If you’re anything like me, you’re probably an easy mark when it comes to the PlayStation Network (or XBLA). Just about any beloved game from my past ends up in my download list when it shows up in an HD, online-enabled form. This time, two classic SEGA versus fighters jumped straight into my shopping cart before I even realised what I saw.
I went through about three drafts trying to figure out a clever way to open this review, and I’ve got to say, I’ve got nothing. Maybe a better writer could come up with something – but seriously, what more can be said about Tekken that fans don’t already know?
We all know that each new iteration is going to feature new characters, a sprinkle of new moves for the existing characters, new stages to fight in, new tunes to rock to and hopefully some graphical improvements. Unless Namco Bandai does something really off the wall, like putting in super power meters, fatalities or a zero-gravity mechanic, you can probably sum up every new Tekken game by saying: it’s pretty much what you expected.
Virtua Fighter has never really had a strong foothold here, and I put that down to two factors. The first is availability, since the SEGA machines the games appeared on were scarce here, and the second is that Virtua is a lot more difficult and technical to play than Tekken. You have to know what you’re doing to be a decent Virtua Fighter player.
