Tekken 6, Show Me Your Moves!

The latest installation of the popular game franchise by NAMCO BANDAI GAMES Inc., Tekken 6, certainly didn’t disappoint. It can’t afford to, especially since 2009 is a good year for gamers, with the release of major fighting games such as King Of Fighters XII, Street Fighter IV and Blazblue just to name a few.

So why should anyone play Tekken 6? With 41 unique characters to choose from, Tekken 6 has the largest fighting roster ever seen in the series (Street Fighter IV only has a measly 19). This means that technically, one shouldn’t get bored with the game due to the abundance of characters available.

The game features a scenario campaign that’s basically a story mode with 2 of the game’s new characters, Alisa and Lars. I’d recommend playing this only if you’re interested in the storyline, if not, just head on to the all-important arcade mode.

The scenario campaign isn’t bad, but it’s just not my cup of tea. I pay good money to play a great fighting game to smash buttons and have fun. The only thing about the scenario campaign that I liked was the amazing cut scenes with the highest level of detail.

Onward to the main course in the game – the arcade mode. It’s where gamers, the young and old, the good and the not-so-good excel in. One might even say it’s where the spirit of Tekken lies.

Getting the hang of the controls to execute a special 10-hit combo will take a while, but in the meantime, the basic fight mechanics are surprisingly simple, with each button controlling a specific limb of your character.

Unfortunately I had trouble completing stage 5 of the arcade mode, against a blonde fighter, Lili. I got 4 of my friends to have a go at her, but she shot all of them down like a cleaner swatting flies. The fighting level of the artificially-intelligent (AI) opponent increases after each stage and she was surprisingly strong.

After much button-mashing and cheering from our motley gang, we finally defeated her. Tekken 6 offers not only a rich fighting experience but also allows users to customize the characters, enhancing the incredible gameplay as the players go fisticuff.

If you are bored of playing against AI, you can go online and pit your skills against other players all over the world via Xbox Live® in the online versus mode. You can also create and upload your own characters as ghost characters, which can be downloaded as AI opponents. The ‘ghosts’ will have all the battle data of the player who uploaded them. This allows you to practise with the best gamers in the globe without having to suffer the agony of losing to them in real time.

Tekken 6 was released on end of last month for Xbox 360® and PlayStation® 3 consoles, and will be available for PlayStation®Portable on Nov 27.