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General: The 10th year anniversary party is here... And Heihachi Mishima is dead. Not! The story begins with an army of Jack-4?s busting into a dojo where Kazuya and Heihachi lay weary from a battle with Jin. The Jack's initiated a self-destruct sequence and destroyed the dojo with Heihachi inside. Kazuya escaped, but a man named "Raven" reported Heihachi to be dead. Turns out, Heihachi survived the explosion... Of course he did bitch!
    Tekken 5 features a new graphics engine (System 258); as well as vibrant new arenas, a kicking f*ing soundtrack, hundreds of new moves, and plenty of characters (over 30 characters). Of course all your Tekken favorites have been updated with a great variety of new fighting techniques... Most of which looking nothing short of incredible. In my opinion, no other fighting game captures the fluidity of martial arts movements better than Tekken. Tekken 5 was a very big improvement over the somewhat disappointing Tekken 4, and fans of the series have taken to the new system with open. Why do so many people still prefer Tekken when it comes to 3D fighting games? Some might say because the characters are simply the most fun to play... And Namco clearly made the game for people who think so.
   The arcade version of Tekken 5 features the customizable "card" system... You can call it "The revolution of fighting games in American arcades." The card system is basically a character customization system (formerly only found in Japan arcades with VF4) that allows players to use a data card to customize their character's color scheme and outfit. Your card will also save information such as how many wins & losses you have, your alias, and your rank. Brilliant really... but you're stuck with one character per card. Which could get pricey if you want to customize a few different characters (cards usually run $5 each).
    The PS2 version includes all the greatness from the arcade version, simply put. Tekken 5 for the PS2 is an awesome package. Namco went all out with the console version, including a badass intro (updated from the arcade version), Jin's Devil Within mini-game, (a fun third-person play-through backed with pretty sweet soundtrack), extra costumes, dialogue within the story mode between characters, and nicely rendered endings for each and every character, which once again shows off Namco's humor and creativity. Ohh, and don't forget the home version comes with the arcade versions ofTekken 1, Tekken 2, and Tekken 3. What more could you ask for? You're just not worthy of Tekken 5 on PS2. Sorry...
    I read in a few reviews of Tekken 5 (Most scores above a 9), that, quote "The AI is great." Yeah, sure it is... For people that don't play Tekken.  Retards... The computer does random moves, and since there are now so many moves per character, of course average players can't see that shit coming. However, if you're truly skilled at Tekken (or even half-way skilled for that matter), then Ultra Hard becomes almost no challenge... (Somewhat dissapointing for you folks that don't have any friends with real Tekken skills). So if you have skill, it's only a matter of time before you'll be plowing down computer controlled Tekken Lords left and right.
   What most people fail to understand is that Tekken isn't always about random moves back and forth, it's about fighting strategies, due to the vast number mix-ups, footwork, and combos that you can do. The computer doesn't really give you a "mix-up" game (The creative act of switching up your sequences and series of moves in order to catch your enemy off guard), nor does it juggle you or do combos very well (but it gets lucky sometimes).  Neither does it mix up it's defensive/offensive patterns... It's basically always offensive (and stupid). Advanced Tekken 5 players also use a certain sidestepping technique that allows you to get behind, or to the side of your opponent while they attack... You guessed it, the AI doesn't do that either.
   So I guess what I'm saying is, find some skilled people to play against, because the Computer "Artificial Intelligence" doesn't do the game ANY justice. But if you're a newbie to Tekken, the AI will probably kick your ass, so I suppose the AI does a good job of making the game look pretty for you button masher scrubs... And that's just what it's supposed to do.
    Graphically, this game stands out... Like I said earlier, the fighting animation is the best of it's kind. The moves especially look like they hurt, and hit effects are better than ever. Character models look vibrant and are highlighted by ridiculously good lighting effects. On the flip side, some people might nag about a few graphical flaws, such as the odd and unrealistic ground shattering (which even distracts players at times), unrealisticly long air combos, disappearing rocks and penguins, etc... But I must mention that true Tekken players and fans will easily overlook background effects, because the real action is the fight itself. True fighting gamers play a particular fighting game because it's fun, not because of the graphics. I think Namco made the ground unrealistically explode in Tekken 5 just to show the world that people will still play Tekken even though it doesn't have the flashiest graphics or the most perfect physics. From my experience, more people play Tekken than any other 3D fighting game...
   The soundtrack is great... Part of the intro sounds like a it came from the likes of Linkin Park, an interesting change for the series. The individual stage BGMs are no disappointment either. Not to mention the superb voice acting... Yes, Tekken 5's characters sound like they should, and finally form a few complete sentences for once! Good job guys!
    Juggles are back, and bigger and longer than ever. The fact that some characters can do a launcher into a jab. then jab. jab. jab... jab... (into more hits), might turn some people off. But since everyone in the game has crazy air combos, the game ends up pretty balanced overall (If you're playing 5.1). Tekken 5 allow players to be incredibly creative with their fighting style, and since there are so many different moves now, you can experiment with new combos and juggles pretty much every time you play. Essentially, you're creating your own fighting style per character you pick. What other game offers that amount of creativity?
    The only real gripes I have about Tekken 5 are: First, there should be more stages. I prefer wall stages (due to the nasty combo possibilities ). The free roaming stages are classic and look pretty good (for the most part), but also look somewhat dated for 2005... so there should at least be more!  The only other gripe I have is that the main boss, Jinpachi, kinda sucks as a design. No one should be THAT powerful... Bah! I hate him. Still, the game itself shines over my pathetic gripes.
    Tekken 5 is so good, infact, you can watch yourself improve (like in any good fighting game), or get worse, depending on your skill level... which is just like in real martial arts training. If you're a Tekken vet of any kind, you'll know what I mean. Sure, this game still looks decent when a bunch of gangster-wannabe scrubs button mash like crazy (although you'll most likely see a lot of jumping and silly ground punches)... But to watch two skilled players go at it full force? ...Skill doesn't look this good too many other places.
   On the flipside, there are a few characters with "infinites" in Tekken 5... And some would say that characters like *ehem* Steve Fox, are infact "broken." But if you noticed, every good fighting game has infinites or cheap tricks that you can do to completely destroy your enemies, so I'm not going to lower my score or let my love for the game be affected by this. Because if you really are good enough, you can avoid getting caught in an infinite anyway. It simply takes more skill...  Or you can just go back to the arcade and play Tekken 5.1 (where Namco fixed the infinites, and changed up quite a few hit properties, which probably pissed off a few Tekken players here or there)... But then again, Namco pissed off arcade owners when they released the home version of T5 so quickly after the arcade release, but now with the 5.1 patch, players will return to the arcade if they like the updates, and arcade owners will be pleased once again. Right?  Namco has a way of making everybody happy, and it makes you wonder if they planned it all from the start.
   In any case, if you're looking for 3D hand to hand fighting, Tekken 5 is the place to be. I haven't played a fighting game that inspired me this much in a long time. Long live the diversity of martial arts fighting styles and the spirit of fighting. Thanks Namco.
Manufacturer: Namco
Platforms: Arcade, Playstation 2
Year: Arcade 2004 (Fall) - Console 2005 (February 25th)
Characters: Asuka Kazama, Feng Wei, Raven, Kuma, Panda, Bruce, Anna, Jin Kazama, Lee Chaolan, Ling Xiaoyu, Bryan Fury, Nina Williams, Paul Phoenix, Yoshimitsu, Steve Fox, Craig Marduk, Christie Monteiro, Eddy, Hwoarang, Kazuya Mishima, King, Marshall Law, Julia Chang, Jack-5, Lei Wulong, Roger Jr., Wang, Ganryu, Devil Jin, Mokujin, Heihachi, Jinpachi
Comment: Over 30 characters, personal stats, customizable characters, rankings... Tekken 5 brings back the old school arcade feeling. The fact that you can use your PS2 controllers in an arcade is also a long time dream of fans of the fighting genre. That's two birds with one revolutionary stone... And it's called Tekken 5. Tekken is better than ever, and lets you use pure "creativity" with your fighting style, air combos, and not to mention customizations.
Rating: Was: 10
        Now: 9.0
Rating Comment: Tekken 5's beta testing was kinda quick and sloppy, so Tekken 5 came out to be very combo friendly... Which isn't necessarily a bad or non-fun thing, but I'm sure turned some gamers off. That's when Namco proved that they could clean up their act and "resurrect" Tekken 5 to be a more balanced and respectable game.