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Preview : Tekken Advance I trust everyone knows and has played Tekken right ? Good, then I won't have to spend half a page about the history of Tekken, how it plays and how many Tekken games there are. No, I'll concentrate on this version of the popular beat-em-up. First of all, it's clear that Namco just wanted to port Tekken 3/Tag Tournament instead of making a GBA specific game. You get 10 characters: Jin, Hwoarang, Paul King, Nina, Yoshimitsu, Law, Xiaoyu, Gun Jack and big boss Heihachi. So, no new characters, and only half of the Tekken 3 crew. Also, Namco tried to recreate the look of Tekken 3, and used pre-rendered graphics for the characters. This means that they generally look the same as on the PSX, but they don't move as well. They also tried to keep the 3D feeling, and that means you can side-step and circle around your opponent. The backgrounds too are taken straight out of Tekken 3. The gameplay is a little simplified compared to its bigger brother. The A and B buttons are punch and kick, R is throw and L is the tag button. Yes, the game has a tag mode, and it's 3 on 3, instead of 2 on 2 in Tekken Tag. Even though there's only 1 kick and 1 punch button, many of the moves are still the same. You can still juggle your opponents with Hwoarangs many kicks, and Law still has lots of different backflips. The sound is ok, a lot of the original arcade music is included, and the voice samples, although not very clear, are still recognisable. The hit impact sounds sound familiar too, and add to the Tekken atmosphere. The game has 7 play modes: Arcade, VS, 3 on 3, 3 on 3 VS, Time Attack, Survival and Practice, so replayability won't be an issue. So, the game plays good (if you like Tekken), sounds good (considering the limitations of the GBA) and looks good (for a GBA game). However, if you didn't like Tekken before, you won't suddenly be a convert. Also, people who played Tekken 3 to death won't find anything new here, so this game is only recommended for people who want their Tekken on the go, or to newcomers to the genre. |
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