

You’d also take damage if the ball got knocked over your head and you weren’t able to recover it in time. If your opponent got hit by the ball, then all the damage you infused into the ball would then transfer over to them. You had to hit the volleyball with some powerful moves in order to charge it. Two fighters would square-off and try to hit each other with a Tekken ball. The next mode was Tekken Ball, a strange but really fun version of volleyball. The end of each stage featured a fight with a “boss” which was just one of the other fighters from the game. Players could choose any combatant and fight their way through a plethora of goons in a four stage mini-game which acted as a key to unlock one of the game’s many hidden characters. First up was a homage to classic side scrolling beat-em-ups called Tekken Force. The PlayStation version of Tekken 3 also offered a couple of unique diversions that were not really possible in the arcades. He utilized Capoeira, a Brazilian mix of dance and martial-arts that was really cool to watch. I remember spending countless hours practicing the moves of every character in the training room, perfecting at one point Hwoarang’s 10 hit combo (I’ve long since forgotten how it’s done.) and King’sinfamous multi-part throws (Some of which I still remember, and they are still awesome today!)Įddy was the most memorable of the Tekken 3 Fighters.
#OGRE TEKKEN 3 SERIES#
The series hallmark chain combo system also felt much smoother and faster in the third installment. This allowed for greater strategy between blocking or simply sidestepping incoming attacks from opponents. Although the Tekken series was always labeled as 3D, it wasn’t until Tekken 3 that fighters were able to move in and out of the extra dimension. The heart of any fighting game is its engine, and Tekken 3 made a number of improvements which have laid the foundations for the rest of the series. You could choose to beat down your adversaries to the original arcade soundtrack, or you could go with an arranged version created specifically for the PlayStation conversion. Tekken 3 also featured arguably the best soundtrack in the series. The colors and backgrounds were vastly improved, and the entire game was bursting with exciting energy. The increased polygon count meant that the cast looked like actual humans.

Tekken 3’s graphics were light-years ahead of its predecessors. Tekken 1 and 2 may have been revolutionary for their time, however the low polygon models that had to be used have not aged very well. The most dramatic improvement was in the visuals. Tekken 3 built upon the foundation laid by the previous two installments. Jin Kazama, the grandson of Heihachi Mishima, made his debut in Tekken 3 My obsession with the arcade release of Tekken 3 meant that I would finally break my Nintendo fan-boy allegiance and buy a Sony PlayStation. The moves in my mind felt more technical, like it was some sort of art to master each character. I will always love Street Fighter.) but Tekken 3 just seemed more grown-up. Sure, I still loved Street Fighter (And I still love Street Fighter. Something that seemed so different than the SNES era fighters to which I had grown accustomed. There was a magical “it” factor about the game. I had grown to love Tekken 3 in the arcades. Up until Tekken 3, my console gaming experience was exclusive to Nintendo. It was also the game that made me expand my gaming palate beyond Nintendo. Tekken 3 was the first 3D fighting game that really resonated with me, finally broadening my horizons beyond the Street Fighter dominated 2D landscape of the early nineties. It released in early 1998, when a 17 year old Watchman was transitioning from being a shy, awkward teen into a shy, awkward 18 year old man-teen. Tekken 3 was in many ways, a personal gateway to a whole new world of gaming.
