Tekken 6 - Xbox 360 Review

I first got hooked on the Tekken series way back on the PlayStation.  There is no number after that, just the first PlayStation.  That console was home to some really good RPG and fighting games, but Tekken stood out as arguably my favorite fighter at the time.

Well, with Tekken Tag Tournament 2 on the horizon, Street Fighter X Tekken recently released and my upcoming review of the first Tekken Tag Tournament in the near future, this seemed like a really good time to talk about the first Tekken from this console generation - Tekken 6.

I did not own this one - but one of my friends from work did for the Xbox 360 and I still managed to log a lot of time with this title.  While this has been out a few years now (released late in 2009), it still holds up very well.  The PlayStation 3 version has trophy support, the visuals are really solid (though character models outpace the backgrounds considerably) and the gameplay is as much fun as ever - especially with two people going head-to-head.

Sadly, the online matchups tended to be flaky.  The action was fairly smooth, but not to the same degree as local play.  Also finding matchups seems to take awhile.  Offline though, considering you can get this for $20 new and $10-15 used?  If you haven't played Tekken 6 yet and light 3D fighters, then you're doing yourself a bit of a disservice, in my opinion.

High points include a hug cast of characters, customizations for fighters, a campaign mode and a solid training mode.  All is not perfect however.  Aside from the sometimes spotty online play, the load times do not seem bad at first, but over time I grew rather annoyed with them.  The music and voice work is passable if nothing special.  The Campaign Scenario feels like a lot of promise was left on the table.  It's entertaining, but both a bit thumb and mind numbing after awhile.  Also, if you are here looking for a sensible storyline, you are going to come away disappointed.

For the price, Tekken 6 is pretty hard to beat now.  I'm an unabashed fan of the series, and looking forward to Tekken Tag Tournament 2, as well as any other future Tekken offerings.  If I was buying this at $60, I would score the game more like 7 out of 10, because newer, bigger and shinier have come out, but considering its current price?  8 out of 10 sounds just about right to me.