is a
fighting game
A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...
developed and published by
Namco
was a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Na ...
. It was originally released for
arcades in 1994, and
ported
In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally desi ...
to the
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
a year later. The game was well-received by critics, and it would serve as the first entry in the popular ''
Tekken
is a Japanese Media mix, media franchise centered on a series of fighting game, fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment (formerly Namco). The franchise also includes film and print adaptations.
The ...
'' series, with a sequel, ''
Tekken 2
is a fighting game, the second entry in the ''Tekken'' series. It was released in arcades in 1995, and for the PlayStation in 1996. The original arcade version of the game was released in ''Tekken 5''s Arcade History mode for the PlayStation 2, ...
'', being released in 1995.
Gameplay
As with many
fighting game
A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...
s, players choose a character from a lineup and engage in hand-to-hand combat with an opponent. Unlike most fighting games of the time, ''Tekken'' allows the player to control each of the fighter's four limbs independently.
The player can watch the animation on screen and figure out the appropriate command (if the character kicks low with their right leg, the move is likely to be executed by pressing down and right kick or a similar variation). By default, there are two rounds of combat. However, the players have a choice from one to five rounds, as well as options for the time limit of each round. If the time limit for the round expires, the character with more health remaining will be declared the winner; if one does not exist, the round will be a draw.
In the game, the name of the location is displayed in the bottom right corner of the screen. Unlike in the sequels, the locations were all representations of real places and included:
*
King George Island
*
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat (; km, អង្គរវត្ត, "City/Capital of Temples") is a temple complex in Cambodia and is the largest religious monument in the world, on a site measuring . Originally constructed as a Hinduism, Hindu temple dedicated ...
*
Szechwan
*
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
*
Windermere
Windermere (sometimes tautology (language), tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere, Cumbria (town), Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in leng ...
*
Acropolis
An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...
*
Venezia
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...
*
Zozo Marine Stadium
(official name: ) is a stadium in Chiba City, Chiba, Japan. It opened in 1990 and holds approximately 30,000 people. It is primarily used for baseball and is the home field of the Chiba Lotte Marines. It is also used for Rugby union. The stad ...
*
Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...
*
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
*
Monument Valley
Monument Valley ( nv, Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii, , meaning ''valley of the rocks'') is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of sandstone buttes, the largest reaching above the valley floor. It is located on the Utah-Arizona s ...
Characters
The original arcade version features eight playable fighters. Each has a special "sub-boss" associated with them, who will be fought in Stage 8, followed by the final boss,
Heihachi Mishima
is a Character (arts), fictional character of Bandai Namco Studios, Bandai Namco's ''Tekken'' fighting game series, serving as its main antagonist. Introduced as the boss character from the first ''Tekken (video game), Tekken'' video game from 1 ...
. The sub-boss characters are clones in terms of moveset, with only a handful of moves distinguishing them from the original.
All sub-bosses and Heihachi were never made playable in the original arcade version. When the game was
ported
In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally desi ...
to the PlayStation, however, they were made
unlockable by clearing Arcade Mode using different characters. In addition, the console version also adds Kazuya's alter-ego,
Devil
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...
, who serves as Heihachi's final boss and can be unlocked as a costume for Kazuya by completing the ''
Galaga
is a 1981 fixed shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco. In North America, it was released by Midway Manufacturing. It is the sequel to ''Galaxian'' (1979), Namco's first major video game hit in arcades. Controlling a starshi ...
''-based minigame. All in all, a total of 17 playable fighters exist in the console version. A
cutscene
A cutscene or event scene (sometimes in-game cinematic or in-game movie) is a sequence in a video game that is not interactive, interrupting the gameplay. Such scenes are used to show conversations between characters, set the mood, reward the ...
is unlocked when the player finishes the home version's Arcade Mode with each of the original eight characters.
Playable fighters
Unlockable character in home version, unplayable in arcade version
Home version exclusive and unlockable and palette swap
Plot
When
Kazuya Mishima
is a fictional character in Bandai Namco's ''Tekken'' fighting game series, first featured as the protagonist in the original 1994 game and later became one of the major antagonists and antihero of the series. The son of worldwide conglomerate ...
is 5 years old, his father
Heihachi Mishima
is a Character (arts), fictional character of Bandai Namco Studios, Bandai Namco's ''Tekken'' fighting game series, serving as its main antagonist. Introduced as the boss character from the first ''Tekken (video game), Tekken'' video game from 1 ...
carries him to the top of a mountain and callously throws him off a cliff to test his son's strength, whether he is fit to lead the Mishima Zaibatsu, the family business, and to see if he will be able to climb back up the same cliff. Kazuya survives the initial fall, but left a large scar on his chest which causes a demonic entity within him called the Devil Gene to activate, offering Kazuya the opportunity to gain immense strength and power. Driven by his thirst for revenge, he climbs up the mountainside. To further motivate Kazuya, Heihachi adopts the Chinese orphan
Lee Chaolan
Lee Chaolan (Chinese language, Chinese: 李 超狼; pinyin: ''Lǐ Chāoláng''; Japanese language, Japanese: リー・チャオラン; Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: ''Rī Chaoran'') is a player character from the ''Tekken'' fighting game franch ...
and raises him as a rival to his true son.
Over the years, Kazuya travels around the world and competes in martial arts championships, becoming an undefeated champion, with the only blemish on his record being a draw against
Paul Phoenix, an American martial artist who seeks to settle the score with him. 21 years later, Heihachi decides to test his son's strength and worth and announces the King of Iron Fist Tournament, after Kazuya defeated Lee Chaolan in the later stages of the tournament, and narrowly defeated Paul Phoenix in a furious battle that lasted for hours in the semi-finals, Kazuya reaches the finals where he battles Heihachi. However, Heihachi is unexpectedly defeated by Kazuya, empowered by the strength given to him by the Devil Gene, in an intense father-son battle. In an act of revenge, Kazuya picks up his father's unconscious body and tosses him down the same cliff that he was thrown off as a child. Smiling to himself, Kazuya becomes the owner of the Mishima Zaibatsu.
Development and release
''Tekken'' was not originally conceived as a fighting game. The project began as an internal
Namco
was a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Na ...
test case
In software engineering, a test case is a specification of the inputs, execution conditions, testing procedure, and expected results that define a single test to be executed to achieve a particular software testing objective, such as to exercise ...
for animating
3D character models, and eventually incorporated
texture mapping
Texture mapping is a method for mapping a texture on a computer-generated graphic. Texture here can be high frequency detail, surface texture, or color.
History
The original technique was pioneered by Edwin Catmull in 1974.
Texture mapping ...
similar to that found in Namco's 1993 racing game ''
Ridge Racer
is a racing game, racing video game series developed and published for arcade systems and home game consoles by Bandai Namco Entertainment, formerly Namco. The first game, ''Ridge Racer (1993 video game), Ridge Racer'' (1993), was originally rel ...
''.
In 1994, Namco acquired developers from longtime competitor
Sega
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
, which had recently created the first 3D fighting game with 1993's ''
Virtua Fighter
is a series of fighting games created by Sega-AM2 and designer Yu Suzuki. The original ''Virtua Fighter'' was released in October 1993 and has received four main sequels and several spin-offs. The highly influential first ''Virtua Fighter'' game ...
''.
Namco's research managing director Shegeichi Nakamura had met with
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...
head
Ken Kutaragi
is a Japanese engineering technologist and businessman. He is the former chairman and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), the video game division of Sony Corporation, and current president and CEO of Cyber AI Entertainment. He is known ...
in 1993 to discuss the preliminary PlayStation specifications, with Namco subsequently developing the
Namco System 11
The is a 32-bit arcade system board developed jointly by Namco and Sony Computer Entertainment. Released in 1994, the System 11 is based on a prototype of the PlayStation, Sony's first home video game console, using a 512 KB operating syste ...
arcade board based on PlayStation hardware and ''Tekken'' as their answer to Sega's popular ''Virtua Fighter''. ''Tekken'' was initially planned for the
Namco System 22, after Namco heard Sega was developing ''
Virtua Fighter 2
is a 1994 fighting game, fighting video game developed by Sega. It is the sequel to 1993's ''Virtua Fighter (video game), Virtua Fighter'' and the second game in the ''Virtua Fighter'' series. It was created by Sega's Yu Suzuki-headed Sega AM2, ...
'' for their new
Sega Model 2
Sega is a video game developer, publisher, and hardware development company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with multiple offices around the world. The company's involvement in the arcade game industry began as a Japan-based distributor of coin-o ...
arcade board, before the development of ''Tekken'' was later moved to the System 11 after the meeting with Kutaragi.
The game was originally going to be titled ''Rave War'', but in its final stages of development it was changed to ''Tekken''.
Also known as ''Rave Wars'', the prototype was demonstrated at the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) Expo in September 1994, before being renamed ''Tekken'' upon release.
Directed by ''Virtua Fighter'' designer
Seiichi Ishii
Seiichi Ishii (石井 精一 ''Ishii Seiichi'', born 18 August 1967) is a Japanese game designer. He is best known for the development of fighting games.
Ishii was born in Ichinomiya, Aichi, Ichinomiya City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. He was a des ...
, ''Tekken'' was intended to be a fundamentally similar title, with the addition of detailed textures and twice the
frame rate
Frame rate (expressed in or FPS) is the frequency (rate) at which consecutive images (frames) are captured or displayed. The term applies equally to film and video cameras, computer graphics, and motion capture systems. Frame rate may also be ca ...
.
''Tekken'' was further distinguished by its intuitive control scheme and memorable characters. Because it was developed for Namco's System 11 arcade board, which was based on raw
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
hardware, ''Tekken'' was easily ported to the latter.
It was the first arcade game to use this board.
''Tekken'' was marketed to small arcades as a cheaper alternative to Sega's ''Virtua Fighter 2'', which was released for the more expensive Model 2 arcade board.
Namco held a promotional tour to market the arcade game across North America in early 1995, holding
video game competition
Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...
tournaments in twelve cities.
Originally released for the arcades in late 1994, ''Tekken'' was later ported to the PlayStation. The console version allowed players to unlock mid-boss characters when the game was beaten and had
full motion video
Full-motion video (FMV) is a video game narration technique that relies upon pre-recorded video files (rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models) to display action in the game. While many games feature FMVs as a way to present information duri ...
s. The
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
version of ''
Tekken 5
is a fighting game developed and published by Namco for the arcades in 2004, and for the PlayStation 2 in 2005. It is the fifth main and sixth installment, in the '' Tekken'' series, marking the tenth anniversary of the series. The game is set ...
'' features the arcade version of ''Tekken'' (being an
emulated
In computing, an emulator is Computer hardware, hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the ''host'') to behave like another computer system (called the ''guest''). An emulator typically enables the host system to run so ...
version of its arcade counterpart as well as the other two that were included in the arcade history mode). In 2005, Namco re-released ''Tekken'' as part of the ''
NamCollection
is a video game compilation released in July 2005 by Namco in Japan only to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary. The compilation includes five PlayStation video games (''Ace Combat 2'', '' Klonoa: Door to Phantomile'', '' Mr. Driller'', ''Rid ...
'' compilation for the PlayStation 2 to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary.
Reception
Commercial
In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed it on their February 1, 1995 issue as being the fifth most-popular arcade game for the previous two weeks. It went on to be Japan's fourth highest-grossing
arcade game of 1995, below ''Virtua Fighter 2'', ''
Street Fighter Zero
''Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams'', known as in Japan, Asia, South America, and Oceania, is a 2D arcade fighting game by Capcom originally released in 1995 for the CP System II hardware. It was the first all new ''Street Fighter'' game p ...
'' and ''
Vampire Hunter: Darkstalkers' Revenge''. In the United States, it was one of top five highest-grossing
arcade conversion In video gaming parlance, a conversion is the production of a game on one computer or console that was originally written for another system. Over the years, video game conversion has taken form in a number of different ways, both in their style a ...
kits of 1995.
''Tekken'' was the first PlayStation game to sell over a million units. In Japan, it sold 942,000 units in 1995, making it the fourth best-selling home video game of 1995, below ''
Dragon Quest VI
''Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation'', known in Europe as ''Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie'', is a role-playing video game developed by Heartbeat and published by Enix for the Super Famicom as a part of the '' Dragon Quest'' series and ...
'', ''
Chrono Trigger
is a 1995 role-playing video game developed and published by Square. It was originally released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as the first game in the ''Chrono'' series. The game's development team included three designers th ...
'' and ''Virtua Fighter 2''.
''Tekken'' was also a best-seller in the United Kingdom, where it was the top-selling game in October and December 1995. In the United States, the game sold 786,556 units, for a combined units sold in Japan and the United States.
''
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
'' awarded ''Tekken'' with multiple records in the ''
Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
2008''. These include, "First PlayStation Game to Sell Over One Million Units", "First Fighting Game To Feature Simulated 3D", as well as a record for the entire series as "The Best Selling Fighting Series for PlayStation Consoles."
Critical
''Tekken'' was well-received by game critics. The arcade prototype ''Rave War'' demonstrated at AMOA 1994 received a positive preview from ''
Electronic Gaming Monthly
''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews.
History
The m ...
'', with a writer for the magazine comparing it favorably with ''Virtua Fighter 2'' and stating "I found Rave War quite a bit more fun to play."
On release of the PlayStation version, ''Famicom Tsūshin'' (''
Famitsu
formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
'') scored ''Tekken'' a 38 out of 40,
[ while giving it an 8 out of 10 in their Reader Cross Review. '']Edge
Edge or EDGE may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Edge computing, a network load-balancing system
* Edge device, an entry point to a computer network
* Adobe Edge, a graphical development application
* Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...
'' opined that, despite "lacking the overall visual allure" of ''Virtua Fighter 2'', ''Tekken'' "not only matches" the "style and quality of Sega's character animation, but it pushes its rival to the wire in playability terms, too." ''GamePro
Gamepro.com is an international multiplatform video game magazine media company that covers the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software in countries such as Germany and France. The publication, GamePro, was originally la ...
'' called the PlayStation version "one of the best arcade-to-home translations ever" and commented that while the graphics look rough and blocky compared to ''Battle Arena Toshinden
is a weapons-based fighting game developed by Tamsoft and published by Takara and Sony Computer Entertainment in 1995 for the PlayStation, followed by 1996 ports for the Sega Saturn, Game Boy and MS-DOS. It was one of the first fighting games to ...
'', the moves all have a clear and definite usefulness. They also praised the absence of ring-outs and the sound effects, and concluded "With impressive controls, lots of fighters, and strategic gameplay, ''Tekken'' makes ''Toshinden'' look more like pretty fighting than a real fight." ''Maximum'' called it "far and away the finest beat 'em up to grace this super console so far", citing the well-balanced player characters, "innovative" control mechanic of assigning one button to each limb, complexity of the moves, and ten playable boss characters, and arguing that the game is superior to ''Toshinden'' in both gameplay and graphics. However, they did criticize the poor PAL optimization of the European release. Like ''GamePro'', '' Next Generation'' considered the game's graphics to be its weakest point, specifically the lack of animation on the backgrounds. They nonetheless considered it a new standard for polygonal fighting games, remarking in particular that the controls are easy to master and every character in the game has their own unique and compelling special move. In 1996, GamesMaster
''GamesMaster'' is a British television programme which originally aired on Channel 4 from 1992 to 1998. In 2021, it returned for a new series on YouTube and E4. It was the first UK television programme dedicated to video games.
Dominik Diam ...
ranked the game 49th on their "Top 100 Games of All Time."
References
External links
Official website
(archived)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tekken (video game)
1994 video games
Android (operating system) games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Namco arcade games
PlayStation (console) games
PlayStation 2 games
PlayStation Network games
Sichuan in fiction
Sony Interactive Entertainment games
Tekken games
Video games scored by Nobuyoshi Sano
Video games scored by Shinji Hosoe
Video games set in Antarctica
Video games set in Arizona
Video games set in Athens
Video games set in Cambodia
Video games set in Chiba Prefecture
Video games set in Chicago
Video games set in China
Video games set in Fiji
Video games set in Kyoto
Video games set in Venice