Tekken (video game)
Encyclopedia
Tekken is a fighting game
and is the first of the series
. It was released at arcades
in late 1994
and on the PlayStation in 1995
. A simplified "arcade" version of the game was later released in Tekken 5
and published
by Namco
. It is succeeded by Tekken 2
, which came in 1995
.
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), Acropolis
(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.
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.
Note : Unlockable characters are only playable in home version
to the PlayStation. The PlayStation version allowed players to unlock mid-boss characters when the game was beaten and had FMV
s.
While the game loads for the first time upon turning on the console, a version of Galaga
plays. If the player is able to shoot down all ships before they fly off screen, a secret 'Devil' version of Kazuya Mishima becomes selectable by selecting Kazuya and pressing the start button.
The PlayStation 2 version of Tekken 5 features the arcade version of Tekken (being an emulated version of its arcade counterpart as well as the other two that were included in the arcade history mode).
In 2005, Namco re-released Tekken as part of the NamCollection
compilation for the PlayStation 2 to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary.
Tekken was the first PlayStation game to sell over a million units.
Guinness World Records awarded Tekken with multiple records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. These include, "First PlayStation Game to Sell Over One Million Units", "First Fighting Game To Feature Simulated 3D", as well as a record for the entire series as "The Best Selling Fighting Series for PlayStation Consoles."
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
and is the first of the series
Tekken
is an arcade fighting game franchise created and developed by Namco. Beginning with the original Tekken arcade game released in 1994, the series has received several sequels, as well as various home conversions and spin-off titles released for consoles...
. It was released at arcades
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
in late 1994
1994 in video gaming
-Events:*Nintendo calls this year "1994: The Year of the Cartridge".*Nintendo Australia Pty. Ltd, the Australian subsidiary of Nintendo Co., Ltd is established and opened by Hiroshi Yamauchi and effectively ends Mattel Australia's distribution of Nintendo's products throughout Australia.*"Project...
and on the PlayStation in 1995
1995 in video gaming
-Events:*May 11 – Introduction of trade magazine GameWeek *May 11-16 — The 1st annual Electronic Entertainment Expo is held in Los Angeles, California...
. A simplified "arcade" version of the game was later released in Tekken 5
Tekken 5
is the sixth installment in the popular Tekken series. It also marks the tenth anniversary of the series. It was updated for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3 as Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection and succeeded by Tekken 6.- Story :...
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
and published
Video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....
by Namco
Namco
is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...
. It is succeeded by Tekken 2
Tekken 2
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...
, which came in 1995
1996 in video gaming
-Notable releases:*January 29 — Duke Nukem 3D, successor to the simple side-scrolling originals, and a genre-redefining title for first person shooters....
.
Gameplay
Tekken is one of the earliest 3D3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
fighting game franchises, with the first game applying many of the concepts found in Virtua Fighter by Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
.
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
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation – first Hindu,...
(Cambodia), Szechwan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
(China), Monument Valley
Monument Valley
Monument Valley is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of vast sandstone buttes, the largest reaching above the valley floor. It is located on the northern border of Arizona with southern Utah , near the Four Corners area...
(USA), Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
(USA), Kyoto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
(Japan), Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
(Fiji), Windermere
Windermere
Windermere is the largest natural lake of England. It is also a name used in a number of places, including:-Australia:* Lake Windermere , a reservoir, Australian Capital Territory * Lake Windermere...
(Great Britain), Venezia
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
(Italy), Acropolis
Acropolis of Athens
The Acropolis of Athens or Citadel of Athens is the best known acropolis in the world. Although there are many other acropoleis in Greece, the significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is commonly known as The Acropolis without qualification...
(Greece), King George Island (Antarctica), and Chiba Marine Stadium
Chiba Marine Stadium
is a stadium in Chiba City, Japan. It opened in 1990 and holds 30,000 people.The official opening of the stadium was held on April 13, 1990, when popstar Madonna opened her Blond Ambition Tour at the venue...
(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-nationalMultinational corporation
A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...
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.
Character roster
- Anna Williams (Nina's sub-boss) (unlockable)
- Armor King I (King I's sub-boss) (unlockable)
- DevilKazuya Mishimais a fictional character in the Tekken fighting game series. Although originally appearing as the main protagonist in the original Tekken game, he becomes one of the series' leading villains from Tekken 2 onward, after being overtaken by the Devil Gene, where he is known as Devil Kazuya .-In the...
(unlockable costume for Kazuya in home version and Heihachi's final boss) - Ganryu (Yoshimitsu's sub-boss) (unlockable)
- Heihachi MishimaHeihachi Mishimais one of the main characters in the Tekken fighting game series. He is one of only four characters to have appeared in every game in the series and he makes two appearances within the series as the final boss...
(Final boss for all characters, except himself) (unlockable) - Jack
- Kazuya MishimaKazuya Mishimais a fictional character in the Tekken fighting game series. Although originally appearing as the main protagonist in the original Tekken game, he becomes one of the series' leading villains from Tekken 2 onward, after being overtaken by the Devil Gene, where he is known as Devil Kazuya .-In the...
- King IKing (Tekken)is the name of two characters in the Tekken fighting game series. The characters were inspired by the pro wrestler Satoru Sayama, as well as Mexican wrestler Fray Tormenta, a Catholic priest who became a masked wrestler in order to support an orphanage...
- Kuma (Paul's sub-boss) (unlockable)
- Kunimitsu (Michelle's sub-boss) (unlockable)
- Lee Chaolan (Kazuya's sub-boss) (unlockable)
- Marshall Law
- Michelle Chang
- Nina WilliamsNina Williamsis a character from Namco's Tekken game series. She is known to be a cold-blooded assassin who had made her very first appearance in the original Tekken game and since has appeared in every Tekken game released...
- P. (Prototype) Jack (Jack's sub-boss) (unlockable)
- Paul Phoenix
- Wang Jinrei (Marshall's sub-boss) (unlockable)
- Yoshimitsu
Note : Unlockable characters are only playable in home version
Ports and related releases
Tekken was later portedPorting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
to the PlayStation. The PlayStation version allowed players to unlock mid-boss characters when the game was beaten and had FMV
Full motion video
Full motion video based games are video games that rely upon pre-recorded TV-quality movie or animation rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models to display action in the game. In the early 1990s a diverse set of games utilized this format...
s.
While the game loads for the first time upon turning on the console, a version of Galaga
Galaga
is a fixed shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco in Japan and published by Midway in North America in 1981. It is the sequel to Galaxian, released in 1979. The gameplay of Galaga puts the player in control of a space ship which is situated on the bottom of the screen...
plays. If the player is able to shoot down all ships before they fly off screen, a secret 'Devil' version of Kazuya Mishima becomes selectable by selecting Kazuya and pressing the start button.
The PlayStation 2 version of Tekken 5 features the arcade version of Tekken (being an emulated version of its arcade counterpart as well as the other two that were included in the arcade history mode).
In 2005, Namco re-released Tekken as part of the NamCollection
NamCollection
NamCollection is a collection of 5 PlayStation games by Namco in 2005 to celebrate their 50th Anniversary. It was only released in Japan. Its was a portmanteau of Namco and Collection words.It includes: Ace Combat 2, Mr...
compilation for the PlayStation 2 to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary.
Reception
Tekken was met with many positive reviews, with critics claiming it was a good start to the series. Its success and popularity has spawned six sequels. The Tekken games have been highly popular with the martial arts community due to moves of the fighters being close to the actual style of fighting.Tekken was the first PlayStation game to sell over a million units.
Guinness World Records awarded Tekken with multiple records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. These include, "First PlayStation Game to Sell Over One Million Units", "First Fighting Game To Feature Simulated 3D", as well as a record for the entire series as "The Best Selling Fighting Series for PlayStation Consoles."
External links
- Tekken page at Tekkenpedia
- Tekken Zaibatsu page
- Tekken for PlayStation at GameSpotGameSpotGameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
.com - Tekken for Arcade Games at GameSpotGameSpotGameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
.com - Tekken.wikia.com