Tekken 6
Tekken 6 was first officially announced at the Tokyo Game Show in 2008. The game is the latest instalment to the Tekken series that was initially released in Japanese arcades on November 26 2007. It is developed by Namco Bandai and published alongside Atari on an Octave Engine with a native resolution of 720 p for the PlayStation 3. Tekken 6 is scheduled for release on October 27, 2009 to North America, October 29, 2009 to Japan and October 30 2009 to Europe under the fighting genre with an ESRB rating of T for teens. In terms of gameplay, Tekken 6, the sequel to Tekken 5 and Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, features stages that are bigger and with more interactivity such as walls or floors that can be broken to reveal new fighting areas. Not only that, the character customization feature has also been enhanced and will be more involved with the gameplay. In addition to that, a new “rage” system has also been added to allow characters to do more damage per hit when their vitality is low. Once activated, a reddish energy aura appears around the character and their health bar starts to flicker red. Besides that, the rage aura can also be customized with different colours and effects to appear like fire, electricity, ice and others In addition to that, Tekken 6 also features the “bound” system whereby every character has several moves that when used on an opponents that is currently midair in a juggle combo will cause the opponent to be smashed hard into the ground, bouncing them off the floor in a stunned state and leaving them vulnerable to another combo or additional attack. The PlayStation 3 version also has an extra mode entitled “Scenario Campaign” which bears similarities with the “Tekken Force” and “Devil Within” modes from the previous instalments. However, this additional mode is only playable by one player offline in which players can pick up weapons such as poles and gatling guns. Not only that, players can also move freely between fights but when a group of enemies are encountered, the gameplay switches to the traditional Tekken stye.
Reviews
Tekken 6 follows a long line of arcade fighters, continuing the one-on-one, 3D tradition with the franchise’s biggest roster yet as well as some nice gameplay refinements. In this game, tournament-level players will not have much to learn in terms of mechanics, combining a pick-up-and-play mentality with the potential for seriously in-depth strategies and mind games. Players also get to collect coins throughout Tekken 6 all of which can be used to purchase extra customization items for every character on the roster. Among one of the first gameplay elements that might tip off a new player to the underlying depth of Tekken 6 is his ability to block from neutral position, which means that players do not have to hold “back” on the D-pad in order to block in Tekken, which means you won’t have to perpetually move backwards if you’re trying to anticipate an oncoming attack. Undoubtedly, players will still be required to perform a crouching block to defend against low attacks which also help to avoid high attacks, with the additional amount of options you have for your defensive game. As they go on, players will soon be able to examine the proper way to string combos together, which must be varied enough to prevent your opponent from predicting your next move and responding with a counter or side step. Not only that, players will also be required to find the best way to avoid further attacks when their characters are on the ground and vulnerable to a follow up attack.
“Harada-san was also keen to mention Tekken 6 will have real-time online versus play, and that while they’ve yet to reveal it, the team is also planning to include another online mode. Ghost data will also be downloadable, which runs the particular characteristic to how a given player fights. You’ll also be able to learn techniques through replays of fights, and you can join up with your friends to form an online team.” (GameSpot, 2009)
