Tekken 6

Tekken 6
North American cover art
Developer(s)	Namco Bandai
Publisher(s)	Namco Bandai
Producer(s)	Katsuhiro Harada
Series	Tekken
Platform(s)	Arcade, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita (as PSN Download), Java ME (as Tekken Mobile)
Release date(s)	Arcade JP November 26, 2007 JP December 18, 2008 (BR) PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360 NA October 27, 2009 JP October 29, 2009 EU October 30, 2009 AU 20091105November 5, 2009 PlayStation Portable NA 20091124November 24, 2009 EU 20091211December 11, 2009 AU 20091217December 17, 2009 JP 20100114January 14, 2010 PSVita NA 20130319March 19, 2013
Genre(s)	Fighting, beat 'em up
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Media/distribution	Blu-ray Disc, DVD-DL, UMD, Download

Tekken 6 (鉄拳6) is a fighting game developed and published by Namco Bandai. It is the seventh main installment in the Tekken franchise. It was released in Japanese arcades on November 26, 2007 as the first game running on the PlayStation 3-based System 357 arcade board. The game received an update, subtitled Bloodline Rebellion, a year later. A home version based on the update was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on October 27, 2009 and for PlayStation Portable on November 24, 2009. This game can be digitally download via PlayStation Store to play on PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita.

Gameplay

Tekken 6 features bigger stages with more interactivity than its predecessors, such as walls or floors that can be broken to reveal new fighting areas. The character customization feature has been enhanced, and certain items have implications in some aspects of gameplay.

A new "rage" system has been added, giving characters more damage per hit when their vitality is below a certain point. Once activated, a reddish energy aura appears around the character, and their health bar starts to flicker in red. The rage aura can be customized with different colors and effects to appear like fire, electricity, ice, among others. Another gameplay feature added is the "bound" system. Every character has several moves that, when used on an opponent that is currently midair in a juggle combo, will cause the opponent to be smashed hard into the ground, bouncing them off the floor in a stunned state and leaving them vulnerable to another combo or additional attack. As of the Bloodline Rebellion update, successfully parrying a low attack will also put a character into a bound state.

The console versions (excluding the PSP version) also include an extra mode entitled "Scenario Campaign" which bears similarities with the "Tekken Force" and "Devil Within" modes from previous installments. In this mode, the player can move freely in an environment similar to that of a third-person role-playing game. Players can also pick up weapons such as poles and gatling guns, along with lootable items, money, and power-ups which can be found inside crates that are scattered all throughout the playing environment. Players can move freely between fights, but when a group of enemies are encountered, the gameplay switches to the traditional, two-dimensional Tekken style. This mode originally only had single player offline. Namco released a patch on January 18, 2010 that allows online Co-op mode for Scenario Campaign.

Both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game include an online versus multiplayer mode over PlayStation Network and Xbox Live respectively. It includes Ranked Matches mode, where the player can promote their character to a higher ranking, and Player Matches mode, where the player's fights aren't ranked and they can invite friends to have matches with them.

The game uses a proprietary graphics engine running at 60 frames per second as well as a dynamic physics engine named Octave Engine which allows water to behave accordingly to how characters move. The graphics engine has been designed with focus on character-animation to make movements look more smooth and realistic which led to many animations being remade to either reflect the impact and damage caused or to create new possibilities in gameplay. The developers considered animation specifically important for a fighting game and wanted to make the game "look good in motion" whereas previous installments had been designed to "look good on still-shots". Since Bloodline Rebellion, the game supports dynamic full-body motion blur, making Tekken 6 the first fighting game to do so.

Plot

Following his victory in the previous tournament, Jin Kazama, the King of Iron Fist, has taken charge of the Mishima Zaibatsu and now appears to possess tyrannical ambitions. Using his resources within the organization to become a global superpower, he severs the Mishima Zaibatsu's national ties and openly declares war against all nations over the following year. This action plunges the world into an extremely chaotic spiral, with a huge-scale civil war erupting around the globe and even amidst the space colonies orbiting the planet.

His biological father, Kazuya Mishima, is aware of this and finds Jin's interference in his own plans for global domination to be a nuisance. Now in charge of the G Corporation, having usurped and taken over the company following its previous leaders' failure to use and then dispose of him, Kazuya is seen as the only force who could oppose Jin and places a bounty on Jin's head for anyone who can capture him. Jin's response is to announce The King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 in order to battle Kazuya and crush G Corporation.

Meanwhile, among the ranks of the Tekken Force, a young soldier named Lars Alexandersson has begun a rebellion to slowly dismantle the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corporation in order to put an end to the war. During an operation, Lars stumbles across a young girl android identifying her as Alisa Bosconovitch. G Corporation forces soon attack, starting a fight and causing an explosion that kills almost everyone present at the scene and leaves Lars with amnesia. Lars escapes with Alisa and the two begin a journey to discover their origins, meeting and fighting several previous Tekken characters. Jin, along with his top subordinates, Nina Williams and Eddy Gordo, learns this and issues a manhunt for Lars.

During the journey, Lars reunites with his lieutenant, Tougou, and the two keep in touch. Gradually, Lars begins to recover from his amnesia and remembers that he is the illegitimate son of Heihachi Mishima, now living in solitude but still plotting to retake the Zaibatsu from Jin. Lars locates and confronts Heihachi, prepared to kill him, but relents at the last minute and leaves, turning down Heihachi's proposal that they work together to defeat Jin. Lars eventually comes into contact with Lee Chaolan, who serves as an aid and contact for Lars after Lars rescues Lee's friend, Julia Chang, from a G Corporation facility. At the same time, Kazuya hears of Lars's exploits and sends his men to kill him.

Lars and Alisa's journey eventually leads them to G Corporation, where they are confronted by a squadron of armed soldiers. Tougou and his men arrive to provide back-up for Lars while Lars and Alisa confront and defeat Anna Williams. Once they encounter Kazuya, they engage him in combat but are ultimately defeated by and fail to apprehend him; resulting in his escape. Afterward, Lars and Alisa manage to escape, but Tougou is killed in battle, and Lars vows to avenge him. They then hijack a Zaibatsu subway train to get to the Mishima Zaibatsu's Central Tower, although they are ambushed along the way by Nina and a squadron of Tekken Forces. Despite the odds, Lars defeats the soldiers and kicks Nina off the train.

Nina later reappears having survived the fall but is again defeated by Lars. Lars and Alisa reach the tower and confront Jin and fight him which comes to no conclusion. In a plot twist, Jin reboots Alisa's memory bank and sets her on Lars, revealing that she was built the whole time to protect him and that he has been using her to monitor Lars's actions, although the G Corporation attack was not part of Jin's plan. Lars fights and manages to defeat Alisa, who flees the scene. Raven suddenly arrives, having been tailing Lars and Alisa throughout their journey, and offers help, as he saw Jin heading for the desert. Lars accepts.

Lars and Raven locate an abandoned temple in the middle of the desert, said to be the home of the demon known as Azazel, or the Rectifier. Inside the temple, Lars and Raven find and confront Kazuya once again, Kazuya learning, to his disgust, that Lars is his half-brother. After the fight, Kazuya leaves the temple with Anna. Lars and Raven reach the heart of the temple and locate Azazel. During the fight, Azazel tells Lars that he is merely a creation of man, and that it is time for him to destroy humanity to make them atone for their sins, but as he is too injured to continue fighting, Azazel apparently self-destructs. Lars and Raven flee the temple as it collapses.

Once outside, they are confronted by Jin once again, who sets Alisa on them. Lars and Raven defeat Alisa, who reverts to her old self and shares a brief, tearful reunion with Lars before expiring. Jin insults Alisa, enraging Lars and starting another fight. Lars fights him and defeats Jin in a rage. Jin, gasping, finally reveals the real intentions behind his actions: having known about Azazel for a long time since Zafina's story, Jin knew that the only way to awaken Azazel was to fill the world with negative emotions, and the best way was starting a war. Jin also tells Lars that he never appreciated how the people of the world had to live under the oppressive rule of governments and greedy corporations, and by starting the war, those powers would crumble into nothing, and the world would finally see freedom and peace.

Jin also tells Lars that Azazel is not yet dead, and can only be destroyed by someone who carries the Devil Gene. Once the beast is defeated, Jin could kill his own inner demons by freeing himself from Gene. Azazel, now much stronger, suddenly erupts from the rubble, but Jin, powering himself up with the Devil Gene, approaches Azazel, immune to his attacks, and punches his fist straight through the beast's chest, sending the both of them plummeting to their apparent deaths. Nina appears and shares a brief conversation with Lars, declaring that she cannot be the judge of whether Jin's actions were right or wrong. Lars and Raven take Alisa's body to Lee, who promises to repair her as soon as possible. Lars bids farewell to Raven. Lars then receives a call offering him a new job. The phone conversation is left a mystery to the player.

A post-credits scene shows that Raven and his colleagues have found Jin's half-buried body in the desert. Whether he is dead or alive is left ambiguous, although the latter is more likely since the tattoo is still visible on Jin's arm, indicating that Azazel's demise has apparently not freed Jin from the Devil Gene.

Characters

Tekken developer and Executive Producer of Tekken 6 Katsuhiro Harada said, "The number of playable characters will be bigger than Tekken 5 and be the largest roster in the series. I've been on the Tekken series for over 10 years, and one thing we have particularly focused on after Tekken 3 is making sure each character is unique and doesn't overlap with other characters. They all are unique not only in their appearance but their personality and techniques as well."

Harada stated that console editions of Tekken 6 will boast the greatest number of characters ever seen in a Tekken game, including virtually all of the characters from Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection and all of the new characters from both arcade versions of Tekken 6. Players are able to customize characters and take any non-customized or customized character online.

Eight new characters are introduced in this game. The first character, Zafina, is an Middle Eastern female who enters the tournament to prevent the clash of the "two evil stars". The second character, Leo Kliesen, is a German fighter who is intended to be a character which can be played by beginners and experienced players alike. The death of Leo's mother, presumably at the hands of Kazuya Mishima prompts Leo to begin investigating the Mishima Zaibatsu. The third character, Miguel Caballero Rojo, is a Spanish matador with a passion for fighting, but no real discipline. Miguel wants to exact revenge upon Jin and the Mishima Zaibatsu for causing the death of his sister at her wedding. The fourth character, Robert "Bob" Richards, is an American who was known as a martial arts genius. Due to being unable to defeat larger opponents however, he disappeared from the fighting world, determined to increase his weight and power while still maintaining speed. Bob enters The King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 to test his new skills and size.

The fifth character, NANCY-MI847J, is the bonus boss of the game. NANCY is a giant robotic creation of Mishima Zaibatsu that is similar to the Jack robots. The sixth character, Azazel, is the final boss of the game. Azazel's story is said to be related to Zafina and Julia Chang's story in Tekken 6 and the confrontation between Jin Kazama and Kazuya Mishima (presumably the 'two evil stars' from Zafina's story).

In Bloodline Rebellion and the console version, the seventh character is Alisa Bosconovitch, a cyborg with jet wings and spinning limbs who may be the cybernetically-enhanced daughter of Dr. Boskonovitch, and can also use her own arms and head as weapons. The eighth character is Lars Alexandersson, an unknown descendant of Heihachi Mishima, presumably an illegitimate son.

Returning characters

• Anna Williams
• Armor King II
• Asuka Kazama
• Baek Doo San
• Bruce Irvin
• Bryan Fury
• Christie Monteiro

• Craig Marduk
• Devil Jin
• Eddy Gordo
• Émilie "Lili" de Rochefort
• Feng Wei
• Ganryu
• Heihachi Mishima

• Hwoarang
• Jack-6
• Jin Kazama (Mid-boss)
• Julia Chang
• Kazuya Mishima
• King II
• Kuma II

• Lee Chaolan
• Lei Wulong
• Ling Xiaoyu
• Marshall Law
• Mokujin
• Nina Williams
• Panda (acts as a costume change for Kuma)

• Paul Phoenix
• Raven
• Roger Jr.
• Sergei Dragunov
• Steve Fox
• Wang Jinrei
• Yoshimitsu

Development and promotion

Tekken 6 exposition at the E3 2009

On October 23, 2009, Namco Bandai released a Tekken 6 themed game space in the North American version of the PlayStation 3's online community-based service, PlayStation Home. The space is called "Mishima Zaibatsu - Recreation Floor" and features the "Dumbbell Rack" and the "Do you need something to drink?" area. If users access them, they are given rewards. It also features an arcade cabinet that lets users game launch Tekken 6, a store, and a door that leads to part of Namco Bandai's Game Developer Space, the Namco Theatre. The space was released in the Asian, European, and Japanese versions on October 29, 2009. In addition to the Game Space, there are costumes of a few of the characters from Tekken 6 available for purchase in Home's shopping complex and the store in the Tekken 6 space. The game also fully supports game launching which is a feature of Home that lets users set up multi-player games in Home and launch directly into the game from Home. Certain trophies in the game unlock Home rewards.

Bloodline Rebellion

Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion is an update to Tekken 6. It features new characters, stages, items and customization options. It also gives the game a balance update from characters and items. It was released to Japanese arcades on December 18, 2008 and the console version of Tekken 6 is based on this arcade version.

This new version features two new characters: Alisa Bosconovitch, an android with jet wings and spinning limbs who was built in the image of Dr. Bosconovitch's deceased daughter, and Lars Alexandersson, an unknown descendant of Heihachi Mishima and leader of a rebellious Tekken Force faction fighting Jin's tyranny. A number of new items and customization options are featured in this expansion. The game also features all-new CG character art, just as there was a change in art from Tekken 5 to Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection. Upgrade kits are also available for owners of current Tekken 6 machines.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	(PSP) 82.60% (X360) 81.09% (PS3) 79.74%
Metacritic	(PSP) 82/100 (X360) 80/100 (PS3) 79/100
Review scores
Publication	Score
1UP.com	B+
Edge	7/10
Eurogamer	7/10
Game Informer	8.75/10
GamePro	4/5
Game Revolution	B-
GameSpot	8.5
GameSpy	3.5/5
GameTrailers	8.4/10
GameZone	8.4
IGN	8.8
Play	7.5/10
VideoGamer.com	8/10

Critical response to Tekken 6 among reviewers has been mostly positive. IGN stated that "While Tekken is not for everybody, Tekken 6 should appeal to a fairly wide variety of fighting game fans.", rating it at 8.8. IGN AU awarded the game a score of 9.0/10, and GameSpot awarded it an 8.5/10. Play UK gave Tekken 6 a 94 stating it as "an intense, tactical and utterly brilliant fighting game, perfect for anyone with even a fleeting interest in the genre".

Tekken 6 has nonetheless garnered some criticism for the excessive load times of the PlayStation 3 version when run without install. and its previously laggy online multiplayer component. The lag in multiplayer, however, has been improved via patch by Namco Bandai Games. The game's Scenario Campaign mode was subject to criticism as well; IGN regarded the Scenario Campaign as a disappointment, citing bland environments and repetitive enemies.

The PSP version received positive reviews. IGN gave the PSP port an 8.5, stating that the portable version had improved greatly upon loading times when compared to its console versions. They ended their review stating that "if you already own Tekken 6 for consoles, the PSP version is just more of the same. Then again, it is an excellent port and will give you plenty of time to practice while on the road, so it just might be worth that extra investment."

During its first week, the PlayStation 3 version of Tekken 6 sold 103,000 units in Japan. According to Media Create, this made this the fastest selling fighter until August 2012 when the record was broken by the PS3 port of Persona 4 Arena' with 180,000 units. As of May 2011, Tekken 6 has sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide.

External links

• Official European Tekken 6 video game website
• Official Tekken 6 (arcade) website
• Tekken 6 at US.PlayStation.com