Tekken 3
Encyclopedia
Tekken 3 is the third installment in the popular Tekken
fighting game
series. It was released for Arcade
s in March 1997, and for the PlayStation in mid-1998. The original Arcade
version of the game was released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2
as part of Tekken 5
It was the first game released on Namco System 12
hardware (an improvement to the original two Tekken games, which used System 11). It was also the last installment of the series for the PlayStation.
and animations, fifteen 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
Streets of Rage
style minigame
called Tekken Force, which 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) to hurt the opponent or try to hit the ball in such a way that it hits the ground in the opponent's area, thus causing damage.
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 and takes Jin in as well as going to Mishima High School where he befriends Ling Xiaoyu and her pet panda and bodyguard (aptly named "Panda").
Four 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. Meanwhile Ogre captures assassin Nina Williams (who was recently taken out of her "cold sleep"), puts her under his spell,and sends her to enter the tournament and kill Jin. Jin manages to free Nina from Ogre's spell before continuing on the semi-finals.
Eventually, the tournament leads to the final confrontation between Jin and the God of Fighting. Ogre is able to transform into a much more powerful "true" form, known to the players as "True Ogre". Jin 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 (because after Jin's mother had gone missing following an attack from Ogre, Devil returned, branded Jin's left arm with a mark, possessing him), 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.
music, with the songs composed by Nobuyoshi Sano
, Keiichi Okabe, Hiroyuki Kawada, Minamo Takahashi and Yu Miyake
; the composers were inspired by artists like The Prodigy
, Chemical Brothers, Lunatic Calm
, The Crystal Method
, Underworld
and Coldcut
.
The PlayStation version features new Tekken Force and Tekken Ball modes, as well as all modes present in Tekken 2. Due to PSX hardware limitations (less video RAM and lower clock speed) the visual quality was reduced. The backgrounds were re-made into 2D panoramic images, the character poly-count was reduced, and the game ran at lower overall resolution.
The PlayStation 2 release of Tekken 5 features the Arcade version of Tekken 3.
, a special boot disk for Dreamcast, that enabled the Dreamcast to boot the PlayStation version of the game.
The port enhanced the resolution thus making the game look sharper. A noticeable difference between the background images and the stage can be seen, which was because Namco used panoramic images on the background that could not be enhanced. Also some character models after being enhanced have a more blocky appearance because the character model display is much sharper.
, Tekken 3 has a score of 96 out of 100, indicating universal acclaim and is ranked number 2 on their list of greatest PlayStation games. 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 was the first game to score a 10 under EGM
). 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. In December 2006 it was ranked tenth on GameSpot
's top ten list. In September 2004 it ranked #10 on PSM
's Top 200 games of all time. As of April 2011, the game is listed as the eighth-highest-rated game of all time on the review compiling site GameRankings with an average ratio of 96.3%.
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...
fighting game
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...
series. It was released for Arcade
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...
s in March 1997, and for the PlayStation in mid-1998. The original Arcade
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...
version of the game was released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
as part of 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 :...
It was the first game released on Namco System 12
Namco System 12
The Namco System 12 is an arcade system board released by Namco in late 1996. In hardware, it is an upgrade from Sony's PlayStation-based System 11, the MIPS R3000A microprocessor is 50% faster, and the C76 sound processor is replaced by the H8/3002...
hardware (an improvement to the original two Tekken games, which used System 11). It was also the last installment of the series for the PlayStation.
Gameplay
Tekken 3 maintains the same core fighting system and concept as its predecessors, but brings many improvements, such as significantly more detailed graphicsComputer graphics
Computer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer with help from specialized software and hardware....
and animations, fifteen 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
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...
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
Beat 'em up
Beat 'em up is a video game genre featuring melee combat between the protagonist and a large number of underpowered antagonists. These games typically take place in urban settings and feature crime-fighting and revenge-based plots, though some games may employ historical or fantasy themes...
Streets of Rage
Streets of Rage
Streets of Rage, known in Japan as , is a side-scrolling beat 'em up released by Sega in 1991 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. It is the first installment of the Streets of Rage series which was followed by Streets of Rage 2 and Streets of Rage 3. The game was also converted over to Sega's Game...
style minigame
Minigame
A minigame is a short video game often contained within another video game. A minigame is always smaller or more simplistic than the game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game...
called Tekken Force, which 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
Tekken 4
Tekken 4 is the fifth installment in the Tekken series. It was developed and published by Namco. It was released as an arcade game in 2001 and on the PlayStation 2 in 2002. It is succeeded by Tekken 5.- Gameplay :...
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
Beach volleyball
Beach volleyball, or sand volleyball, is an Olympic team sport played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net.Like volleyball, the object of the game is to send the ball over the net in order to ground it on the opponent’s court, and to prevent the same effort by the opponent....
, where one has to either "charge" a ball (hit the ball with a powerful attack) to hurt the opponent or try to hit the ball in such a way that it hits the ground in the opponent's area, thus causing damage.
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 and takes Jin in as well as going to Mishima High School where he befriends Ling Xiaoyu and her pet panda and bodyguard (aptly named "Panda").
Four 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. Meanwhile Ogre captures assassin Nina Williams (who was recently taken out of her "cold sleep"), puts her under his spell,and sends her to enter the tournament and kill Jin. Jin manages to free Nina from Ogre's spell before continuing on the semi-finals.
Eventually, the tournament leads to the final confrontation between Jin and the God of Fighting. Ogre is able to transform into a much more powerful "true" form, known to the players as "True Ogre". Jin 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 (because after Jin's mother had gone missing following an attack from Ogre, Devil returned, branded Jin's left arm with a mark, possessing him), 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.
Music
The soundtrack of Tekken 3 is mostly composed of Big BeatBig beat
Big beat is a term employed since the mid-1990s by the British music press to describe much of the music by artists such as The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, The Crystal Method, and Propellerheads typically driven by heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns in...
music, with the songs composed by Nobuyoshi Sano
Nobuyoshi Sano
is a Japanese video game composer, musician and record producer most famous for scoring some songs for Ridge Racer and Tekken series, most notably Tekken 3, where he composed most of the soundtrack. He worked for Namco and Cavia, he actually works for the company Detune, he designed and produced ...
, Keiichi Okabe, Hiroyuki Kawada, Minamo Takahashi and Yu Miyake
Yu Miyake
is a composer and sound engineer for the Namco video game company. One of his most memorable works surfaced with Katamari Damacy soundtracks, on which he served as a sound director. Other works include the Tekken series and Ridge Racer series.Before joining Namco, Miyake was a university student...
; the composers were inspired by artists like The Prodigy
The Prodigy
The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and other acts, The Prodigy have been credited as pioneers of the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s...
, Chemical Brothers, Lunatic Calm
Lunatic Calm
Lunatic Calm were a UK-based electronic music group formed in 1996. Despite a wide-ranging sound palette, the group was best known for their high impact, industrial-tinged big beat compositions.-History:...
, The Crystal Method
The Crystal Method
The Crystal Method is an American electronic music duo that was created in Los Angeles, California by Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland in the early 1990s. The Crystal Method's music has appeared in numerous TV shows, films, video games, and advertisements. The most prominent is the US television...
, Underworld
Underworld
The Underworld is a region which is thought to be under the surface of the earth in some religions and in mythologies. It could be a place where the souls of the recently departed go, and in some traditions it is identified with Hell or the realm of death...
and Coldcut
Coldcut
Coldcut are an English dance music duo, comprising Matt Black and Jonathan More. Their signature style is electronic dance music, featuring cut up samples of hip hop, breaks, jazz, spoken word and various other types of music, as well as video and multimedia.-1980s:In 1986, computer programmer Matt...
.
Returning Characters
- Anna Williams (unlockable, acts as a costume change for Nina in arcade version)
- 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...
(unlockable, sub-boss) - Lei Wulong
- 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...
- Paul Phoenix
- Yoshimitsu
New Characters
- Bryan Fury (unlockable)
- Eddy GordoEddy Gordois an Afro-Brazilian video game character in the Tekken fighting game series by Namco. He made his debut in the arcade version of Tekken 3 in 1997 and his first console appearance was in the 1998 PlayStation port of the title...
- Forrest Law
- Gun Jack (unlockable)
- Hwoarang
- Jin KazamaJin Kazamais a video game player character in the Tekken fighting game series released by Namco Bandai. Trained by his grandfather, Heihachi Mishima in order to enter the King of Iron Fist Tournament, Jin wishes to avenge his mother's apparent death...
- Julia Chang (unlockable)
- King IIKing (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 II (unlockable)
- Ling Xiaoyu
- Mokujin (unlockable)
- Ogre (unlockable, final boss)
- Panda (unlockable, acts as a costume change for Kuma)
- Tiger Jackson (acts as a costume change for Eddy Gordo)
- True Ogre (unlockable, final boss (after defeating Ogre))
Bonus Characters (PlayStation version)
- Dr. Boskonovitch (unlockable)
- GonGon (manga)Gon is a tiny fictional dinosaur and the title character of a Japanese manga series created by Masashi Tanaka. The Gon series features the completely wordless adventures of the irascible title character as he interacts with the natural world, depicted by Tanaka in lush, realistic detail...
(unlockable)
PlayStation
Tekken 3 was originally ported to the PlayStation with two new characters - Gon and Dr. Boskonovich. Anna was also updated and given her own character select spot complete with a unique portrait, voice, stance, a few of her own unique moves (as well as her moves from the first two games, some of which were given to Ogre) and her own ending, as opposed to in previous installments, where she was basically a model-swap of Nina. Still, she reused a lot of Nina's strikes and throws. She was made even more unique in Tekken 5.The PlayStation version features new Tekken Force and Tekken Ball modes, as well as all modes present in Tekken 2. Due to PSX hardware limitations (less video RAM and lower clock speed) the visual quality was reduced. The backgrounds were re-made into 2D panoramic images, the character poly-count was reduced, and the game ran at lower overall resolution.
The PlayStation 2 release of Tekken 5 features the Arcade version of Tekken 3.
Bleemcast
While Namco never officially ported Tekken to Dreamcast, an independent company designed bleem!Bleem!
Bleem! was a commercial PlayStation emulator released by the Bleem Company in 1999 for IBM-compatible PCs and Dreamcast...
, a special boot disk for Dreamcast, that enabled the Dreamcast to boot the PlayStation version of the game.
The port enhanced the resolution thus making the game look sharper. A noticeable difference between the background images and the stage can be seen, which was because Namco used panoramic images on the background that could not be enhanced. Also some character models after being enhanced have a more blocky appearance because the character model display is much sharper.
Reception
According to MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, Tekken 3 has a score of 96 out of 100, indicating universal acclaim and is ranked number 2 on their list of greatest PlayStation games. Tekken 3 became the first game in three years to receive a 10 from a reviewer from Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
, with three of the four reviewers giving it the highest possible score (Tekken 3 was the first game to score a 10 under EGM
Sonic & Knuckles
Sonic & Knuckles is a 1994 platform video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. It was developed in the United States at Sega Technical Institute by members of Sonic Team, and was published by Sega worldwide on October 18, 1994.As well as working as a standalone...
). 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. In December 2006 it was ranked tenth on GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot 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...
's top ten list. In September 2004 it ranked #10 on PSM
PlayStation: The Official Magazine
PlayStation: The Official Magazine is a magazine originally known as PlayStation Magazine . After Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine was canceled, Sony Computer Entertainment announced on October 1, 2007 that PSM would become "PlayStation: The Official Magazine"...
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
's Top 200 games of all time. As of April 2011, the game is listed as the eighth-highest-rated game of all time on the review compiling site GameRankings with an average ratio of 96.3%.
External links
- Tekken 3 Official Website
- Tekken 3 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 3 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 3 at The Killer List of VideogamesKiller List of VideogamesThe Killer List of Videogames is a web site featuring an online encyclopedia devoted to cataloging arcade games past and present. It is the video game department of the International Arcade Museum, and has been referred to as "the IMDb for players."....
- Tekken 3 at MobyGamesMobyGames-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...