Oh man, what a good afternoon I had!! I played the arcade version of Tekken 6 for 4 hours in the Super Arcade at Walnut. Okay, not exactly 4 hours since there was a crowd of players waiting to fight, but I killed 9 bucks already on this game, which means I'm crazy. It turns out this cabinet is an official cabinet from Asia (with English) and it looks awesome. Tekken 6 is 50 cents to play (versus being best of 3) and 6 bucks to buy a card. The card system returns from the arcade version of Tekken 5 and DR with a card being a single character with a versus record and tons of character customization with dress up. While I did get my ass kicked all the I times I played (my character is Bryan), I won some rounds which made me happy at least since the competition is filled with good players that are way better than me (some or all of them are tournament-level). With my experience out of the way, all I can say is this game plays and looks hot.
The graphics for Tekken 6 are amazing even though it is arguably Tekken in HD and 720p. The backgrounds look beautiful and some of them are multi-leveled, which means u can break the ground if you use a slam-type move more often. The characters themselves look great as well on HD looking detailed and whatnot. Sound-wise, it is also excellent with another great soundtrack (Tekken 5 / DR had great music for a fighting game) and new sound effects. Overall, the presentation for Tekken 6 is what u expect from these games even if this one has new sounds for the hit effects and blocks, it is still the same game we know and love.
The core gameplay for Tekken 6 remains the same for a hardcore or tourney-level player, which is still combo-driven. The new bound system seems like a new and good addition to the Tekken games, which allows the normal juggle combos to be different compared to Tekken 5, but u can still use those combos that were in your arsenal in 6 as well, but the bound system makes the approach of combos to be something else than the same thing. The rage system happens when your character is low on health (like a shiver) and your character glows a little red allowing its moves to have more damage than normal. This increases the tension of the end of fights and give the character in rage a chance to comeback, which is cool and many times a raged character can comeback and win a round. Most of the characters' moves (like Paul's Hammer Punch) have different animations, but they are still the same moves in the end which gives Tekken 6 some kind of newness when u see a match. Both bound and rage systems feel like a love/hate relationship meaning at one time, you'll like it, but sometimes u won't. The overall mechanics for Tekken 6 are still in my mind both fun and still as flashy as ever compared to other 3D fighters like Virtua Fighter 5 and the DOA games.
By playing 4 hours of Tekken 6, u can tell the high tier characters from the rest of the pack. Devil Jin still kicks all kinds of ass, but some of the new characters Leo, Miguel, and Bob are very impressive and high on the list. Bob specifically is just a beast even if he is that fat. My man Bryan can still hold on its own too, but my Paul is not that great and I didn't play as him that much. Based on my time there, players mostly played as Bob, Lei, Miguel, Xiaoyu, Leo, and Devil Jin. Some players played Jack-6, Christie, Raven, Kazuya, Paul, and Feng. If you have sticked with a character for most of Tekken 5, you'll be fine in 6 as long as u adjust to the bound system for combos, but the new characters are fun to play with and worth a shot.
In the end, I had a blast with Tekken 6 so far. Everything in that game is pretty hot from the graphics, gameplay, and the cabinet itself. I can't wait to play more of it as the weeks and months go by. I might hop by later this week for more craziness.
