Tekken 3 Retro Review (1998)

I’m delving back into the PS1 shelves today to bring you our retro gaming review for 1998’s incredible Tekken 3. Developed by Namco Tekken 3 released in arcades in 1997 before being ported to Japan’s favoured home console the following year. With our retrospective look back you can check out the full video just below or keep reading for our extended written review.

The Basics – What was Tekken 3 About?

Releasing in 1998, Tekken 3 worked hard to build on the solid mechanics and gameplay of its 1996 predecessor. The third instalment in the now long-running franchise brought back a number of solid characters, while introducing a huge number of new ones. Roughly 70% of the Tekken 3 roster was made of new characters, each with their own story, alternative costumes and some intense combo moves.

Tekken 3 had 21 characters all in all (not counting “alternative skins” for characters such as Tiger and Panda) and introduced new franchise favourites such as Hwoarang, Jin and Julia. There were also new characters such as Forest Law and Gun Jack, with history and move sets linked to previous instalments. In addition to a huge number of new characters, Tekken 3 also bought two new game modes.

Tekken Force mode was available from the start, and provides an intense side-scrolling beat-em-up experience. Force mode had four individual stages, populated with enemies at increasing difficulties. Each stage also brought in a main-cast character as a mini boss. While it took some effort to beat, completing Force mode four times was the primary method of unlocking secret character Doctor Bosconovitch.

There was also the incredible new Tekken Ball mode. This fantastic mini game was unlocked after completing the arcade mode with the ten base characters. In Tekken Ball mode you can hurt your opponent using full-on combat (if they come close enough to your half of the court) as well as charged volleyball attacks. You also damage your opponent by having the ball land on their side of the court, making for some fairly tactical gameplay in what is otherwise a very silly (but addictive) game mode.

On top of these new game modes there was also arcade, survival, time attack, team battle and practice to hone your skills. If you threw in another controller, there was also (of course) hours upon hours of fun to be had trying to beat the living snot out of your friends and family.

The Retrospective Run Down

Gameplay – 5/5: the gameplay of Tekken 3 has held up incredibly well over the past years. While it’s been 25 years since it first released, the title still feels fun and fluid. There’s also a great range of characters with unique fighting styles which should bring something for everybody (even if that includes the likes of button masher supreme Eddy Gordo). Since 1998 there have been a huge number of new titles released which have added on new modes and honed the fluid combat you expect, but Tekken 3 is still an absolute joy to play.

Visuals – 4/5: For a retro gaming title at this age, this one is still looking pretty good all things considered. When compared to the games of today there’s a fair loss of definition and a certain amount of blockiness in characters’ hands and features but there’s nothing in here which is bad enough to hurt enjoyment. The worst offenders within the title are clipping issues when grappling with larger enemies (I’m looking at you, True Ogre) but for the most part in-game visuals are pretty sweet. The CG animations in video clips do lack some texture but overall Tekken 3 is looking pretty good for its age.

Audio – 4/5: Another incredibly strong showing within the audio for this one, which held up well over the past two and a half decades. Music within Tekken 3 still provides a great electro-rock buzz to fights without getting repetitive. Effects are also, on the whole, pretty good and fit in well with the high-energy combat throughout the game. The only drawback playing it back now is that some of the lines of dialogue and even short vocal effects are more noticeably repetitive now than they were then.

Narrative – 2/5: I’m really torn on this one because if you look around online or if you were lucky enough to have the strategy guide there is a genuinely good story which runs through the Tekken franchise. Tekken 3 is no different, and there’s some brilliant narrative if you look around the game, but if we’re marking in-game only it really could have been better. Each character has at least one ending video which would hint at a narrative of sorts, but in the game itself story elements were somewhere between hard and impossible to find.

Replay – 5/5: Even if we look outside the hours of joy from competing against friends and siblings, the game has a huge number of modes to keep you going. They’re still all pretty fun to get involved with as well, setting new times on the leaderboards, unlocking all of the characters (including secret ones like Gon and Dr Bosconovitch) and collecting all of the video clips in theatre mode. Even with 25 years since release, Tekken 3 really nails that “ok just one more go” hook and it will keep you coming back for more.

The Verdict – How has Tekken 3 held up?

Overall the Pixel Bandits Flashback Replay Level for Tekken 3 is an astounding 9/10. With incredibly strong replay value, gameplay which hasn’t aged much at all and visuals which are still not awful, Tekken 3 is still a great title to play even today. It’s not surprising, maybe, for a game which sold 8 million PlayStation copies and saw more than 35,000 arcade units released worldwide. Tekken 3 was a staple of my formative gaming years and I’m really happy to say my fond memories are not just nostalgia.