Tekken 5: best fighter available
Gameplay: As finger-breakingly addictive as always. The return to the two-throw control system is a good idea in my opinion, never finding a real use for the position shifts in Tekken 4. A large roster of characters: some old guys learning quite a few new moves, and 3 new fighters right from the start add a little vigour. The final boss, although an absolute pain in the a**e the first few times you go at him, turn out to be an occasionally needed challenge. The story is another part of the twisted Mishima history, and I thought it was pretty good, although some of the more saccharine characters can get too sickly. One possible drawback I've come to find is that my button-bashing friends can clear me out through sheer luck. A feature I would like to see is something like a time-release move, after so many survival stages or gameplay hours. Apart from this, you could quite easily find yourself losing an hour trying to gain that rank or pull off that combination, or that move, or that throw...
Graphics: Wahey. Gone are the days of glue-on eyes of the old games and the step-through-the-floor of Tekken 4. As yet, I have seen no collision problems (and I've been playing this a while) and the environmental collapses are, well, less implausible. But the character interactions and customisations are brilliant, and the FMVs are nothing to miss either. The final boss has some pretty visually spectacular tricks up his sleeves. Oh, and they'll eat your health bar.
Sound: Very few standouts, some of which are the character intros and endings. However, gets a high rating for next to no flaws, and the occasional sick crunch of bone.
Value: A great game overall, and a lot of hours of gameplay if this is your kind of thing. May even be worth buying even if you only play against other people. Arcade mode offers longevity, but I don't take that much of an interest in the Devil Within sub-game, despite how far its come from the linear Tekken Force mode in Tekken 3; it has a tendency to be repetitive, bar some exceptional moments confronting some characters from the previous games.
Tilt: Out of the sheer fun this game offers in almost all situations: wanting to work on a character, showing your friends a thing or two, or simply looking for a channel for your stress. Certainly untouchable by anything in the genre, and a contender for one of the best games on the PS2.