Tekken 3 (Arcade) review "I have played a lot of Arcade games in my lifetime. Some I have enjoyed very much, and some were the biggest waste of change I have ever wasted. The Fighting game genre has always been very well represented on the arcade scene since the explosion of Street Fighter 2 a few years back. But some of the fighting games have just been plain boring. The Mortal Kombat series, with the exception of part 2, has never really been a great fighting game series. But for every few Mortal Kombat series, there a..."

I have played a lot of Arcade games in my lifetime. Some I have enjoyed very much, and some were the biggest waste of change I have ever wasted. The Fighting game genre has always been very well represented on the arcade scene since the explosion of Street Fighter 2 a few years back. But some of the fighting games have just been plain boring. The Mortal Kombat series, with the exception of part 2, has never really been a great fighting game series. But for every few Mortal Kombat series, there are great fighting game series. Tekken series is on of these series. As a matter of fact, I have played Tekken 2 through Tekken Tag Tournament, and I actually had the most enjoyment out of Tekken 3. Now I might like Tekken Tag Tournament better now, but I had tons of fun when Tekken 3 first came out.

My friend and I used to go down to our local arcade every Sunday to play Tekken 3. We soon became quite addicted to the game. The fast gameplay and great graphics dazzled us, and we never quit playing till we mastered the game with eevry charcater. Soon, we became quite well known in the Arcade, and it seemed like every Sunday, the Tekken 3 arcade machine was waiting for us.

Now I am not one to judge a game simply by graphics, but if I was, I would have to say that Tekken 3 was one of the best arcade games ever. Featuring detailed backgrounds and great charcater designs, the graphics failed to dissapoint. The graphics might not be quite on the level of a Tekken Tag Tournament or a Crazy Taxi, but the graphics in the game were simply beautiful. I never thought that this game could be reproduced on the PLaystation, that is how good the graphics are.

Music and sound effects have always been an under-utilized factor in many arcade games, which is why I was happy to see that Tekken 3 had both good music and good sound effects. The music has great bass effects as well as a good beat to it. Each music piece seems to fit the atmosphere of the stage its featured in perfectly. The sound effects are great as well, ranging from the great voice acting to the battle cries of a fight. Overall, I was glad to see that Tekken 3 had sych good sound and music effects.

Now as everyone knows, music and graphics aren't worth a monkey's butt if the game doesn't have good gameplay, and Tekken 3 has the good gameplay needed for a successful game. Unlike most arcade fighting sequels, Tekken 3 is actually much improved over its predecessors. Featuring faster gameplay, more charcaters, and more moves, the gameplay had never been matched until Tekken Tag Tournament came out. The Playstation version added new modes to it, but the gameplay in the Arcade version is very good indeed.

Replay Value is good. Did I tell you the story of how I played the game every weekend for three months? Well I do not due that any more due to Tekken Tag Tournament, but the game's replay value still does not suffer as much as one would expect. Kudos to Namco for making a game that never seems to grow old.

Challenge Factor is average, especially for a fighting game. I have played easier fighting games, and I have played more difficult fighting games. A good challenge to the game is trying to beat it with every charcater. This could take a while and contribute to the replay value as well as challenge.

Overall, Tekken 3 may not live up to its sequel, but the depth of gameplay leads to outstanding replay value. Don't think that the game is bad just because Tag Tournament is better. Tekken 3 more than holds its own in the fighting game arena. Reccomended.

Community review by psychopenguin (May 20, 2007) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.