Classic Gaming- Tekken 4: (2001)

The Tekken series has evolved dramatically since its inception around the mid 90’s.  Each Tekken game was better than the last due to the addition of characters along with the improvement of gaming mechanics and captivating storylines.  Out of most of the popular fighting titles such as the Soul Calibur and Street Fighter series Tekken is among the best when it comes down to storytelling.  The intro for Tekken 4 did an excellent job capturing the plot for the game along with introducing some new characters such as Steve Fox.  The story for this game focuses on the on going saga with Heihachi Mishima, Kayuza and Jin Kazama.  The setting for Tekken 4 takes place after the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3 and emphasizes the start of the fourth which is actually a plot developed by Heihachi Mishima to find both Kayuza and Jin Kazama.  The winner of the fourth King of Iron Fist Tournament would receive ownership of the multinational conglomerate known as the Mishima Zaibatsu which was owned by Heihachi Mishima.

When Tekken 4 was first released in arcade centers worldwide many people were amazed by the visual presentation the game had to offer.  The background for each stage in Tekken 4 had looked far better in comparison to the prequel along with the fact that the fighting mechanics in this game were just as good as Tekken 3.  Unlike, Tekken 3 the  characters do not have their own stages or theme songs but instead fight in various venues with generic in game BGM.  However, despite that small change there various game modes in Tekken 4 including Story Battle, Arcade, Vs Battle, Team Battle, Survival, Practice, Training and Tekken Force that were all featured on the PlayStation 2 version during its release in 2002.  The fifth installment of the Tekken series feature many returning characters from some of the previous games including Paul Phoenix, Julia Chang, Law, Nina Williams, Xiaoyu, Yoshimitsu, Lei and Jin Kazama.  Some of the new characters featured in this game included Combot, Marduk, Steve Fox and Christie Monteiro.  The inclusion of  both returning and new characters, nice gameplay and great storytelling all played a significant role in making Tekken 4 one of the best fighting games in the early 2000’s.  While the arcade version of Tekken 4 was outstanding the PlayStation 2 version is arguably more superior due to the inclusion of various game modes that contribute to the overall replay value of this fighting classic.