Tekken 3

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Tekken 3
T3usposter.jpg
Arcade flyer
Developer(s)Namco
Publisher(s)
  • JP: Namco Ltd.
  • NA: Namco Hometek
  • EU: SCEE
Director(s)Masamichi Abe
Yutaka Kounoe
Katsuhiro Harada
Producer(s)Hajime Nakatani
Designer(s)Masahiro Kimoto
Katsuhiro Harada
Programmer(s)Masanori Yashinari Mizushima
Composer(s)Arcade
Nobuyoshi Sano
Keiichi Okabe
PS1
Nobuyoshi Sano
Keiichi Okabe
Yuu Miyake
Minamo Takahashi
Hiroyuki Kawada
Yoshie Arakawa
Hideki Tobeta
SeriesTekken
Platform(s)
ReleaseArcade
March 20, 1997
PlayStation
  • JP: March 26, 1998
  • NA: April 29, 1998[1]
  • EU: September 12, 1998[2]
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade systemNamco System 12

Tekken 3 (鉄拳3) is a fighting game, the third entry in the Tekken series. It was released in arcades in March 1997, and for the PlayStation in 1998. The original arcade version of the game was released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 as part of Tekken 5's Arcade History mode. The game was re-released in 2018 as part of Sony's PlayStation Classic.

Tekken 3 features a largely new cast of characters, including the debut of several now-staple characters such as Jin Kazama, Ling Xiaoyu, Bryan Fury, Eddy Gordo, and Hwoarang, with a total of twenty-three characters. The home version includes a new beat 'em up mode called Tekken Force, and the bonus Tekken Ball mode.

Tekken 3 has been cited as one of the greatest video games of all time. With more than 8 million copies sold worldwide, Tekken 3 is the fifth best-selling PlayStation game. It was followed by Tekken Tag Tournament, a non-canon installment in 1999 in arcades and in 2000 for the PlayStation 2. The direct sequel, Tekken 4 was released in arcades and on the PlayStation 2 in 2001 and 2002, respectively.

Gameplay[]

Tekken 3 maintains the same core fighting system and concept as its predecessors.[3] Three-dimensional movement is insignificant in previous Tekken games (aside from some characters having unique sidesteps and dodging maneuvers), but Tekken 3 adds emphasis on the third axis by allowing characters to sidestep in or out of the background.[4] Fighters now jump more reasonable heights than in the previous games, making them less overwhelming and putting more use to sidestep dodges, as jumping can no longer dodge every ground attack. New improvements include quicker recoveries from knockdowns, more escapes from tackles and stuns, more moves with juggling enabled, and newly created combo throws.

Tekken 3 introduces a beat 'em up minigame called "Tekken Force", which pits the player in various stages against enemies in a side-scrolling fashion. The concept was expanded on in a minigame for Tekken 4, and succeeded by the Devil Within campaign mode in Tekken 5. Another minigame is known as "Tekken Ball", similar to beach volleyball, where the player must hit the ball with a powerful attack to pulverize the opponent, or cause them penalty damage by letting the ball fall into the opponent's territory.

Characters[]

See also: List of Tekken characters § Introduced in Tekken 3

Due to the game taking place 20 years later, only six characters from the previous installment return from Tekken 2: Anna Williams (who is a palette swap of Nina in the arcade version), Heihachi Mishima, Lei Wulong, Nina Williams, Paul Phoenix and Yoshimitsu while not including Marshall Law, Jack-2, Baek Doo San, Armor King I, King I, Kuma I, Bruce Irvin, Roger, Alex, Lee Chaolan, Kunimitsu, Wang Jinrei, Devil, Angel, Michelle Chang, Kazuya Mishima, Jun Kazama and Prototype Jack.

The PlayStation version makes Anna fully playable and separate from Nina, complete with her own moveset, voice, and ending.

New characters[]

  • Bryan Fury a: A cyborg kickboxer sent by mad scientist Dr. Abel to kidnap rival scientist Dr. Bosconovitch.
  • Crow b: A code name and member of the Tekken Force. Crow has the lowest rank.
  • Dr. Bosconovitch a d e: The silly, elderly genius scientist who is Yoshimitsu's friend and a prisoner of the Mishima Zaibatsu (as he was forced to create several projects for them, including the genetically altered animals Roger and Alex)
  • Eddy Gordo: A Capoeira prodigy seeking revenge against the Mishima Zaibatsu for having assassinated his parents and ruined his family's business.
  • Forest Law: The son of Marshall Law (whom he heavily resembles and fights like), now competing to earn money to help him out.
  • Gon a d e: A special guest character from the manga of the same name.
  • Gun Jack a: The third model of the Jack series sent by his creator, Jane, to retrieve Jack 2's memory data.
  • Hwoarang: A Tae Kwon Do student of Baek Doo San wanting to take revenge against Ogre for apparently murdering his teacher.
  • Jin Kazama: The grandson of Heihachi Mishima and son of Kazuya Mishima and Jun Kazama practicing both his parents' martial arts who seeks revenge against Ogre for having supposedly killed his mother.
  • Julia Chang a: The adopted daughter of Michelle Chang sets out to rescue her kidnapped mother from the Mishima Zaibatsu.
  • King II: The successor of the original King who participates to save his predecessor's orphanage after the original is killed by Ogre.
  • Kuma II a: The son of the original Kuma also serving as Heihachi's loyal pet and bodyguard.
  • Ling Xiaoyu: A Chinese teenager practicing Baguazhang and Piguaquan who wants to build her own amusement park by winning the tournament.
  • Mokujin a: A 2,000-year-old wooden dummy who comes to life as a result of Ogre's awakening and is able to switch between every other characters' fighting styles.
  • Panda a c: Xiaoyu's pet and bodyguard.
  • Tiger Jackson a c d: A disco man with an afro.
  • Ogre a f: A mysterious immortal humanoid known as the God of Fighting. Ogre is the main antagonist and final boss, responsible for the disappearances of numerous martial artists.
  • True Ogre a f: Ogre's second transformation.

Returning characters[]

^a Unlockable character
^b Unplayable enemy in Tekken Force mode
^c Skin/palette swap
^d Bonus character
^e Only playable in console version
^f Playable boss
^g Only skin/palette swap in arcade cabinet

Plot[]

Fifteen years after the King of the Iron Fist Tournament 2, Heihachi Mishima has established the Tekken Force: a paramilitary 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. One day, a squadron of Tekken Force soldiers search an ancient temple located in Mexico under the premise of an excavation project. Soon after arriving there, Heihachi learns that they were obliterated by a mysterious and malevolent creature known as Ogre. Heihachi, having captured a brief glimpse of Ogre before its immediate disappearance, seeks to capture Ogre in the hopes of harnessing its immense fighting power for his own personal gain. Soon after, various known martial artists end up dead, attacked, or missing from all over the world, with Ogre behind all of it.

Jun Kazama has been living a quiet life in Yakushima with her young son, Jin Kazama, fathered after the events of the previous tournament by Heihachi's son, Kazuya Mishima. However, their peaceful life is disrupted when Jun begins to sense Ogre's encroaching presence and knowing that she is now a target, instructs Jin to seek Heihachi if anything happens. Sometime after Jin's fifteenth birthday, Ogre attacks. Against Jun's wishes, Jin valiantly tries to fight Ogre off, but he knocks him unconscious. When Jin awakens, he finds that the ground surrounding his house has been burnt and his mother is missing and most likely dead. Driven by revenge, Jin is confronted by the Devil, which brands Jin's left arm and possesses him. Jin goes to his grandfather, Heihachi, explaining his situation and begging him for training to become strong enough to face Ogre. Heihachi accepts and takes Jin under his wing, as well as sending him to Mishima High School where Jin meets a classmate named Ling Xiaoyu and her pet Panda.

Four years later, Jin masters the Mishima karate style. On Jin's nineteenth birthday, Heihachi announces the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3, and Jin himself prepares for his upcoming battle, having no idea that his grandfather is secretly using him, Xiaoyu, and the rest of the competitors as bait in order to lure Ogre out into the open.

In the final round of the tournament, Paul Phoenix enters a large temple, defeats Ogre, and walks away from the tournament; thinking he is victorious. However, unbeknownst to Paul, Ogre morphs into his second, monstrous form known as "True Ogre" and the tournament continues after his departure. Jin confronts True Ogre and manages to defeat him as Ogre completely dissolves, avenging his mother's death and winning the Tournament as a result. Moments later, Jin is suddenly gunned down by a squadron of Tekken Force led by Heihachi, who no longer needing him, personally fires a final shot into his grandson's head. Jin, however, revived by the Devil within him, reawakens and dispatches the soldiers, smashing Heihachi through the wall of the temple as he survives the fall. Jin then sprouts black, feathery wings and flies off into the night as Heihachi looks on from the ground.

Development and release[]

Tekken 3 is the first game to have been released on Namco System 12 hardware,[5] after the original two Tekken games on System 11. The animation for the combatants was created using motion capture.[3]

The original port of Tekken 3 to the PlayStation featured two new hidden characters: Gon and Dr. Boskonovitch. Anna was made into her own separate character, given her own character select spot, voice, unique attacks, and ending. The PlayStation version features new "Tekken Force" and "Tekken Ball" modes, as well as all modes present in Tekken 2. Due to the PlayStation's hardware limitations of less video RAM and lower clock speed, the visual quality was downgraded. The backgrounds were re-made into 2D panoramic images, the number of polygons used for each character were slightly reduced, sound effects played at a high pitch, and the game runs at lower overall resolution. Namco representatives had in fact originally stated that they did not think it was possible to convert Tekken 3 to the PlayStation.[6] By April 1997, Tekken 3 was popular in the arcades, and the process of its home conversion was considered certain on PlayStation but merely a controversial consideration on Nintendo 64.[7][8] The music for Tekken 3 was written by Nobuyoshi Sano and Keiichi Okabe for the arcade version, with the PlayStation version featuring additional themes by the same composers, along with Hiroyuki Kawada, Minamo Takahashi, Yuu Miyake, Yoshie Arakawa, and Hideki Tobeta.

The PlayStation emulator Bleem! was released for the Sega Dreamcast that allows Dreamcast owners to play a graphically-enhanced version of Tekken 3 using the PlayStation copy of the game. The PlayStation 2 release of Tekken 5 features the arcade version of Tekken 3.[9] The PlayStation version of Tekken 3 is among 20 "generation-defining" games on the PlayStation Classic, released on 3 December 2018.[10]

Reception[]

In Japan, the 15 April 1997 issue of Game Machine listed Tekken 3 as the most-successful arcade game of the year.[31] According to Metacritic, the game has a score of 96 out of 100, indicating universal acclaim,[12] and is ranked number 2 on its list of greatest PlayStation games.[32] As of April 2011, the game is listed as the twelfth-highest-rated game of all time on the review compiling site GameRankings with an average rating of 96%.[11]

Tekken 3 became the first game in three years to receive a 10 from a reviewer from Electronic Gaming Monthly, with three of the four reviewers giving it the highest possible score. Tekken 3 is the first game to have scored a 10 under EGM's revised review scale in that a game no longer needed to be "perfect" to receive a 10, and the last game to receive a 10 from the magazine was Sonic & Knuckles. The only holdout was the magazine's enigmatic fighting-game review guru, Sushi-X, who said that "no game that rewards newbies for button-mashing will ever be tops in my book", giving the game 9 out of 10. GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann gave the game a 9.9 out of 10, saying "Not much stands between Tekken 3 and a perfect 10 score. If the PlayStation exclusive characters were better and Force mode a bit more enthralling, it could have come closer to a perfect score." He also praised the sound effects, music, and graphics.[9]

Next Generation reviewed the arcade version, and stated that "Tekken 3 isn't quite the artful masterpiece that [Virtua Fighter 3] is, but is still awesome in its own right, and has moved the series even further form its 'me too' roots. The fighting system has evolved nicely, resulting in some wild and effective moves and new characters, a faster responsiveness, and an impressive 3D fighting experience."[26] GamePro gave it a 4.5 out of 5 for graphics and sound and a 5.0 for control and funfactor. While noting that it was visually not up with its competitor Virtua Fighter 3, the reviewer said it was stunning in its own right and features phenomenally responsive and easy controls.[33]

Next Generation reviewed the PlayStation version, and stated that "There is no better fighting game, on this system or any other. It's clearly superior to the previous games in the series and a stunning value for Tekken aficionados."[27]

According to PlayStation: The Official Magazine in 2009, Tekken 3 "is still widely considered one of the finest fighting games of all time".[34] In September 2004, for the tenth anniversary of the PlayStation brand, it ranked No. 10 on the magazine's list of "Final PlayStation Top 10". It was also No. 177 on Game Informer's 2009 Top 200 games of all time.[35]

In 2011, Complex ranked it as the fourth best fighting game of all time.[36] Complex also ranked Tekken 3 as the ninth best arcade video game of the 1990s, commenting that "this now classic fighter served as a welcome palette cleanser to the Mortal Kombat/Street Fighter dichotomy that dominated arcades in the 90s."[37] Complex also ranked Tekken 3 as the eighth best PlayStation 1 video game, commenting, "When Tekken 3 finally moved from our local arcade and into our living room, we knew nothing would ever be the same. With an assortment of attacks and combos to learn, along with good controls, graphics, and sound, Tekken 3 was much more polished and smooth than its predecessors."[38]

Tekken 3 has also been listed among the best video games of all time by Electronic Gaming Monthly in 1997,[39] Game Informer in 1999,[40] Computer and Video Games in 2000,[41] GameFAQs in 2005,[42] and Edge in 2007.[43] ArcadeSushi ranked Tekken 3 as the "20th Best Playstation Game", with comments "Tekken 3 changed everything. Friends became bitter rivals. Bitter rivals became even more bitter rivals. Tekken 3 was the game you played with friends you didn't want to be your friends anymore."[44] The same site also ranked it as the "17th best fighting game", commenting, "Tekken 3 was easily one of the best Tekken games ever created. Before the series became obsessed with wall splats and ground bounds, it simply had huge open 3D arenas with massive casts that may or may not have included boxing raptors."[45] In 2015, GamesRadar ranked Tekken 3 as the 59th "best game ever", as "it possesses one of the finest fighting systems ever, the series' well-known juggle formula percolated into a perfect storm of throws, strikes, and suplexes."[46]

Sales[]

In May 1998, Sony awarded Tekken 3 a "Platinum Prize" for sales above 1 million units in Japan.[47] According to Weekly Famitsu, Japan bought 1.13 million units of Tekken 3 during the first half of 1998 alone, which made it the country's third-best-selling game for the period.[48] PC Data, which tracked sales in the United States, reported that Tekken 3 sold 1.11 million copies and earned $48.5 million in revenue during 1998 alone. This made it the firm's third-best-selling PlayStation release of the year.[49] It received a "Gold" award from the Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (VUD) in November 1998,[50] for sales of at least 100,000 units across Germany, Austria and Switzerland.[51] At the 1999 Milia festival in Cannes, it took home a "Gold" prize for revenues above €36 million in the European Union during the previous year.[52] The VUD raised it to "Platinum" status, indicating 200,000 sales, by the end of August 1999.[53] According to Tekken series producer Katsuhiro Harada, Tekken 3 sold 8.36 million copies during its initial release on the original PlayStation.[54]

References[]

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  54. ^ Harada, Katsuhiro [@Harada_TEKKEN] (18 February 2014). "「3」からの人は多いですね。家庭用「3」は全世界で836万本(日本では140万本)なので最大 RT @bassyoi 俺が初めてやったのは鉄拳3だったなぁ RT RT History of - Tekken (1994-2014): youtu.be/Lvy8tbTBDjg" (Tweet). Retrieved 19 October 2019 – via Twitter.

Further reading[]

External links[]

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