A game that became an instant classic...
The consequential ps1 port, released in japan in March 1995, was a faithful conversion, boasting almost identical graphics (except lower res textures for the ground and static cg portraits in the character select screen), and new cg endings and intro, along the possibility of unlocking the hidden characters.
The game was Namco's answer to Am2's Virtua Fighter, and albeit copiyng the Am2 masterpiece's formula, it also introduced new concepts such as the four button system where each limb was assigned to a frontal button, multipart throws and 10-hit combos.
The game was juggle oriented, and every character had a launcher attack in his/her arsenal.
Juggles weren't as hard as in Virtua Fighter and they could drain a lot of the health bar, making the rounds quite short, compared to other fighting games.
Compared to the other ps1 fighting game released in that period, Battle Arena Toh Shin Den, it features less detailed backrounds graphics (backgrounds were 2d unlike BAT) but superior gameplay, altough not as hard and complex to grasp as Virtua Fighter 2 released in the japanese arcades in the same period).
The sound was a mixed bag, seeing the high quality of the BGMs (that would make a second appearance in Tekken 2) but the low quality of the fighters' voices, some of which were used for more than one character (Ex. JACK voice used for P.JACK and HEIHACHI).
The gameplay was more accessible than Virtua Fighter, and throws were quite dangerous (unbreakable) and easy to execute.
The 8 characters were quite unique and featured more interesting personalities, compared to the Virtua Fighter cast, even getting a CG animated ending for each one.
They also had to fight a hidden character rival, that usually had a similiar moveset, with a few original moves thrown in for a good measure.
Those hidden characters were unlockable in the ps1 port but they didn't get any CG ending.
I'm a bit biased because Tekken was the first game, ported to ps1, that i played in my local arcade, and it suddenly made me consider the idea of buying a ps1^^
Once in a while i dust off my old japanese ps1 (scph-1000) to play this old gem.
I love it and i consider it a great beginning for the series:)