Tekken is one of those franchises that gets more than enough attention in Europe and Japan but doesn't get as popular in the US. After the superb Tekken Tag Tournament that was released on 2000, Tekken 4 tries to improve the mechanics in order to make Tekken a worthy opponent to Sega's Virtua Fighter 4. Unfortunately, instead of improving the game, they've ruined some fundamental part of it, making it less fun than it used to be. Tekken 4, unlike Tag, is going by the story. It tells about what happened 20 years ago back in the end of Tekken 2; Heihachi threw his son Kazuya to the pit of a volcano, but later years later, Heihachi finds out that his rebellious son is still alive. After doing some investigations, Heihachi finds out about the Devil Gene that lives inside of Kazuya (which probably helped him to survive) and he decides to lure his son to his Zaibatsu, capture him and use the Devil Gene so he can become a much stronger person than he already is (I MEAN HE IS 70 YEARS OLD!). So, in order to lure his son, Heihachi decides to organize the 4th Iron Fist tournament to him and even his grandson, Jin Kazama, jump at the offer and not only them are back, fighters join the 4IFT in order to win the biggest prise ever: THE Mishima Zaibatsu. There aren't so many new stuff out there, there's still the familiar Arcade, Time Attack, Vs, Survival, Theater modes and even the Tekken Force is making a comeback. The new mode that has been added to the edition is the Story Mode, which isn't different from the Arcade. You can see the back story and the epilogue of each character and much like the arcade mode, you need to fight in order to win. However, at some story modes, you won't necessarily have to fight Heihachi at the end like you usually do in the arcade mode. Some characters will fight another character for their respective final boss, Jin's Hwoarang's final boss. Also, like in the previous installments, you can open cutscenes which tell more about the characters, some of them are funny (Lee, Lei, Murdok and Kuma), some of them are dramatic (Jin, Nina and Bryan) and some of them are just plain stupid (Xiayou!!!). Tekken Force mode is much like the one you remember from Tekken 3, only this time it's much harder now, not to mention the full 3D movement unlike you remember it from Tekken 3. Although it's not as easy as to roam around as you'd wish and you can attack only one enemy at a time, this is still a fun and unique mode. The 4 levels in the Tekken Force are huge, especially the last one, and like I've said, it's not an easy task to finish the mode, and not many people would like to finish it, but at least the people who do finish it will get a new stage as a prize for all the hard work they devoted themselves to. About the gameplay itself, it's quite the same. It's true that people are disappointed to see that many of their favorite characters are gone, but thing about it is that now every character is entirely different than the other, even Jin and Kazuya have different fighting styles. Jin has managed to learn Karate so he can forget the basics of the Mishima Fighting Style, so basically, you can call Jin a new character now, but there are more new characters to master. Steve Fox is a boxers, mean he cannot kick. This British boxer can use the kick buttons in order to sway and dodge in order to surprise his opponents with a surprise stronger punch. Craig Murdok's the biggest character you'll meet, and the same rule goes with him: the bigger they are, the faster they fall. Craig is a Vale Tudo fighter who uses powerful attacks and even he has a very effective counter move that you can't reverse. The last and the most certainly the least is Christie. I warn you, don't be tempted by her DOA look, she's just like Eddy Gordo, so don't expect originality. Other than that, the regular characters are back with their regular move set (with several tweaks) so the game still works well. The arenas now are walled. Means that this time around the arena won't last for ever and there will be walls to define the stage's borders. This is a nice addition using new strategies to use the walls and object to your own will, but it's not that satisfying as it sounds. Despite that, the game looks great. Better than most of the games of its time. It's much crispier and shinier than any game. You can see the reflection of the walls, the water flow of the fountain in the jungle stage and much more. Each stage looks great with no exception, even the underground arean which is encircled by a group of people that can even hit you if you are to close to them. The character models have improved a lot and do not look any more like an upgraded version of Tekken 3 characters. Everything runs smoothly in 60 frames and there're shorter loading times. It is indeed one of the best looking game for the PS2. Sure, the characters talk now, it adds to the game a lot, but still, there are many flaws on the sound department. The sound effects are still punches and kicks that you loved are back again and you won't have too many problems with them. The soundtrack, however, is awful and it is maybe the worst soundtrack ever composed in a Tekken game. Only the music in the statue arena (which has classic music from Tekken 2) is worth listening. Disappointment. If you like Tekken, there's no way you'll miss this game probably. But this game made me feel that this series starts to show its age and the fighting mechaniques gets a little old. It plays well and it looks great but it's sounds bad and it isn't as fun as I wanted it to be. If you want a good fighting game, there are better around.
To many, Tekken 4 set the changing point for 3D fighting games and the genre itself. The game is distinctive from any other Tekken title in the series because it removed and added so many new gameplay features gamers bot... Read Full Review
Tekken 4 is a average fighting game that pleases fans of the series,but people that have played other fighting games might find this game to be bland,and not worth playing. But putting aside what hardcore gamers think... Read Full Review
