Review by supreme dar

"The fastest and best looking sequel"

Tekken 5 is a fighting game made by Namco and it's the sixth game in the Tekken franchise and the sequel to Tekken 4. After the fast paced Tekken Tag Tournament in 2001, many were disappointed with the true sequel of Tekken 3; Tekken 4. Now Tekken 5 has arrived and it's looking better, playing faster and sounding better then ever.

Gameplay 10/10
In Tekken 5 many things have changed and it's playing a lot more like Tekken 3 while still having many Tekken 4 features.

For starters, you can't move before the match starts, this has a huge impact on the game. In Tekken 4 you could strategically position yourself before the match started, now you can't do this anymore.

You also can't push/pull your characters away/towards you. In Tekken 4 this was a way to get out of the corners by grabbing your opponent and turning sides or pushing him away.

In Tekken 4 there were only stages with walls and some of them had an height difference by some stairs or a steep floor. In Tekken 5 however there is an variety of walled stages and open stages. The open stages of Tekken 3 were missing in Tekken 4, but have returned in Tekken 5. This was one of the reasons why many people did not like Tekken 4, because it had walls and no open areas.

Another reason why many people disliked Tekken 4 was because it played much slower, compared to Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag Tournament. Tekken 5 however is the fastest Tekken to date. Not only has it superb graphics, but it also has the fast paced action of Tekken 3. So it's Tekken 3 fast paced gameplay and the good graphics of Tekken 4 with a major improvement in the graphics section.

You can also duck by pressing down and up, without pressing a punch or kick button. In Tekken 4 pressing down or up resulted in sidestepping and there was no way to jump or duck straight up or down without pressing a punch or kick button. In Tekken 3 sidestepping was done by pressing up or down twice. In this Tekken however sidestepping is done by tapping up or down and the by holding the respective button if you want to keep sidestepping.

Tekken 5 has a great variety of characters that are playable and they all play very differently. The roster of Tekken 5 is very impressive and you will not find any "clones" of other characters. Not all of the characters of previous Tekken games have returned, but this was to get rid of the clones. Every character is unique in his/hers own way.

The game also has many game modes to choose from: Story Mode, Arcade Mode, Team Battle Mode, Survival Mode, Time Attack Mode and the Tekken 5 side game: Devil Within.

Story 6/10
After Tekken 4 the story in this game became somewhat strange and at times even unbelievable/unrealistic. People enter the tournament with strange motives, the dialogues in the story battles add little to nothing to what you already knew or read in the epilogue and most of the endings makes no sense. However, some of the characters have a story and a ending that fits the in the storyline of Tekken. It would have been nicer though, if everyone had a story and an ending that fits the story line.

Audio 9/10
The audio in some stages in Tekken 5 are incredible. They are very nice and ver catchy. They really shape a nice atmosphere that add to the in-game experience. While some stages are somewhat strange, including the music with that stage, others sound really great, especially combined with the audio. Some stages that are really nice, combined with it's audio are Moonlight Wilderness and Cathedral. The atmosphere created by the music at these stages is incredible and fit in the game very well.

Video 10/10
Tekken has never looked better on the PS2. It probably is one of the best looking game on the PS2, that can combine such beautiful graphics, with very fluid and fast gameplay. When you get knocked over in a stage, you see that the moment you fall, stones get bumped up the ground and a crack is created. The animations of the characters and their moves also look much better compared with Tekken 4.

The characters in Tekken 5 however are not as zoomed in as in Tekken 4. The action is less closer than in Tekken 4, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. This way you have better oversight at the stage and characters.

The moves that the characters do, also looks a lot better. They actually seem to really hurt the other character. Stun emotions are also very well placed and when you're stunned and you're in a crouching position, you also only can be hit by a mid or a low attack and you can clearly see it miss the opponent when you perform a high move.

Replayability 10/10
There are many things to do in this fighting game. You have a Story Mode, which follows the story of the character you choose to fight as. This means that every character has a different ending, so that is a lot of replay value, if you want to see all of the endings. There's an Arcade Mode, where you fight countless opponents that have a challenging AI. There's Team Battle Mode, where you can fight as a team of fighters against another team of fighters, up to eight characters in your team. There's a Survival Mode, where you play the game with the same life bar and won't stop until you're defeated. You can also play a Time Mode, where your goal is to complete the game as fast as you can. This Tekken also has a side game called: Devil Within. This is a mode where you play as Jin and try to uncover the truth about his mother Jun. It's a challenging side game that plays quite challenging and something new compared with previous versions of Tekkens "Tekken Force Mode".

Buy or Rent?
There are many games that are worth a rental and many games that are worth to be bought. Tekken 5 is a game that is worth to be bought. You won't regret it, since it has many to offer. If you're a fighting game fan, this is one game that you should definitely try.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10 | Originally Posted: 05/24/05, Updated 05/25/05

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