One of the primary reasons that Tekken 5's large cast of characters is so fun to use, though, (other than the usual list of insane juggles and intuitive reversals), is because there's literally a million things to do with them. Raven's uncanny resemblance to Wesley Snipes as Blade is was a humorous side touch too. In fact, Raven and Feng Wei quickly became two of my favorite alter egos thanks to a pair of fighting styles that haven't really been used in this franchise before. Additionally, the three brand new combatants (Asuka Kazama, Feng Wei, and Raven) are incredibly cool to use and a lot of fun to learn. Plus, as I said before, they're all extremely well balanced and are easily the best versions of the characters yet available (especially Steve - he's a tank). Returning favorites like Jin, Kazuya, Marshall Law, Paul Phoenix, and Hwoarang join more recent names like Steve Fox, Craig Marduk, and the aforementioned Christie Monteiro. ![]() Boasting more than two dozen popular fighters from throughout the series' history, the roster in Tekken 5 is pretty much a who's who when it comes to fighting games. Speaking of characters, it's hard to get angry at the lineup here. I'm particularly jazzed that Namco finally toned down newbie "mash bastards like Christie Monteiro and Lee Chaolan - who still chime in as powerful characters but with a lot less cheddar to go along with it. And when coupled with some of the most even character balancing I've seen since VF4: Evolution, this speed increase provides a great base for what turns out to be an excellent fighting ga"me. Though still not as fast as DOA Ultimate or a 2D fighter like Guilty Gear, it's still the quickest game in the series by far. These alterations are made even better by Tekken 5's obvious increase in speed. On a slightly less important note, the crouching command has thankfully been returned to its old "down press" designation instead of down-diagonal - meaning that players probably won't end up walking forward by accident when trying to duck as they did in the last one. The uneven, mulutiple-elevation stages have been nix too, but to acknowledge the fact those destructible goodies from the last game were a pretty good idea, the floors, walls, and certain other environmental spots still show damage when you smash into them. So while the bothersome wall infinites from Tekken 4 have been completely eliminated, players can still use the occasional barrier to get an advantage on their opponent. Though it more closely resembles the Tekken 3/Tekken Tag pair of games, it still takes the best elements from the previous four titles and combines them into a single kickass experience. To be more accurate, Tekken 5 is really more of a Tekken series melting pot. Yoshimitsu's revenge against Bryan isn't working out so well. To be honest, though, I had secretly hoped that the developers would go back to something closer to Tekken Tag for Tekken 5 - and wouldn't you know it? Somebody at Namco apparently read my mind, because Tekken 5 is awesome. lots of fun, and it was all because of that game's terrific timing, pacing, and balance. I'd spend entire weekends participating in pleasant competitions with my closest friends, I'd devise bizarre and unworkable strategies with my co-workers, and I'd practice Jin and Jun's crazy ten-strings with my woman between dinner dates. ![]() It was the reason I plunked down the cash to pick up a PlayStation 2 in the first place, and it became an after-work obsession of mine for nearly two years. As cool as I thought Tekken 4 was, however, it couldn't hold a candle to Tekken Tag Tournament. It was a great sequel and definitely worth picking up. It presented a legitimate revamping of a franchise that had remained relatively unchanged for close to seven years, and brought such novel additions as uneven surfaces, strategic wall damage, destructible objects, and position changes to an already addicting gameplay mechanic. It took the popular "King of Iron Fist" series to an interesting place by successfully borrowing ideas from competitors like Dead or Alive 2 and Virtua Fighter 4 while adding its own unique touch.
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