Game Overview
Platform: Playsation 1
Developer: Namco
Release Year: 1994
Gameplay
The original Tekken does a fantastic job at setting the foundations for this 3D Fighting franchise. The face buttons representing a different limb of your fighter creates a fluid and addictive combo system that will have you wanting to learn everything you can about your favourite characters
Graphics & Audio
Graphically Tekken isn't anything to marvel at nowadays but i am sure this looked great for the time. The levels are just .png backgrounds wrapping around a flat plain you fight on and even though this sounds simple it makes for some amazing landscapes to fight in.
The soundtrack is full of bangers and just spews 1990s Japanese arcade. While not one of the best soundtracks the franchise has to offer there is still a lot of great stuff here, but Monument Valley's theme can disappear forever. I hate that "song" if you can even call it a song.
Story
The story of the original Tekken sets up the narrative that is still going strong 8 games later as the feud between father and son, Heihachi and Kazuya Mishima. outside of this Heihachi is putting on a fighting tournament with the intent to scout fighters for his own personal use. Kazuya is entering the tournament to once and for all get revenge on his father for throwing him off a huge cliff many years prior to the tournament.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Fluid fighting system with an easy to learn hard to master quality
- Stages and soundtrack are incredibly memorable
Cons:
- Jack sucks to play as
- Monument Valley's theme song
Final Verdict
Overall Tekken 1 is still a good time even 30+ years later and I love that the DNA of this game can still be seen in many other titles in the franchise. it's not perfect and I think that the leap between Tekken 1 and 2 is huge but this is still worth a look at!
Score: 6/10
For a more in depth analysis of Tekken be sure to check out my video retrospective on Youtube!