Tekken History |
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Tekken Games
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Tekken |
is a fighting game and is the first of the series of the same name. It was released at arcades in 1994 and on the PlayStation in 1995 and was later released again in Tekken 5's Arcade History mode. It was developed and published by Namco. Tekken is one of the earliest 3D fighting game franchises, with the first game applying many of the concepts found in Virtua Fighter by Sega. As with many fighting games, players choose a character from a lineup, and engage in hand-to-hand combat with an opponent. 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). 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 most cases, the announcer will call "K.O." when one character is victorious. In the game, the name of the location was displayed in the bottom right corner of the screen. The locations were all real places and included Angkor Wat (Cambodia), Szechwan (China), Monument Valley (USA), Chicago (USA), Kyoto (Japan), Fiji (Fiji), Windermere (Great Britain), Venezia (Italy), Akropolis (Greece), King George Island (Antarctica), and Chiba Marine Stadium (Japan). However, in later Tekken games the location names were removed and the locations themselves became more generic.
Story Heihachi Mishima, the powerful and ruthless owner of the multi-national Mishima Zaibatsu, has announced the King of the Iron Fist Tournament, a fighting competition with a one billion dollar cash prize. There are eight competitors, and one of them is an undefeated world champion who is apathetic towards the prize money and solely wants to take his revenge on Heihachi. This man's name is Kazuya Mishima, the son of Heihachi. As history puts it, when Kazuya was five years old, Heihachi threw him off a cliff to see whether or not he was really his son (this would be determined by Kazuya's ability to survive the fall and climb back up). Kazuya did indeed survive the fall, but it left a deep and bloody scar on his chest which was slowly claiming his life. The Devil appeared before Kazuya, offering him the opportunity to retrieve his strength back to take his revenge on Heihachi in exchange for his soul. Kazuya, driven by anger and hatred, accepted. The King of the Iron Fist Tournament takes place twenty-one years later, and by now Kazuya is an undefeated champion (the only blemish on his record being a draw against Paul Phoenix, another character from the game who wishes to win the tournament as well as defeat Kazuya). Kazuya enters the tournament, and ultimately makes it to the final round where Heihachi awaits him. Kazuya and Heihachi clash in battle atop the same cliff from which Heihachi once tossed Kazuya, with the violent and bloody fight raging on for hours until Kazuya, powered by the strength given to him by the Devil, overpowers Heihachi and beats him into unconsciousness. Kazuya picks up his father's broken body, and drops it from the cliff. Smiling to himself in triumph, Kazuya is now the new owner of the Mishima Zaibatsu. |
Tekken 2 |
is the second installment in the popular Tekken fighting game series. It was first released in arcades in 1995, and later released for the PlayStation in 1996. It was again released in 2005 as part of the Arcade History mode of Tekken 5 for the PlayStation 2, and later in 2007 for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable via the PlayStation Network. The gameplay in Tekken 2 is much like its predecessor, with a few additions. It continues to use 2D backgrounds in its stages, features an infinite playing field, and uses a fighting system that utilizes four buttons: left punch, right punch, left kick, and right kick. Distinct additions included attack reversals for some characters, back throws, chain-throws, and a sidestep unique to one character, Kazuya Mishima. Tackles were also modified to inflict damage when running from a greater distance. Each time the game is beaten with one of the default available characters in arcade mode, the associated sub-boss character becomes selectable.
Story Two years have passed since the King of the Iron Fist Tournament. On a stormy night, a lone figure fights his way up a rocky cliff until he reaches the top. The Mishima Zaibatsu, under the leadership of Kazuya Mishima, has become even more corrupt and powerful than ever before, as well as becoming involved in many illegal operations. These include kidnapping, extortion, smuggling of endangered species for illegal experiments, and blackmail. Unknown to everyone, Kazuya is being backed up by a mysterious force known as Devil, who inhabits Kazuya's body and serves as his only counsel. Kazuya's activities have made enemies for him from all corners of the world, one of which is Jun Kazama, an animal rights fundamentalist. Kazuya's biggest problem, however, is when news reaches his ears that his father, Heihachi Mishima (whom he defeated two years ago in the first King of the Iron Fist Tournament) is alive and plotting revenge against him. In an attempt to rid himself of Heihachi and his enemies once and for all, Kazuya announces the King of the Iron Fist Tournament 2, with a cash prize one thousand times the first (one trillion dollars). Jun Kazama eventually comes face to face with Kazuya, but rather than arresting him, she finds herself drawn to him (due to Devil's powers). She later ends up pregnant, with Kazuya being the father. In the confusion, she departs from the tournament. In the final round, Heihachi confronts Kazuya, and they battle once again. Heihachi wins the first round, prompting Devil to take over Kazuya's body and unleash his full power. This results with Kazuya becoming a Devil-like creature. Despite his advantages, Devil is still defeated by Heihachi, and flees the unconscious body of Kazuya. After the tournament, Devil attempts to inhabit the body of Jun's unborn son, but Jun manages to fight him off. Heihachi, meanwhile, takes Kazuya's body to a volcano, and drops him in. Heihachi then escapes on a helicopter as the volcano erupts behind him, having finally taken his revenge and regained his company. |
Tekken 3 |
is the third installment in the Tekken fighting game series. It was the first game released on Namco's System 12 hardware (an improvement to the original two Tekken games, which used System 11). It was the last installment of Tekken for the PlayStation. It was released for the PlayStation in 1998, and in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 as part of Tekken 5's Arcade History mode. The PlayStation version became a critical and commercial success. Tekken 3 maintains the same core fighting system and concept as its predecessors, but brings many improvements, such as significantly more detailed graphics and animations, 15 new characters added to the game's roster, more modern music and faster and more fluid gameplay. Perhaps the most noticeable change from Tekken 2 fight system is movement reform - whereas the element of depth had been largely insignificant in previous Tekken games (aside from some characters having unique sidesteps and dodging maneuvers), Tekken 3 added emphasis on the third axis, allowing all characters to sidestep in or out of the background by lightly pressing the arcade stick (or tapping the controller button in the console version) towards the corresponding direction. Another big change in movement was that jumping was toned down, no longer allowing fighters to jump to extreme heights (as was present in previous games), but keeping leaps to reasonable, realistic heights. It made air combat more controllable, and put more use to sidestep dodges, as jumping no longer became a universal dodge move that was flying above all of the ground moves. Other than that, the improved engine allowed for quick recoveries from knock-downs, more escapes from tackles and stuns, better juggling (as many old moves had changed parameters, allowing them to connect in combo-situations, where they wouldn't connect in previous games) and extra newly-created combo throws. Tekken 3 was the first Tekken to feature a beat 'em up minigame called Tekken Force. Tekken Force pitted the player in various stages against enemies in a side-scrolling fashion. If the player succeeds in beating the minigame four times, Dr. Bosconovitch would be a playable character (granted that you defeat him first). This was continued in Tekken 4 and succeeded by the Devil Within minigame in Tekken 5 - but Boskonovitch was dropped as a playable character after Tekken 3. There is also a minigame called Tekken Ball, similar to beach volleyball, where one has to either "charge" a ball (hit the ball with a powerful attack - note: the attacks powerful enough to charge a ball were not always more damaging in a regular fight than the non-charging ones) to hurt the opponent, or just send it behind the second player's middle-line.
Story Set fifteen years after the King of the Iron Fist Tournament 2, the story starts with Jun Kazama, who has been living a quiet life in Yakushima with her young son, Jin, who is the son of Kazuya Mishima. Heihachi Mishima, meanwhile, has established the Tekken Force, an organization dedicated to the protection of the Mishima Zaibatsu. Using the company's influence, Heihachi is responsible for many events that have ultimately led to world peace. However, while on an excavation in Mexico, a squadron of Heihachi's Tekken Force is attacked and vanquished by a mysterious being. The only surviving soldier manages to relay a brief message to Heihachi, describing the perpetrator as an "Ogre" or a "Fighting God". Heihachi and a team of soldiers investigate, with Heihachi managing to catch a glimpse of the culprit. After seeing the Ogre character, Heihachi's long dormant dream of world domination is reawakened. He seeks to capture Ogre to use him for this goal. Soon after, various martial arts masters begin disappearing from all over the world, and Heihachi is convinced that this is Ogre's doing. In Yakushima, Jun starts to feel the presence of Ogre approaching her and Jin. Knowing that she has become a target, Jun tells Jin about Ogre, and instructs him to go straight to Heihachi should anything happen. Sometime after Jin's fifteenth birthday, Ogre does indeed attack. Against Jun's wishes, Jin valiantly tries to fight Ogre off, but Ogre brushes him aside and knocks him unconscious. When Jin reawakens, he finds that the house has been burned to the ground, and that his mother is missing and most likely dead. Driven by revenge, Jin goes to Heihachi and tells him everything. Jin begs Heihachi to train him to become strong enough to face Ogre again. Heihachi accepts. Three years later, Jin grows into an impressive fighter and master of Mishima Style Karate. On Jin's nineteenth birthday, the King of the Iron Fist Tournament 3 is announced, and Jin prepares for his upcoming battle against Ogre. He is unaware, however, that Heihachi is merely using him and the rest of the competitors as bait to lure Ogre out in order to capture him. Eventually, the tournament leads to the final confrontation between Jin and Ogre. After being beaten in the first round, Ogre turns into a much more powerful "true" from, known to players as True Ogre. The battle rages for hours, until Jin finally emerges the victor and Ogre completely dissolves. Moments later, Jin is gunned down by a squadron of Tekken Forces led by Heihachi, who, no longer needing Jin, finishes the job personally by firing a final shot into his grandson's head. However, Jin, revived by the Devil Gene within him (which he inherited from Kazuya), reawakens and makes quick work of the soldiers, turning his attention to Heihachi and literally smashing him through the wall of the temple. Heihachi survives the long fall, but Jin, in mid-air, sprouts black, feathery wings and strikes Heihachi one last time. He then flies off into the night, leaving his bewildered grandfather staring after him. |
Tekken Tag Tournament |
is an update to Tekken 3 and is the fourth installment in the popular Tekken fighting game series. It, however, is not canonical to the Tekken storyline. The game was originally available as an update kit for Tekken 3. Tekken Tag Tournament was originally for the arcade before a release to the PlayStation 2. The arcade version operated similarly, but ran on a 32 bit graphics engine like Tekken 3. It received upgraded graphics when it was ported to the home system. Tekken Tag Tournament is one of the two games in the series to be released in an alternate cover, which can be seen here (the other being Tekken 4). Tekken Tag Tournament, being the first Tekken title for the PlayStation 2, featured vastly detailed graphics and improved quality music. It was also notable for having the largest character roster in the series until the release of Tekken 6, boasting an extravagant 39 characters, all returning from the previous installments in the series, save for Unknown, the boss character, and Tetsujin, a costume swap for Mokujin. Both Unknown and Tetsujin have only appeared in this game. Finally, its most important feature is its tag system. A player selects two characters and may tag out between them to utilize special combos and throws. When in Team Battle mode, the fights are also tag fights unless there is one person left on a team where they will fight alone. Tekken Tag Tournament included a minigame called "Tekken Bowl", that challenged the player to use a team of characters to play a bowling game. Depending on the player's selected character, different attributes would be placed into effect in the mini-game. For example, Bryan Fury has a powerful roll due to his super strength, and he can use a targeting system to make more accurate shots because of his cybernetic enhancements. A physically weaker character like Julia Chang would have a much less powerful strike, but would be easier to control when placing the spin and amount of force on the ball.
Story Tekken Tag Tournament, being a non-canon game, features no storyline. It is more of a compilation of the Tekken series giving fans the opportunity to play as almost every character in the series up to that point, including many of those that had apparently been killed off in the main Tekken storyline. Of all the returning characters, Kazuya Mishima was the most heavily promoted, since he featured prominently on the game's cover art and promotional material, despite his absence from the previous entry in the Tekken series (he would return in Tekken 4). |
Tekken 4 |
is the fifth installment in the Tekken series, for the PlayStation 2. It was developed and published by Namco. It was released as an arcade game in 2001 and on the PlayStation 2 in 2002. Tekken 4 introduced significant new gameplay changes from the previous games in the series[1]. For the first time, it allowed players to maneuver around an arena interacting with walls and other obstacles for extra damage. These "environmental hazards" in turn allowed players to juggle opponents for consecutive combos and allowed the designers to implement a "switch maneuver", which let players escape from cornering and throw the tide in their favor. Also, the game engine had been tweaked to be more focused on the environment, causing the characters to move more slowly and fluidly than in Tekken Tag Tournament. Finally, the game introduced a brand new graphics system, that featured increased lighting, dynamic physics, and smoother surfaces. In high level tournament play, it became apparent that the engine changes caused the game to heavily favor quick jabs and punches, upsetting some fans due to the decline in usefulness of more complex moves and strategies. Jin Kazama especially, was very over-powered, and if one were to look at the tournament records, he was used by nearly every top player. Tekken 4 includes a beat 'em up minigame available from the outset called Tekken Force. Similar to the previous minigame found in Tekken 3, it presents the player with an over-the-shoulder perspective as they fight wave upon wave of Heihachi's Tekken Force through four stages, eventually facing Heihachi himself. The player can pick up health and power-ups while they fight waves of enemies. In the minigame it is discovered that the Tekken Force possesses different ranks in the organization, evident in different amounts of stamina, strength and skill. Four Characters have their own boss characters,Kazuya and Hwoarang face Jin, Lee faces Combot, and the final boss, Heihachi, faces Kazuya.
Story Tekken 4 picks up two years after Tekken 3. Heihachi and his scientists have captured samples of Ogre's blood and tissue to splice with Heihachi's genome and make him immortal. The experiment fails, since Heihachi lacks the necessary Devil Gene. Not willing to give up, Heihachi searches for his grandson, Jin Kazama, who does possess the Devil Gene, with Heihachi learning that the body of his son, Kazuya (who also has the Devil Gene and died twenty years ago) is stored in the labs of the Mishima Zaibatsu's main business rival, G Corporation. Heihachi sends his Tekken Forces to raid G Corporation and retrieve Kazuya's remains, but the mission fails when the Force is wiped out by none other than Kazuya himself, who has been revived by G Corporation and is now stronger than ever before. In a desperate attempt to lure Kazuya and Jin out, Heihachi announces the King of the Iron Fist Tournament 4. The plan works, and at Stage Seven, where Jin and Kazuya are scheduled to fight, Jin is ambushed and captured by the Tekken Forces. Kazuya is declared the default winner of Stage Seven, and he meets Heihachi at the final stage. The father and son clash in battle once again, and Kazuya loses. Instead of killing Kazuya outright, Heihachi leads him to Hon-Maru--a Mishima Dojo in the woods where Jin is. There, Devil takes over Kazuya's mind once again, and tells Heihachi that he has come to extract the part of the Devil Gene he lost the night Kazuya was thrown into the volcano. Meanwhile, an unconscious Jin was being stored inside the dojo bounded by chains. Devil knocks Heihachi out of the room with his telepathic powers, then attempts to steal Jin's Devil Gene. Kazuya overcompensates Devil and regains control of his body. Kazuya decides to kill Jin himself and absorb his Devil power. Jin has visions of his father taunting him until he awakens by his voice. In an uncontrollable rage, Jin attacks Kazuya and engages him in combat, emerging the victor. Heihachi then wakes up and prepares to take advantage of the exhausted Jin by defeating him in battle, but Jin overpowers Heihachi and prepares to kill him as the Devil Gene begins to consume his mind. Jin almost delivers the final blow, but the memory of his mother, Jun, stops him. Jin hesitates and finally releases Heihachi in honor of his mother, telling him to: "Thank my Mother--Jun Kazama." Once again, the feathery black wings sprout from Jin's back, and he flies off, making a huge hole inside Hon-Maru's roof. |
Tekken 5 |
is credited for taking the series back to its roots. It incorporates a faster, more fluid fighting system, improved graphics, returning characters, and some of the Tekken series' trademark infinite stages. New to Tekken 5 is the crush system which affects the vulnerability of a character while they attack. For example, a move with jumping properties, such as a hopkick, will be completely invulnerable during most of its animation time to all of an opponent's low attacks. Tekken 5: Dark Ressurection (Tekken: Dark Resurrection for the PSP version) or referred to as Tekken 5.2/Tekken 5.5 is an update to Tekken 5 and is technically the seventh game in the Tekken series. The game was first released in the arcade in Japan in 2005 and in North America in 2006, and was ported to the PSP later that year. The game was also released as downloadable content on the PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Network online service in 2007. It also retains its wall juggling concept from Tekken 4, but the element is effectively less easy to abuse and easier to defend against. The home version is a collector's edition of sorts, as it includes the arcade versions of Tekken, Tekken 2, Tekken 3 and StarBlade (as a hidden game). Tekken 5 also allowed players to customize their fighter for the first time, allowing them to change the colors of their outfits, buy additional costumes (only available to a few characters), and equip them with items by using money gained from playing the Story, Survival, Time Attack, the side-story Devil Within, and Arcade Battle modes. Tekken 5 includes a fighting minigame in direct lineage to the Tekken Force modes in Tekken 3 and Tekken 4 called Devil Within. This minigame follows the adventures of Jin Kazama as he searches the G Corporation in search for information on his missing mother and other answers. Being somewhat story oriented, the player is not permitted to use their own choice of characters like previous iterations. The game also uses a limited button system, incorporating a Block and Jump button as well as sizing down the attack buttons to simple "Punch" and "Kick" buttons (though, some of Jin's fighting special moves can still be performed such as his Demon's Paw). Along with fighting various Jack models in the mini-game, the player must pursue minor key quests to proceed. This mode is one of the two ways to unlock the playable version of Jin's Devil incarnation.
Story Mere moments after Jin's departure from Hon-Maru, helicopters start to approach the Dojo. The noise wakes Heihachi and Kazuya up, and moments later, a squadron of Jack-4's burst through the walls. The Jack-4's target Heihachi and Kazuya, and Kazuya immediately deduces that they have been sent by G Corporation, who no longer need Kazuya and now want him dead. Heihachi and Kazuya team up to fight the Jack-4s, and bring down scores of the androids together. But Heihachi starts to lose his strength. Kazuya takes advantage of this, and throws his father into the Jack-4's, who pile up on him while Kazuya morphs into his Devil form and escapes in triumph. Seconds later, Hon-Maru blows up. The only witness to the blast is a mysterious agent clad in black, known as Raven, who declares Heihachi dead into his communicator. Raven is attacked by a Jack-4, which he swiftly slices in half. The next day, Heihachi's death is declared all over the world (unknown to everyone, Heihachi is still alive), and everyone foresees the end of the Mishima Zaibatsu. However, someone else has already taken over the company and business continues as usual. Two months later, the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5 is announced. Meanwhile, Jin Kazama's Devil Gene is going berserk, and he decides to search for the one responsible for the change by entering the tournament. Kazuya also enters to find out exactly who in G Corporation sent the Jack-4's to kill him, and take his revenge. As Jin and Kazuya progress through the tournament, the secret sponsor is finally revealed: Jinpachi Mishima, the father of Heihachi and who has been missing for the past Thirty years. As it turns out, Jinpachi is the founder of the Mishima Zaibatsu and was a respected martial arts master until his greedy son, Heihachi, stole the company from him and had him imprisoned underneath Hon-Maru after Jinpachi attempted a Coup d'état (Heihachi was steering the company into the military industry, something Jinpachi believed was not right). Jinpachi died soon afterwards of starvation, until the Devil took over his mind and granted him immortality (as well as a Devil Gene), and Jinpachi was finally freed from his prison when the Jack-4's destroyed Hon-Maru. As of now, the Devil Gene is slowly consuming Jinpachi's mind, and Jinpachi has announced the tournament in hopes that someone will kill him and put an end to his reign of terror before it even starts. In the end, Jin makes it to the final, and faces his Devil-powered great-grandfather in combat. Ultimately, Jin manages to defeat Jinpachi, who dissolves into dust and disappears, his wish fulfilled. Jin is now the new owner of the Mishima Zaibatsu.
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Tekken 6 |
is the latest installment of Namco's Tekken series, which was released to Japanese arcades on November 26, 2007. It is the first game to be released on the PlayStation 3-based System 357 arcade board. Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion is the update to Tekken 6. It features new characters, stages, items and customization options. It also gives the game a balance update from characters and items. It is scheduled for an arcade release December 2008. It is currently shown as a demo in the Namco-Bandai AM SHOW. Katsuhiro Harada, director of Tekken 6, has stated the game will retain all of the elements from Tekken 5 and Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection that were well-received by fans. He also said that the stages will be bigger and will have more interactivity and the character customization feature will be more involved with gameplay. * Every frame animation for every character has been changed.
Story Tekken 6 storyline has yet to be translated, fan-based translations and gameplay trailers have revealed that Jin Kazama was the canon winner of the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5, and for unknown reasons has begun using the Mishima Zaibatsu for world conquest, declaring war on several nations and even space colonies until the entire world is at war. Meanwhile, Kazuya Mishima has discovered the division of G Corporation that tried to kill him, and takes his revenge by murdering them all. Kazuya then takes control of G Corporation and uses it as the only power in the world to counter the Mishima Zaibatsu. By this time, the world sees G Corporation as its only saviour and Kazuya is viewed as a hero, although his true intentions are to kill Jin and steal his part of the Devil Gene to stop him interfering with his own plans for world domination. Using G Corporation's newfound popularity to his advantage, Kazuya puts a bounty on Jin's head, dead or alive. Furthermore, Heihachi Mishima, father of Kazuya and grandfather of Jin, seeks to reclaim his Zaibatsu, having been unconscious throughout the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5. Jin, having anticipated this, announces the King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 to rid himself of Kazuya and his other enemies once and for all. |
Credits: Wikipedia |