A decade has come and gone in the hallowed arcade grounds since Namco released "Tekken" back in 1995. Since then the series has been praised as one of the greatest 3-D fighting games of all time. And rightly so. With each passing game it's delivered rock-solid controls, with superfluous gameplay mechanics, gripping audio and visual presentation. Tekken 5 is no exception to this. In fact, this game may just be the redeeming gem of the series after the cataclysmic catastrophe that was "Tekken 4". The game picks up mere moments after the conclusion of Tekken 4. Heihachi and Kazuya find themselves awakening, after a grueling battle, to the sounds of Helicopter's. Seconds later a squad of JACKs are surrounding the two, and one of the greatest cinematic fight sequences, EVER, begin. The presentation, detail and choreography of the cinematic are beautiful. It's a testament to Namco's cutting-edge technology. It's followed with a cinematic montage of the remaining characters. All very well done. The game pushes the PS2 to the max, graphically. But the great thing is, there is hardly any load time whatsoever. And drops in framerate are almost as rare as a blue Moon. When the game reaches the main menu a bevy of options are already open to you. Including the staple of the series, "Story Mode". V.S., Time Attack, Team Battle, Arcade, Customize and many more are some of the things you can delve into for hours on end. One mode worth mentioning in detail however is the mini-game featuring the prodigy, Jin. Entitled "Devil Within", you control Jin in a fully interactive 3-D world. It's a pretty straight forward "Beat'em Up" game. It's flawed, but fun none the less, and available from the start. One of the best things about Tekken 5 is the return of several long-absent characters. Such as: Wang, Ganryu, Roger, Anna, Baek etc. On top of these returning characters is an already diverse roster of fighters from almost every style of Martial Arts. 20 default characters, and 10 unlockable ones. It greatly improves on Tekken 4's roster of only 21 fighters. A new and improved Arcade mode is present in this installment as well. Now, much like in Virtua Fighter 4, you are able to gain ranks the more you fight. The more matches you win the more "Fight Money" you earn. Fight Money is used to buy accessories and apparel for your favorite characters making each one unique to your personal tastes. One thing Tekken 5 could have benefited from greatly is the addition of Online play. But alas, we can only hope Namco creates a "Tekken Online", or something to that effect for the PS3. Overall, Tekken 5 greatly improves on the failure of Tekken 4. It helps re-kindle the crimson flame that the Tekken series once held proudly above it's head. We can only hope it stays this flame never burns out.
Tekken 5 is the latest in the Tekken fighting game series. The graphics, gameplay and customizable outfits make it a game well worth buying! I really enjoy fighting games and have played most that have been rele... Read Full Review
Tekken 5's main asset is its fast, smooth fighting engine. The action moves at a lightning fast-pace, with many rounds decided inside of 30 often heart-racing seconds. The system is fairly deep, attack reversals, chicken... Read Full Review
