Nearly two decades after the second King of Iron Fist Tournament, Heihachi Mishima starts the third Tournament to attract Toshin, the killer of the mother of his grandson, Jin Kazama, and a God who is after the souls of the world's most powerful combatants. I should perhaps start by saying that I barely know the first two entries to this series, and can draw no comparisons between this and those(I could compare it to the fourth, however I choose to abstain from doing so here, rather opting for presenting it in my review of that one, as there is plenty to go into). Of the fighting games of the 90's, this is among the greatest. It's got a fantastic mix of requiring training to master(and the typical button-mashing to use the strongest combos), and being fairly easy to get into(just pick up the joystick, get into the basic controls(low and high, punch and kick, for the four main keys), and you can have fun with it even before you spend a ton of time on it... and if you never want to memorize advanced stuff, you can still hold your own). This is not true of very many of the genre, where the latter is often non-existent. Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter and others only share the former attribute, and are thus only available to those who have a large amount of experience with it. There is no "beginner class", so to speak, there's no room for it, it becomes elitist. Here, timing, level of aggressiveness(you can pound on someone leaving them little chance to return blows... this won't always work, nor will defensive strategy, thus matches will depend on the individuals involved, in addition to the range of expertise), focus and reflexes are key to winning, and the game-play is addictive. Switching up your specific attacks tends to be a simple matter, as it ought to be: combine the type of strike(one of the aforementioned 4) with a direction or a jump, and it will differ, a little or a lot, from the regular one. There is a wide array of styles of martial arts, and the nearly two dozen(!) characters are equally varied(each with two sets of clothing, and they tend to be nicely done, noteworthy; with this many contrasting cultures(and even worlds, in some cases) and methods of taking out others, everyone will be able to find something fitting their personal taste). A wrestler in costume(King), a soldier(Hwoarang), an Asian teenage girl(Xiaoyu), a hyped-up psychopath(Bryan), a Native American girl searching for a relative(Julia), a biker with implausible hair(Paul), a 40-ish dedicated cop(Lei), a feisty restaurateur(Law), the sisters Nina(master assassin) and Anna(model) and not to be forgotten, the breakdance-fighting Eddy. A couple of them are not even human! Kuma the grizzly bear, Panda, Gon the tiny dragon(who spews fire!), Gun Jack the grand android, the sword-carrying(if he doesn't use it that much) Yoshimitsu(no clue what he is), Mokujin the living tree(!)(who imitates the others), you can even use the evil deity once you unlock him! Obviously most of these do have to be earned, and it's often worth it. I think they're all meant to have stories, although for most of them, I could not possibly tell you what it is. They all have a closing cut-scene(and all of these are pretty well-animated... the intro to this is absolutely epic, as are a handful of the endings), and they seldom have anything to do with what plot this might have, and when they do, you have no clue what's going on. Maybe it can be looked up, but in my opinion, homework is for school. A movie or a video-game should be self-contained, you shouldn't be forced to go elsewhere to piece it together. It's fine for that to add to it; not everyone has time for that. This has a sense of coolness and a strong atmosphere, except for the silly and weird stuff(...scroll back up to the list of playables), with slickness, an instantly recognizable announcer voice, and of course the soundtrack. Techno electronica with an intensity to it. The graphics are outdated today and arguably never looked completely polished, yet they really do look good and the camera-work is subtle and not as flashy as many later titles of this sort. Color schemes, design and ideas are well-done, and while it isn't quite a feast for the eyes, it certainly isn't an assault on them, either. The stages are reasonable, albeit not terribly standout, other than the lighting. This is an early example of 3D, and as such, it looks clumsy compared to later ones that came after it was further developed(as early 2D ones are now unimpressive by comparison to later ones). It does make ducking/hopping slightly difficult, because it gives you the ability to strafe by pressing the same thing. This is especially frustrating in the Tekken Force mode, a sort of side-scroller where you progress through waves of increasingly tough foes that take less of a beating before going down than yourself, each ending with facing off against one of the main cast. It's a fun ride, except for all the effort you have to put into merely moving up and down on the "layered" road, and to turning to face the enemy you wish to hit(you essentially have to hope for the best). There's also a warped beach ball kind of face-off, where you either have to smash the ball into the opponent or onto the ground behind them, to damage, and thus conquer, them. You can of course also play against one friend at a time, see how long you can last in Survival, and if you complete this as enough different warriors, you can rewatch the videos in it. This has a massive amount of moves, and it tends to be tense. There is brutality, violence and disturbing content(albeit no gore and not a single drop of blood) in this. I recommend this to fans of this type of VG. 7/10
