blade character.
Feng uses a form of Chinese Kenpo and everyone who you saw in Tekken 2 fights exactly the same way they did years ago with minor tweaks of course.
For this reason Tekken 5 is a really pretty game that is below Namco's standard of fighting games.
I believe that they were quick to bring Tekken 5 out and that recycling used characters is a form of laziness and a cheap trick to make players think they are getting an entirely new and different fighting game.My point is that Tekken 5 could have been so much better if they would have put a lot more ingenuity into it.
The same flaw that DKC had for the SNES, all glamour and no gameplay, is the exact same flaw Tekken 5 has.
Either Namco is running out of ideas or companies are just taking advantage of the shallow minds of many of it's fans and that's just wrong...
great gameplay but very hard.
Tekken 5 is pretty good its got great gameplay and lots of charecters but the difficuly is very hard even if you play on easy the AI will still kick you're ass and the boss at the end of arcade is the worst boss ever so its better than teeken 4 but tekken 3 is still the best tekken game.
This game has it.
The game has the same fighting then you can go through a story with the Jim Mazama.
And then you can play the first 3 original games and star gate.
You also get to unlock new characters in this cool and fun game.
You unlock some characters like Roger Jr, Mokujin, Heihachi Mishima, and Devil Jin. Also you can see endings and listen to music anytime you want in the theater mode.
This game is like Tekken 4 but it has better graphics and more characters.
I give this game a good 8 out of 10 and if you don't like it then don't do reviews on it because it is an awesome game.
The return of Tekken.
First there were Tekken, Tekken 2, Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag Tournament.
All applied to gamers who knew what was a good fighting game.
Then Tekken 4 came and brought some new tweaks in the game play like walls and objects.
The very idea of it was great, and something that hadn't been done before.
It had way to many bugs.
In my opinion, Tekken 4 was the worst thing that ever happened to the Tekken-series.
Seems like Namco didn't test the game for bugs since there are a lot, and I mean A LOT of them in there.Then Tekken 5 came.
Going back to a mix of Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag Tournament, leaving some things from Tekken 4 in it to please those who enjoyed that game as well.
The only things I think was better in Tekken 4 was the ability to record and save matches to your memory card, and to tech-roll (roll away) from walls.The game has a cast of 30 characters, bringing back some old ones like Baek, Bruce and "Jun" in the form of a 17 year old girl named Asuka, who actually is Jin's cousin.
They are of course upgraded with new moves to have a chance in Tekken 5.
Leaving, for Asuka there are two completely new characters joining the tournament.
Raven, an American (possibly) ninja who enters with ninjutsu in some form.
He has a lot of guessing moves leading to a second of third hit that either hits mid, high or low.
It is difficult to always guess the right thing, so he might be a choice if you like 50/50-guess characters.
The other new character is a Chinese kempo fighter, Feng Wei. His moves are looking stylish enough, and has a large range of cheapness in them.
For instance, after some of his moves he has an option to catch people rising from the ground with their backs to his.
That leads to a possibly 70-100 damage, for an easy round.
He is top rated among the characters along with Steve, Nina and Bryan.The graphics are much better than Tekken 4.
More like it was in Tekken 3.
And the music is the best in a Tekken-game since Tekken 2.One bad thing though is that the life bar takes only 140-150 damage.
This can be fixed by putting it up to 120% in versus, as is used on world basis on arcades (at least where people play it on a higher level).If there were any thing I would have brought back from earlier games, it is the ability to take snapshots (from Tekken Tag Tournament) and ability to save matches to your memory card (Tekken 4).
Even without those, still a great game from Namco..
Great Game.
The figure rising from the ashes is not Heihachi (if he had played the game, he would know that), it is Jinpachi, who had been locked under the Hon-Maru for years.
And it is not his place to call the fans that did not like Tekken 4 as much as the previous installments of Tekken "either heavily retarded, boring or simply lack the gaming skills (and gray matter)".
I am one of those fans and do not appreciate it.
This game does indeed go back to Tekken's roots...
in a good way, I might add.
Many fans did not like the 'innovations' in this game.
I much prefer the flat level of Tekken 5, which allows for a fair fight.
Countless times come to my mind when my button-bashing best friend would pin to me to a wall in Tekken 4 and keep mashing buttons until I was KO'd with no chance for me to even recover.
Tekken 5's stages do not allow for that, which is very refreshing because then actual skill is needed to win a fight, not just chasing your opponent to a wall.
I must agree on the character selection, however.
It was a huge disappoint to me for Baek to be brought back.
I was infuriated with Hwoarang's (my favorite character) stories in both Tekken 4 and 5.
To bring back Baek when it was so eloquently stated in Hwoarang's Tekken 3 story (which was a great story, the next two just ruined his character) made me so angry.
Baek was dead.
This is the one thing that I hated most about Tekken 5 (and there's not much) The new characters are cool, and Namco has stated that Raven's similarities to Blade are merely coincidental.
Asuka reminds me very much of Jun, which gets me to wondering what the twist in the next game will be.
I don't know that much about Feng Wei...
I very much recommend this game, especially to those who have never played Tekken and need something to do.