Tekken 4

The king of the iron fist tournament finally returns, this time accompanied by slightly less hype and misleading propaganda. The concept originally announced before the PS2's release, which soon turned into Tekken Tag Tournament, now seems to have come to fruition, as Tekken 4 boasts all the features which originally created the buzz at the advent of the PS2. Foremost among these is the fact that fights now take place in fully realised 3D environments, giving more of a sense of freedom of movement. Locations range from an underground fight club, to a perilous rooftop, and an airport. The actual location of each bout has a much greater effect on the proceedings. Players can interact with and take advantage of background objects, and scenery itself can be used offensively stunning opponents against a wall, for example. Also, hitting some walls and areas of scenery can bring it all crashing down around the skirmish. As far as gameplay mechanics are concerned, the game still very much remains in the realm of its predecessors, albeit with the adoption of its cousin Soul Calibur's eight way movement. This allows players to battle on more than just one plane, moving up and down, and circling opponents. More than 20 characters feature in the game, including several that fans of previous chapters will recognise such as Jin and Heihachi. Like most Tekken titles, number four comes complete with its own selection of new characters, such the beautiful Christie Monteiro and the powerful wrestler Craig Marduk. All of them, of course, have their own fighting styles according to their martial arts expertise, along with their own range of special moves and combos.