Tekken 3


Tekken 3 is a 1997 fighting game developed and published by Namco. It is the third installment in the Tekken series and the first game built on the Namco System 12 arcade hardware. The game takes place nineteen years after Tekken 2 and features a largely new cast of characters, including the debut of several staple characters such as Jin Kazama, Ling Xiaoyu and Bryan Fury, and adds a sidestepping ability to every character. Tekken 3 was ported to the PlayStation in 1998 with additional content, including a beat 'em up mode called Tekken Force.
The game was a major hit for both arcades and consoles, selling 35,000 arcade units and 8.36 million PlayStation copies worldwide, making Tekken 3 the fifth best-selling PlayStation game. Since its release, Tekken 3 has been cited as one of the greatest games of all time. It was followed by Tekken Tag Tournament and its direct sequel, Tekken 4. Later, Tekken 3's arcade version was included within Tekken 5 on PlayStation 2, while the console port was re-released as part of Sony's PlayStation Classic.

Gameplay

Tekken 3 maintains the same core fighting system and concept as its predecessors. Three-dimensional movement is insignificant in previous Tekken games, but Tekken 3 adds emphasis on the third axis by allowing characters to sidestep in or out of the background. Fighters now jump more reasonable heights than in the previous games, making them less overwhelming and putting more use to sidestep dodges, as jumping can no longer dodge every ground attack. Reversals, introduced for some characters in Tekken 2, were now available to all characters. New improvements include quicker recoveries from knockdowns, more escapes from tackles and stuns, more moves with juggling enabled, and newly created combo throws.
Tekken 3 introduces a beat 'em up minigame called "Tekken Force", which pits the player in various stages against enemies in a side-scrolling fashion. The concept was expanded on in a minigame for Tekken 4, and succeeded by the Devil Within campaign mode in Tekken 5. Another minigame is known as "Tekken Ball", similar to beach volleyball, where the player must hit the ball with a powerful attack to pulverize the opponent, or cause them penalty damage by letting the ball fall into the opponent's territory.

Characters

The arcade version features a total of 22 playable fighters. Because the game takes place 19 years after Tekken 2, only seven fighters from the previous installment return, with the rest being new.
The console version adds two new characters, Dr. Bosconovitch and Gon, and also makes Anna Williams, a palette swap of Nina Williams in the arcade version, into a distinct character with her own moveset, voice clip, and ending. There are also several unplayable enemies faced only during the Tekken Force minigame. The console version only features 10 characters available by default, with the rest being unlocked by fulfilling various conditions.

New characters

  • Bryan Fury : An undead cyborg kickboxer sent by mad scientist Dr. Abel to kidnap his rival scientist Dr. Bosconovitch. He also has an ill-fated history with Lei Wulong, who had been investigating Bryan's illegal activities when the cyborg was once a human.
  • Crow : A code name and member of the Tekken Force. Crow has the lowest rank.
  • Dr. Bosconovitch : The silly, elderly genius scientist who is Yoshimitsu's friend and a prisoner of the Mishima Zaibatsu.
  • Eddy Gordo: A framed Capoeira prodigy seeking revenge against the Mishima Zaibatsu for having assassinated his parents and ruined his family's business.
  • Forest Law: The son of Marshall Law, now competing to earn money to help him out.
  • Gon : A special guest character from the manga of the same name.
  • Gun Jack : The third model of the JACK series sent by his creator, Jane, to retrieve JACK-2's memory data.
  • Hwoarang: A Tae Kwon Do student of Baek Doo San wanting to take revenge against Ogre for apparently murdering his teacher.
  • Jin Kazama: The grandson of Heihachi Mishima and son of Kazuya Mishima and Jun Kazama practicing both his parents' martial arts who seeks revenge against Ogre for having supposedly killed his mother.
  • Julia Chang : The adopted daughter of Michelle Chang sets out to rescue her kidnapped mother from the Mishima Zaibatsu.
  • King II: The successor of the original King who participates to save his predecessor's orphanage after the original is killed by Ogre, under tutelage of the original King's friend, Armor King.
  • Kuma II : The son of the original Kuma also serving as Heihachi's loyal pet and bodyguard.
  • Ling Xiaoyu: A Chinese teenager practicing Baguazhang and Piguaquan who wants to build her own amusement park by winning the tournament.
  • Mokujin : A 2,000-year-old wooden dummy who comes to life as a result of Ogre's awakening and is able to switch between every other fighters' fighting styles.
  • Ogre : A mysterious immortal bioweapon alien known as the God of Fighting. Ogre is the main antagonist and final boss, responsible for the disappearances of numerous martial artists and other fighters. Ogre has two separate playable forms to distinguish their fighting styles and move sets, the initial green-colored humanoid form known as Ancient Ogre, and the final dark-colored monster form known as True Ogre.
  • Panda : Xiaoyu's pet and bodyguard; to her dismay, the current Kuma has a crush on her.
  • Tiger Jackson : A disco man with an afro.

    Returning characters

  • Anna Williams
  • Heihachi Mishima
  • JACK-2
  • Lei Wulong
  • Nina Williams
  • Paul Phoenix
  • Yoshimitsu
Unlockable character

Unplayable enemy in Tekken Force mode

Skin/palette swap

Only playable in console version

Only skin/palette swap in arcade cabinet

Plot

15 years after the King of the Iron Fist Tournament 2, Heihachi Mishima has established the Tekken Force: a paramilitary organization dedicated to the protection of the Mishima Zaibatsu. Using the company's influence, Heihachi is responsible for many events that have ultimately led to world peace. One day, a squadron of Tekken Force soldiers searched an ancient temple located in Mexico under the premise of an excavation project. Soon after arriving there, Heihachi learns that they were obliterated by a mysterious and malevolent creature known as Ogre. Having captured a brief glimpse of Ogre before his immediate disappearance, Heihachi seeks to capture Ogre in the hopes of harnessing his immense fighting power for his own personal gain. Soon after, Nina Williams was awakened from Dr. Bosconovitch's cold-sleep machine. Various known martial artists end up dead, attacked, or missing from all over the world, with Ogre behind all of it.
Jun Kazama has been living a quiet life in Yakushima with her young son, Jin Kazama, fathered during the events of the previous tournament by Heihachi's son, Kazuya Mishima. However, their peaceful life is disrupted when Jun begins to sense Ogre's encroaching presence, and knowing she is now a target, Jin is instructed to seek Heihachi if anything happens. Sometime after Jin's 15th birthday, Ogre attacks. Against Jun's wishes, Jin valiantly tries to fight Ogre off, but Ogre knocks him unconscious. When Jin awakens, he finds that the ground surrounding his house has been burnt and his mother is missing and most likely dead. Driven by revenge, Jin is confronted by the Devil, which brands Jin's left arm and possesses him. Jin goes to his grandfather, Heihachi, and explains his situation to him, begging him for training to become strong enough to face Ogre. Heihachi accepts and takes Jin under his wing, as well as sending him to Mishima High School where Jin meets a classmate named Ling Xiaoyu and her pet Panda. He also met Hwoarang during a street fight in which they fought to a draw, leading to a persistent rivalry.
4 years later, Jin masters the Mishima karate style. On Jin's 19th birthday, Heihachi announces the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3, and Jin himself prepares for his upcoming battle, having no idea that his grandfather is secretly using him, Xiaoyu, Hwoarang, and the rest of the competitors as bait to lure Ogre out into the open.
When Nina Williams was awakened from Dr. Bosconovitch's cold-sleep machine, she suffered amnesia. Now controlled by Ogre, Nina acts robotically, with the command to assassinate Jin.
During the tournament, Jin managed to bring Nina back to her senses by defeating her, allowing her to break free from Ogre's control. Jin went on to narrowly defeat Hwoarang after an hours-long fight, very reminiscent to the fight between his father, Kazuya, and his rival Paul Phoenix, in the first King of Iron Fist Tournament. Near the end of the tournament, Paul makes it to the finals after defeating the other competitors, including Kuma and Jin in the previous rounds. Paul enters a large temple, defeats Ogre in a fierce battle, and walks away from the tournament, thinking he is victorious. However, unbeknownst to Paul, Ogre morphs into his 2nd, monstrous form known as "True Ogre" after absorbing Heihachi's fighting force when the latter had tried to capture him while he was unconscious.
Because of this, the tournament continued as a result, with the tournament officials reinstating Jin and allowing him to replace Paul in the finals. From there, Jin confronts True Ogre in an intense fight and manages to defeat him as True Ogre completely dissolves, thus Jin succeeded in avenging his mother's death and winning the tournament. Despite his hard-fought victory, Jin is suddenly gunned down by a squadron of the Tekken Force led by Heihachi, who no longer needs him, personally firing a final and fatal shot into his grandson's head. However, Jin is unexpectedly resurrected by Devil, now carrying half of his spirit within him after being nearly killed by Heihachi 15 years ago after The King of Iron Fist Tournament 2. Jin, reawakened and now controlled by Devil, uses him to dispatch the soldiers, and smash Heihachi through the temple wall as revenge for throwing him into the volcano. Jin then sprouts black, feathery wings and flies off into the night as Heihachi, who survived the fall, looks on from the ground in despair, realizing that Jin, has inherited the Devil Gene from his father Kazuya.