Tekken 4: First impressions (1 Viewer)

[Sean Moon]

It is all a matter of opinion. All depends on what ya like
I love Power Stone and Super Smash Bros too, but those are mainly for MAYHEM

I tried to give Tekken 4 another chance, but it just doesnt float for me anymore. It is a good game, it just could have been light years better. Almost feels like a rush job to me, instead of like what Sega did with VF4, trying to reclaim the crown.

 

[Allan Petersen]

"Almost feels like a rush job"??

Looks pretty well polished to me!

You're basically saying that Namco should have given up their fanbase and made something ENTIRELY different. DOA didn't exactly progress in leaps and bounds from 2 to 3 except for the graphics, of course.

 

[Sean Moon]

Not something entirly differnet, but at least a bigger evolution over 3. Tekken 2 was a HUGE improvement over 1, and 3 mas a marginal improvement over 2, but was still damn good. TTag was Tekken 3 with an extra button. Just my opinion. Tekken 4 looks too similar to Tekken Tag on PS2 in my opinion. most of the time with sequels there is a pretty big advancement in visual style and graphics. Tekken Tag got a big graphics overhaul for home.

 

[JoshF]

So...wait... are you talking about graphics or gameplay here, Sean?

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Between DoA2:H and DoA3, the only gameplay differences are extremely minimal (like a new move or two) and any other changes are strictly graphical. Between T3 and T4, you have the fact that you now have finite interactive levels, added characters, some new moves, and some general sprucing up. That's more changes than DoA3 had over it's predecessor.

 

[Sean Moon]

DOA 3 had a more refined reversal system(they were no longer the deadliest moves in the game), all new stages, new moves and combos for characters, new characters, a greatly improved tag battle system(although the original tag system in DOA 2 was amazing), an amazing graphics overhaul, sound overhaul. The control was also tweaked considerably. Tekken 4 has new moves, finite environments(which is new to the series, but not new to fighting games), new characters...but the graphics engine was not a big overhaul from PS2 Tag Tourney. The graphics are still good, and the gameplay is still good, but it doesnt seem like an evolutionary leap like Tekken 2 was over Tekken 1, or 3 over 2. Tekken 4 feels more like a directors cut to tekken tag. That is what I meant by it feels rushed.

I felt the same way after playing DOA3 the first time. It felt exactly the same as DOA2 and didnt look much better. But after playing a while and discovering the new meat of the game, it is an improvement over DOA2, as it is more balanced. The graphics were a major overhaul I realized after playing 3 for so long, 2 looks bad by comparison. The multi tiered stages in the series also add a good ammt of strategy, kinds like avoiding a ring out in VF or SC.

Again, it is all personal preference. Tekken seems to be the most popular fighter out there. But DOA seems like the cult fighter, more underground now that VF is more mainstream. Just play what you like, and I vastly prefer DOA.

 

[Dean DeMass]

Also, the enclosed environments, wall combos, multi-tiered environments also add a lot to the strategy in DOA. That is why the wall idea was mimiced from DOA in Tekken 4, it adds depth.

OK, lets get this correct, Tekken didn't "lift" wall combos from DOA. DOA lifted wall combos from SEGA's Fighting Vipers which was released in the arcades and on the Saturn before DOA was spawned. DOA is not innovative and Tekken is not innovative. Virtua Fighter is what started the Tekken and DOA series. Please, give credit where credit is due.

BTW, I like the Virtua Fighter and Tekken series. DOA is OK, but it is too shallow for me, and I don't consider the reversal system in DOA very deep, more like cheap. The reversal and fighting system in UFC for the Dreamcast is what I would call deep. Probably the deepest fighter since Virtua Fighter.

Personally, I am looking forward to Tekken 4. I never had Tekken Tag, but I played the hell out of Tekken 1-3.

-Dean-

 

[Jeff Kleist]

VF a button masher?

Go to any good arcade and button mash, they will wipe the floor with you.

Tekken is more of a button masher's paradise, but a good player can take out a masher, unless they're Eddy, then the masher stands about a 60/40 chance on pure cheat.

 

[Camp]

Sorry, but you WERE comparing the graphics of T4 to DOA3. The X-Box is capable of producing graphics superior to those of the PS2 and as such I find your comparison unfair.

You have a degree of sensitivity to this issue that is not normal. There is nothing wrong with the comparison nor with the way the comparison was made.

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

I have to agree with the sentiment that VF4 is not a button masher. While that will work for beginners, a player of any worth will destroy someone relying on simply pounding the buttons.

In comparison, I think its fair to say that DOA2 is a button masher. I owned it and enjoyed it quite a bit but it doesn't have the depth that VF4 has.

I've yet to play Tekken 4 but the series as a whole seems to fall in between DOA and VF.

 

[Allan Petersen]

You have a degree of sensitivity to this issue that is not normal. There is nothing wrong with the comparison nor with the way the comparison was made.

I'm sorry, but in my experience it's all too common to see a tread degenerate into a discussion of the merits of console X vs console Y. I was merely attempting to avoid the thread taking that route. If you'd read my post you'd notice that I wasn't commenting on the gameplay comparison, which is entirely valid.

 

[Sean Moon]

The VF comments are correct about button mashers losing to people that have mastered it. As I said before, button mashing works in all fighting games, but once you learn what does what by mashing certain buttons at certain times, you can shut down the "true" button smashers. That is the trick to learning all fighting games, the nuances of combat, and how to beat button smashers!

 

[Clinton McClure]

Well I thought the best fighting game ever was the original arcade version of World Heroes (I think it was by Neo Geo, yes?). But since you brought it up, I have been eagerly awaiting Tekken 4 for a long time. I picked it up today and have decided it will be sold tomorrow. The graphics are better than TTT, but the character response is tremendously slow and the CPU has an incredible way of evening the match. For example, I have found that if I am winning the match by a long shot, suddenly the CPU blocks everything I throw at it and becomes almost untouchable, releasing lightning-fast combos which will usually end once my power bar is down to match the CPU's. This makes for a not-so-fun game where you win some of the matches by pure luck, not skill. I give it 2.5 of a possible 5 stars.