The Denki Files: [Review] Tekken Hybrid (PS3)

It’s quite evident that fighters are making quite therevival as of late. Even before Street Fighter IV though, the Tekken serieshad never gave up on the genre and only continued to push out titles throughoutthe years. As fighters have become part of the mainstream, it’s only expectedthat it would bleed into other entertainment forms as well, such as movies;likewise, Tekken would be one of thefrontrunners in coming out with a CGmovie, which is sure to satisfy fans more than the live action failures ofother franchises. Tekken Hybridthrows the past along with the fruits of its labors together, giving fans Tekken Tag 2 Prologue, Tekken Tag Tournament HD, and CG movie Tekken Blood Vengeance all in onepackage.

More than a decade since its original release, Tekken Tag Tournament still manages tobe a fun game. While it lacks the extended combos of recent outings, the solidtag-based is intact. Harking to a more simple time, TTT’s lack of walls and bound-based combos offer solace for gamerswho are tired of being pounded to death upon a single combo that will carry himto the wall. On top of that, it has all the modes that its previous consolecounterpart did, including the mysteriously addicting Tekken Bowl mode. Thoughthe gameplay has kept up, the graphics’ age definitely shows. Like a veteranactress, the game is expected to show some age; it’s an excusable, yetundeniable facet of TTT HD.

It’s hard to look at this package and pick out any one partthat’s the headliner. However, with TekkenTag 2 Prologue’s character selection being heavily influenced by the maincast in Tekken Blood Vengrance, itwould seem that these two go hand in hand in promoting each other. As thefuture of the Tekken franchise, TTT2 Prologue should certainly be thecenterpiece that has gamers’ appetite whetting the most. In addition to the tagpossibilities presented in TTT, TTT2 Prologue includes Tag Assault,which allows two characters bombarding an opponent with attacks, and Tag Crash,which allows one to safely tag out during an attack as another comes in. Bothof these only strengthen the tagging mechanics, making it a crucial aspect to implementduring games. With only Jin, Kazuya, Alisa, and Xiaoyu available, the game ismerely a demo that will leave players wanting.

Graphically, the game already looks better than Tekken 6, with more detailed charactersand stages alike. This is only made all the more impressive by the game’sability to have multiple characters on screen at the same time, pummeling away.The musical stylings established in Tekken6 stay strong, giving players a variety of electronic music, including thetoken dubstep noise.

Film loving gamers may be reluctant to load up Tekken Blood Vengeance, they will bepleasantly surprised if they go against their first instincts. While Blood Vengeance is by no means AcademyAward material, it’s a jump in quality from other fighting game based movies –certainly better than most adaptations of the Street Fighter series. The writing does become confusing and hardto follow at times, but bears the series’ signature combination of serious scenesinvolving the Mishima family and humor with Xiaoyu and Panda. Visually, it isstunning. Avid Tekken followers willundoubtedly draw similarities between the movie’s CG quality and those of thegames’ cutscenes.

For just one aspect of this bundle, Tekken Hybrid may be a hard sell. However, Tekken fans will surely beat themselves over the head foroverlooking an opportunity to replay one of the most iconic games in the series(without the guaranteed three frames of lag on a backwards compatible PS3), watcha visually stunning CG movie that is true to the series, and get a taste of thefuture of the series a full year before it hits (without dropping a dollar pergame at the arcade). General fighting game fans will likely want to take acrack at the title, but they’re advised to wait as the bundle as a whole maynot be as enticing.