This will be a very lengthy blog please take as many breaks as possible. I figured to do most Tekken stuff in one blog. I really felt this series is heading in the right direction. I can honestly say this is one of the few game series that felt like I belong to it. Tekken is always an unique experience many people will enjoy.
Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, considering season 2 is coming to Tekken 7 soon. I figured to review one of my absolute favorite fighting game series. Tekken always left a great taste in my mouth for the most part. These games are now considered legendary in every sense of the word. You simply can not recreate a Tekken game.
Yes I know Sega came first with Virtua Fighter franchise. Namco now Bandai Namco decided to answer right back with Tekken franchise. Believe it or not, I still haven't play many Virtua Fighter games. I played majority of Tekken games missing out on a few titles. Thankfully I have played all the main games.
Also included in this review will be all the movies and both Tag Tournament games. I figured I should discuss it all in one lengthy blog entry showing off how much I care for Tekken series. I am what you call average among gamers but I'm very good at Tekken games. These games does have their ups and downs but they always gave me enough reason to keep coming back.
I should mention I still haven't got to play season 1 dlcs. At a later time after checking out all of season 2 dlcs. I will do both of them together in one blog to help make up for not being present here.
1. Tekken (1994 & 1995 PlayStation 1 port)
Shortly after Sega's Virtua Fighter hit the arcades. Namco decided to come in with their own 3D fighting game Tekken. Not a lot of newer Tekken fans knows this but most songs got extended in PlayStation port. The same port has endings to many playable characters. Originally in the arcade version you can't pause while you can in it's PS1 port.
Obviously they made some improvements with the actual game play most notably in PS1 version. The overall movements are sped up just enough to get more use to the mechanics faster. A lot of these characters are still around in later games today. I been around Tekken 1 PS1 version that someone else owned.
I believe through Tekken 5 on PS2 I got to play the original arcade version. They made one notable change to allow you the options found in PS1 version to make it easier to play. I am really not trying to play on how slow Tekken 1 because it is in my opinion faster than Virtua Fighter. Which helps Tekken to stand out among it's competition is some of the characters are robots and animals.
Believe it or not, it wasn't common for fighting games to have robots and animals as playable characters. Tekken 1 has some great songs that are still worth listening to today. This game does have a common trend many fighting games around the time. Where the characters must face their rivals before taking on the final boss. I should mention all sub bosses and Heihachi are not playable in the original arcade version.
By beating the game with a particular character among default ones will unlock their sub bosses. Exclusive to PS1 port, you have to destroy all alien ships during a challenge stage of Galaga. If you are able to do so you can play as Devil. Although he is simply acts as another costume of Kazuya. The final boss is Heihachi Mishima.
Although the cut scenes may look dated but still looks amazing in it's own right. They also extended the intro for PS1 port. Tekken 1 is a classic for having some great early 3D levels. All of them are outside with no clear limit where the screen ends. I felt Yoshimitsu changed the most from later entries that I will try to explain the most notable ones.
2. Tekken 2 (1996)
Tekken 2 is a follow up to Tekken that does improve over it in many ways. A direct competitor to Virtua Fighter 2 that had several different versions. This was the only Tekken game I owned on PlayStation 1. Tekken 2 has better overall character designs in my opinion. I would say Paul and Yoshimitsu looks way better in this game.
Following the same suit as the previous entry, all default characters has to beat the game to unlock their sub bosses. This time the final boss is Heihachi's son Kazuya with two forms. Oddly there is another character playable on Devil's slot named Angel representing his good side. I always felt Tekken 2 had an amazing soundtrack for it's time.
More playable characters this time around like a good fighting game sequel. Now you can fight an kangaroo named Roger & a raptor named Alex that has a boxer fighting style. The idea of a boxing kangaroo has been around a long time but a boxing dinosaur oh okay that's a new one. A great variety of levels with some of them still among my favorites overall.
There's more modes to play than in Tekken 1 PS1 port. Tekken 2 does play faster with improved controls & hit detection. Some of my favorite endings on this franchise of PS1 era are present here. The sound design in general is better than the previous entry. Considering this went head to head with Virtua Fighter 2 it did an amazing job.
Like Tekken 1, an alternate arcade version of Tekken 2 is playable on PS2 version of Tekken 2. This version is similar to having all the hidden characters unlocked in a save. You can play as all the characters from the start. Tekken 2 does have amazing cut scenes that does stand the test of time well. There isn't much in terms of voice acting but it still great for what it needed to be.
3. Tekken 3 (1998)
Tekken 3 is a game I got to play through several neighbors growing up. I did get to directly play the arcade version beating it a few times. I also got to play that version through Tekken 5 on PS2. To me this is easily one of the very best fighting games I have ever played. Not only it improves over everything Tekken 2 done.
I would say it really pushed the bar high with this entry. Some of my favorite songs on PS1 is present here. The game play is even faster with easier to memorize controls. This port has two exclusive characters not present in the arcade version. Dr. Bosconovitch a friend of Yoshimitsu and the original guest character.
They got allowed to use Gon from Gon whose a small dinosaur. I just found out he had a cameo in Tekken the Motion Picture. He so happens to have the only ending in Tekken's history to endlessly loop repeatedly. Gon also has two ways to be unlocked in the game. You can unlock him by beating him in Tekken Ball mode or getting a high score to input GON to unlock him instantly.
There's more modes to play like Tekken Ball mode that is volley ball. I would say there is a difficulty curve you have to pay attention to while playing it. There is also Tekken Force mode that plays like classic beat em up games. To unlock the scientist you have to beat it four times while the fourth time giving you an extra level to beat him.
Tekken 3 improves so much over the arcade version it isn't funny. A great roster of characters with a good variety of fighting styles. This game got unofficially ported to Sega Dreamcast by Bleem! A program that allows PS1 games to play right off Sega Dreamcast. Although it can trigger some graphical glitches.
By this point Yoshimitsu kept looking stranger with later entries. Honestly I am so mixed about all of them that I can't say I actually like any of them. It is like someone whose desperate to stand out by wearing clothes they don't even like but you can tell they're trying very hard. To me it sorta felt like that but yes I do like Yoshimitsu.
I always felt this game is one of the greatest PS1 games I ever played. Tekken 3 has done away from the format of sub bosses for this game. The final boss is Ogre who has two forms similar to the previous game. Except their fighting styles is very different from each other. This entry also introduced two of my favorite characters Bryan Fury & Mokujin.
OMG Mokujin is easily one of my favorite mimic fighting game characters. At random he will having someone else's fighting style. Each round he will change out never usually repeating during a match. To master Mokujin, you must master everyone else first. Bryan Fury is one of my favorite villain characters in this series.
4. Tekken Tag Tournament (2000)
True story I went to buy Tekken 4, a guy working at Gamestop actually told me to buy Tekken Tag Tournament. Eventually I do end up getting Tekken Tag Tournament sometime after playing a little of the arcade version. This may be non canon but it gives us an excuse to play with many fan favorite characters in one game.
Similar to Mortal Kombat Trilogy a few years prior. I would say it does a great job pushing the envelope. There's much more characters to choose from to keep you busy. You can fight one on one or two on two. If you do fight two on two then you only need to defeat one character on either team to win a round.
You can keep changing characters repeatedly in the matches. There is moves that do involve this feature making this a truly unique experience. This game looks amazing on PlayStation 2 and at the arcades. Hell I am going to say it to me this was the real Tekken 4 experience I was dying for. I will explain more why in the next entry.
Tekken Tag Tournament does have a somewhat fun Bowling mode. Very recently in Tekken 7 as a dlc this mini game returns. A lot of the character looks came straight out of Tekken 3. Some felt this is more of an upgraded Tekken 3 than an actual game. Although there is parts of that I do agree with. I do felt strongly this game deserves to be called it's own game.
The final boss is Unknown no seriously that's what she called in the actual game. She is also a mimic character with a few twist. She can't fight with another character like most of them. Unknown can instantly change out her move set to another character's. This game has an amazing soundtrack with great sound effects.
When you face Unknown in arcade mode she will keep regenerating her health making her tougher than everyone else. Sadly the only real criticism I do have is the endings. Most of them are way too short. You won't feel satisfy playing through the game with every character like most Tekken games. This is a solid entry that deserves more people to play it.
5. Tekken 4 (2002)
Let's be honest out of all Tekken games I'm reviewing this was the only real disappointment. The actual game play felt like a major step backwards. They chose to change the controls & make the overall pace a low slower. I usually don''t say this but I really didn't like how they went about the character selection screen.
Tekken is widely known for having a lot of characters yet this game made it felt like they all couldn't fit. Some hidden characters are essentially acting as alternate costumes to other characters. They did this a few times in the past but not as often as this. Sure the game looks good and has some good songs.
I am not crazy for it's soundtrack or some of the sound effects. The endings are alright for the most part. I do like some characters in story mode fights a different final opponent to help spice things up. Most characters end up facing Heihachi Mishima. You could simply play this for hours to unlock all the hidden characters. Tekken Force mode is very different from that of Tekken 3's.
You are still fighting the soldiers as well as some of the characters. Sadly there is no real prize for completing it. There is additional sections in some levels you could explore but it simply a waste of time. My big problem with it also implies to several later mini games. They tried making a 3D fighting engine while the enemy placements is more like 2D.
Your character simply can't fight properly against multiple opponents. This wasn't much of an issue in the previous Tekken Force mode. This game comes so close feeling like a true entry but ultimately falls short. Tekken 4 is a mixed experience for many reasons stated here. There may be people that are still fans of it while others like myself prefer to ignore it altogether.
6. Tekken 5 (2004 & 2005 PlayStation 2 port)
Tekken 5 is absolutely amazing since it does much more than made up for Tekken 4. I should mention along with Tekken 1-3, there is another arcade game called Starblade. Similar to Tekken 1 PS1 port, you start out with a classic arcade game playing. Yes you can skip it if you choose to. I missed out on other ports of this game.
PSP version now called Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection added Armor King II, Lili and Sergei to the roster. PS3 version of it adds Jinpachi Mishima the final boss of this game to the roster. A bigger roster of characters with plenty of levels. There's more modes to play than the previous entry. Tekken 5 has one of my favorite soundtracks of the franchise.
The ranking system tread started with this game. You can customize your characters with plenty of options to do so. I still prefer Soulcalibur series in that department for many reasons. The Devil Within mini game has Jin Kazama fighting through waves of enemies. At the end he faces Ogre again this time a new form appears.
Keep in mind, this mini game isn't canon but it is way better than Tekken Force mode of Tekken 4. It still isn't a home run unfortunately. Some bosses can be cheap with similar issues from Tekken Force mode making things more difficult than it should be. They revamped the overall pace to being what it should've been in the previous entry.
Tekken 5 is easily one of my favorite PS2 games. I would even go as far to say it is better than Tekken Tag Tournament. This is a truly solid fighting game that will keep you coming back for more. Honestly this entry pushed it's competition to do better as well. The long standing tread of Tekken games on PlayStation consoles only ends with this game.
Jinpachi Mishima is Heihachi's deceased father that got revived through energy from Devil Jin. He is losing control over his humanity to the devil gene. By now you should know one particular ending will reveal whose in control of the tournament in the next entry. This is easily one of the greatest games I have ever played.
7. Tekken 6 (2009)
Starting with Tekken 6, all home ports will be based on the later upgraded arcade version. Most of it's competitors left the arcade business a long time ago. This was also the first time Tekken games became playable on Xbox consoles. Although some of their decisions didn't left a good taste in people's mouths.
For example they chose to put arcade mode hidden inside Scenario Campaign. Oh wait it gets stranger there is a few stages with one bonus boss. NANCY-MI847J a rival robot to Jack series. They made it incredibly unfair to win against that thing in many ways. But if you somehow do win you will get an achievement/trophy.
The final boss is Azazel the source of devil genes. This boss is incredibly cheap even worse than NANCY-MI847J. At least Jinpachi of the previous game was just right on difficulty. Sure he has some huge damage moves himself but you are morel likely to prevent them from happening. This creature has a barrier greatly limiting what you can do.
You can damage Azazel to a degree limiting some of it's options but you are still likely to lose. You also face him at the end of Scenario Campaign being more frustrating than arcade mode version. They added Lars and Alisa exclusively to home ports. Scenario Campaign takes the place of story mode.
Personally I rather have separate character stories than most of the focus going into a story mode. Yes I am looking at you Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. Scenario Campaign can take hours to play through with a couple of weapons. There's plenty of bosses through it similar to other mini games of the previous entries.
Yes the same issue facing multiple opponents appears but not as bad. One particular level actually gives you the option to play as NANCY-MI847J. I believe it is the same level if you don't play as that robot & beat the level you will get an achievement/trophy. The endings has some of my favorite strange jokes of the franchise.
Tekken 6 introduces online play with it's own variation of the ranking system. Here comes a major problem in offline version you can only go as high as 1st Dan. Pretty much where the real ranks begins while you can go all the way online. Considering this wasn't an issue in Tekken 5 further bags the question why would they do that?
Tekken 6 is a much better game than Tekken 4 despite some strange decisions. The things it does right are great for the most part. But I felt too much focus went into Scenario Campaign. I rather put the attention to detail to the very core game play than anything else. Tekken 6 made it easier to earn money to help customize characters or creating new characters.
8. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (2012)
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is a game I waited a long time for. Six years after Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. Another all stars fighting game that actually disappointed me. But thankfully this game is way better. I would even say this is one of my absolute favorite Tekken games ever. This is virtually Tekken fan service at it's finest.
The biggest roster of characters in history of the franchise of 59 characters. Originally in the arcade version was 41 characters making this a new personal record for the franchise. Usually it is a handful of characters that got added in ports. Almost sixty characters in one Tekken character is pretty impressive.
You can buy all cut scenes including endings and soundtracks of other Tekken games. Thankfully the prices went down with four combine bundles to speed up buying it all. One weird thing is you have to pay for online pass to be allowed to play against other players online. Just like Tekken Tag Tournament 1, this has almost every character in a game.
Sure it is a long list of versions of several characters that isn't presented but you really aren't getting cheated. You can customize the actual soundtrack of the game by changing what sounds plays in any section of the game. This does including songs from previous games to truly make this an unique experience.
I didn't get to play this on WII U but they added Nintendo character theme costumes and some Mario power ups. Other than that it isn't much different from most versions. I would say some of my absolute favorite endings are in this game. They fixed a major rank problem I had with Tekken 6 with this.
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 does made up for the areas Tekken 6 fell short in. Some of the best levels are also present here. You also can by doing a button combination transform Kazuya into Devil. This game not only screams Tekken very loud & proud. It is incredibly addicting even for a fighting game. Honestly I really can't criticize it in any major way.
I should mention they changed how Dr. Bosconovitch fights in this game. With the possible exception of Tiger Jackson, every playable character has an ending. Going back to Tag Tournament 1, some fans felt Unknown was Jun Kazama whose been absent since Tekken 2. It turns out to be someone else that was simply possessed by a spirit.
In this game Unknown is Jun Kazama that got corrupted by devil genes. In canon, her purity did have some affect on Kazuya. Which meant she couldn't be corrupted by devil genes. She is virtually a more powerful version of herself with some moves you expect final bosses to have. Also this Unknown is mostly purple compared to the other Unknown character being mostly in black.
9. Tekken 7 (2017)
OMG this and Injustice 2 are very good fighting games of their respective years. Tekken 7 is a conclusion to the long standing rivalry of Heihachi & his son Kazuya. It does explain a great detail of things to make more sense what actually going on. In a weird way Heihachi is sorta an anti hero character.
I won't fully give it away just yet. One big surprise is Street Fighter's Akuma appears in this game. Considering the last guest character appears in Tekken 3. It has been officially 19 years with a few more guest characters being dlc characters like upcoming The Walking Dead's Negan. I can say very quickly that was almost as surprising as Alien appearing in MKX.
I should mention in the past Tekken has cross over with many franchises. I will try to not make this too long to follow. I am only listing cross overs Bandai Namco didn't directly make but were involved with. Heihachi appears in PlayStation All-Stars. Capcom made Street Fighter x Tekken & a crossover RPG franchise eventually bringing Sega into the mix.
Which further bags the question when will Tekken & Virtua Fighter fully cross over in a fighting game? Also considering there does exist Fighters Megamix on Sega Saturn that has several Virtua Fighter characters. Yes I know I am getting off topic but I was simply pointing out the day is coming. Even both companies stated that they're interested in doing a crossover game.
Tekken 7 in every possible way really got me impressed. The story mode is way better than Soulcalibur 5's. I really like how they went about ending it. Sorta like how Solid Snake & Liquid Ocelot did in Metal Gear Solid 4. Additionally Character Stories Episodes is a much smaller take focusing on each fighter's most important fight.
They still get endings several different ways. Honestly I wish they would've made those episodes a little longer. At least it has endings unlike Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite how could you lol. Now added into the move set is a new feature called Rage Arts. This is similar what Killer Instinct on Xbox One does when either character is almost defeated with a twist.
If you have enough of your bar filled when in this state & land a blow. Which can directly depending on a particular blow that must connect in order to trigger a new intense combo. Usually meant as a last resort that can make the difference if used correctly. It is possible to block & avoid those combos. There is item moves that involves performing a move with an item you placed on any character.
In Tekken 6, you can do that as well but it technically didn't have a name last I checked. I felt the difficulty is mostly done just right especially on very hard difficulty. There is parts of the story mode that often spikes in difficulty a lot. The soundtrack is absolutely amazing with very good sound design.
Probably one of my favorite surprises is you can use in game money to buy most Tekken endings. You can buy them separately or altogether in a bundle to sped things up. This also counts Tekken Tag Tournament 2, due to not renewing the contract for using Gon in Tekken 3. His ending is removed from both Tekken games.
I do need to mention some characters like Akuma, Geese Howard and Noctis has a different set up. Each one representing more of their franchise. Honestly I felt this helps differing them from Tekken characters. It also helps spice up the game play. I can't wait to see a preview of how Negan will play in game play.
Now you heard what I thought of the games it is time to talk about the movies. I can honestly say even the best of these is difficult for me to recommend but it will still be watchable. Chances are my opinion on all of these is likely similar to yours. I will say thank god they canned SoulCalibur movie. The last thing I want is the same people in charge ended up ruining that too.
1. Tekken the Motion Picture (1998)
Originally in Japan these was a two episode OVA series. When they brought it here they made it into a movie. Similar to Sonic the Hedgehog movie that tied in with the release of Sega Dreamcast. I remember renting this movie several times. It was one of the few white colored VHS tapes I been around.
For those that may never been around VHS tapes that was the main format for releasing movies during my child hood. Around the early 2000s, DVDs quickly replaced it with VHS officially stopping a few years later. Right now you can get movies digitally and Blu-ray along with standard DVDs.
VHS survived most rival video formats prior to DVD lasting several decades. Tekken the Motion Picture is a retelling of Tekken 1. A lot of people more recently criticize the story pace and animation. Let's be honest Tekken never told it's story well but people still talk about it. As for the animation at the time they were great.
A lot of your favorite Tekken characters appears. I felt they did a great job with using some of the characters. This movie does embody the spirit of Tekken in many ways. I always felt a deep connection to this movie. To be honest it was one of the first good video game movies I seen. I consider it being good for being far closer to the source material than many video game movies of the time.
The soundtrack is easily one of the best among all the Tekken movies. Yes the pace does seem to go a little faster than it should. I believe this is because they made the decision to turn both episodes of a OVA into a movie for US audience. Of course the editing to make that possible wasn't going to be perfect.
Although this game out late 90s it felt more like you were watching an 80s anime movie. It sorta has that look and the way they used the audio. Of course they were attempting to recreate the games in that retrospect. This movie is hands down one of the best animated video game movies I ever seen. Sure a lot of people ignore it, isn't aware of it's existence or critical of the time period.
Some people are really critical about comparing stuff especially back then to now. Screw that all you are doing is trashing what technically a good movie with flawed logic. Some people would criticize the animation in general. Honestly it looks & moves well enough for me. Some would even criticize it for being dated in terms of voice acting.
Keep in mind around the 90s, anime was starting to become more popular in the United States. It took several years for it to become major stream here. There isn't a lot of early anime movies that came to the United States fully dubbed. So in that regard I'm impressed we even got this movie. This movie followed a few years after Ghost in the Shell another great anime movie.
2. Tekken (2009 original release and US release 2011)
OMG how they did screw up Tekken so bad? They didn't even allow the director of the games to be involved. The moment they started filming & writing, no body from Bandai Namco was involved. Which is oddly similar to Dragon Ball: Evolution. Even in comparison Tekken isn't as close as bad. Tekken is essentially they took Tekken 3 but really down play everything else.
I mean come on Tekken 3 was an amazing game and we got this? They got the actor who plays Scorpion in Mortal Kombat: Legacy show.Also got the guy who played Shang Tsung in the first MK movie. Sadly only those two castings were good but the writing is not Tekken at all. Tekken does have it's serious & at times joke moments.
There is no jokes in this movie unless you consider the movie itself a joke. They ruined a few key rules of the Iron Fist Tournament. First off not once in any of the games they forced the fighters to kill each other. When did this suddenly become Mortal Kombat? Second the remaining fighter gets a rare opportunity to fight the person running the tournament for his position.
Which does happen late in the movie but not before Kazuya stolen control illegally. I have several problems with this in the story. In the games, Kazuya really hates his father Heihachi to the point wanting him dead. So why is his father still alive after he took over bags a lot of questions. Also they would put the tournament on hold over something like that making what just happened not possible.
Oh yes let's bring up Bryan Fury how did they screw him up so bad? Let me explain in the movie he has been fighting with illegal metal enhancements. But in the games, his body belongs to a good cop. A cruel scientist turned his corpse into a powerful fighting machine. In other words he transformed into a fighting terminator.
In the games themselves many characters fights with weapons. They even allowed animals, robots and Mokujin to compete. Therefore by Kazuya changing the rules to killing your opponent doesn't change anything. I could respect they tried making it more realistic in some ways. Even Dead or Alive movie had much more going for it.
When did Bryan become TJ Combo no seriously when? In Killer Instinct canon, TJ Combo was a long time champion that secretly fought with illegal machine enhancements. But more recently came back without them to prove he is still a great fighter. Sometimes when you talk fighting games the names will keep floating out.
Most characters aren't even close to being faithful to their video game counterparts at all. For example Anna & Nina doing a threesome with Kazuya? In the games they are rival assassins that hated each other. Also Kazuya did have a love interest in the game named Jun Kazama. But he gave in to his dark side eventually gaining complete control over his devil genes.
Not even the fighting is worth watching. Which I find to be pretty sad because the fighting in those games are incredibly addicting & fun to watch. Tekken should've been called something else. I have so many issues with this movie that I highly recommend you avoid it at all costs. Trust me if you love the games do not watch this movie or you will be piss right the hell off I'm not kidding.
3. Tekken: Blood Vengeance (2011)
Tekken: Blood Vengeance may not be canon to the games like CGI Resident Evil movies. But I do got to say I do enjoy watching this. To me this is what the live action Tekken movie should've been. A lot of Tekken characters in this movie. Very impressed by the overall animation & artwork mirroring the games very well.
This movie felt like the director of the games was more involved for sure. The story is told better than the games but at the same time it could be it's own thing. Sure it does have some exciting moments including an epic three way fight between the Mishima family. I would still say parts of the games is more exciting than this movie.
Every Tekken character is done perfectly this time around. A direct opposite of the live action movie. This movie screams Tekken with a very loud voice. I should mention a particular release of it does have a remastered Tekken Tag Tournament and a technical demo of it's sequel. I believe it is called Tekken Hybrid being one of the coolest things they have ever done.
Sadly I missed out on that experience but I always thought it was a great idea. Everything about this movie is very similar to what you will find in the games. This movie gets more praise than Tekken the Motion Picture. I felt this movie was respecting the franchise very well. I can honestly say the newer forms of Devil & Devil Jin were awesome looking.
The voice acting is actually better than it is in the games. Usually some characters speaks a different language that could be confusing for many people to keep up with. Here everything is speaking the same language that works well for the movie. The fight scenes in general are worthy of the name Tekken series.
4. Tekken 2: Kazuya's Revenge (2014)
A prequel to Tekken live action movie and can you believe this is even worse? Yeah it blew me away alright more like a failed combo in a very close fight then you get defeated right afterwards. Tekken 2: Kazuya's Revenge went through several different titles during production. Guess what not one of them fits the movie.
Kazuya's Revenge you expect Kazuya to get some form of revenge on his father Heihachi right? Nope they don't even fight each other in this movie. Hold the phone one of the biggest Tekken rivalries gets this treatment? Oh yes this movie is a special kind of bad even among video game movies.
The actor playing Heihachi from the live action Tekken movie reprises his role. But in both movies, they really down played Heihachi Mishima. Are you kidding me, this old guy tanked an explosion point blank that sent him flying a long distance and he gets up like nothing happened. This is similar how the original X-Men movie trilogy treated Rogue.
Kazuya comes off more of a hero which that by itself doesn't make any sense to the games. He always was a major antagonist in the franchise. His son Jin is more of an anti-hero character due to some of his actions. The story is really not Tekken at all because this being more of who am I kind of movies.
You got to be kidding me you won't even give us a tournament to watch? The fighting is much worse than the live action Tekken movie I'm not kidding. I can't honestly name a single part of this movie I would rewatch it is that bad folks. Tekken 2: Kazuya's Revenge is pretty uninspired for a video game movie.
They were very quiet about releasing this knowing how bad they messed it up. Oh yeah it is a special toxin that could make a hundred if not thousand of people go on a riot over this. Honestly this movie really isn't doing anyone any favors. There isn't even close to being like the games at all. To me this felt more like a failed material arts movie but they needed a name to release it with no problem.
"Oh I know let's call it Tekken 2: Kazuya's Revenge and call it a day." I'm very sure it went like that because this isn't Tekken at all. Very few Tekken characters are in this movie. There's plenty of them in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 & Tekken 6. It bags the question does any of them know what Tekken actually is?
I will now do three different Tekken ranking system to help give you an idea how I view all of this down below... Remember I start at the bottom from the worst working my way to best.
Main game series
7. Tekken 4
6. Tekken 6
5. Tekken
4. Tekken 2
3. Tekken 5
2. Tekken 3
1. Tekken 7
Tag Tournament series
2. Tekken Tag Tournament
1. Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Tekken movies
4. Tekken 2: Kazuya's Revenge
3. Tekken
2. Tekken the Motion Picture
1. Tekken: Blood Vengeance
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