Arcade Video game published 25 years ago:
Tekken (c) 1994 Namco.
World's 8 best martial artists emerge into 'The King Of Iron Fist Tournament' for winning the title of King of Iron Fist and a large purse of prize money. Every artist will try his best to defeat Heihachi and win the prize money and fame.
- TECHNICAL -
Namco System 11 hardware
Game ID : TE
Main CPU : PSX (@ 16.9344 Mhz), M37710 (@ 16.384 Mhz)
Sound Chips : C352 (@ 16.384 Mhz)
Screen orientation : Horizontal
Theoretical maximum video resolution : 640 x 480 pixels
Video resolution (boot-up colour bar test) : 256 x 240 pixels
Video resolution (in-game) : 512 x 240 pixels
Video resolution (test mode) : 640 x 240 pixels
Players : 2
Control : 8-way joystick
Buttons : 4
=> [1] LP, [2] RP, [3] LK, [4] RK
- TRIVIA -
Tekken was released in December 1994 in the Arcades.
The title of this game translates from Japanese as 'Iron Fist'.
The game was originally going to be called 'Rave War'.
The music in Tekken was recycled in "Tekken 2" for all except Venezia and the Character Select BGM. Marine Stadium -> Bruce, Monument Valley -> Armor King, Angkor Wat -> Kunimitsu, Fiji -> Roger, Windermere -> P.Jack, Acropolis -> Kuma, Chicago -> Lee, Szechwan -> Wang, Kyoto -> Ganryu, King George Island -> Anna.
Some of the characters' sound effects are recycled for other characters :
Kazuya and Lee
Yoshimitsu and Kunimitsu
Nina and Anna
Jack, P.Jack, Ganryu and Heihachi
King, Armor King and Kuma
Law, Paul, Michelle and Wang have their own individual sounds.
Interestingly, Kunimitsu had Yoshimitsu's voice, although Kunimitsu is a female character. Why Namco decided not to use Michelle's or Nina's voices no-one knows.
Law was originally going to be called 'Dragon'. This name remained on his PL1 outfit. In the sound ROM, the announcer says 'Law the Dragon', but this was cut to just say 'Law' afterwards. This is why the announcer's voice sounds cut off mid-sentence.
The boss characters mostly share the same moves as the 8 playable characters, with more moves added (e.g. Heihachi gains the 'Hammer to Power Punch' from Paul). While the boss characters share the same moves as the regular characters, they are also given extra moves for extra difficulty.
Similarity of the boss characters :
Heihachi : Kazuya
P.Jack : Jack
Ganryu : Jack
Kuma : Jack
Lee : Law
Anna : Nina
Wang : Michelle
Armor King : King
Kunimitsu : Yoshimitsu
Paul was never 'cloned' by any character.
Heihachi was given Paul's 'Hammer to Power Punch' & 'Heavy Power Punch' (a.k.a. Deathfist, a fan name).
P.Jack was given Paul's 'Hammer to Power Punch'.
Kuma was given Michelle's 'G-Clef Cannon'.
Wang was given Paul's 'Heavy Power Punch'.
Armor King was given Kazuya's 'Rising Uppercut' & 'Dragon Uppercut'.
Anna was given Law's 'Crescent Kick'.
Lee was given Paul's 'Double Hop Kick' combos and Kazuya's 'Left Splits Kick'.
Ganryu received the only hidden (non-playable) moves of the game - left and right handed versions of the 'Palm Combo'. Players would find this move later in "Tekken 2".
Kunimitsu remained unchanged and shared every Yoshimitsu move (however the CPU never used the sword moves or the 10-hit combo against a player).
Default Time Records :
1ST (Michelle) 50'00"00 FUN
2ND (Kazuya) 51'00"00 GNY
3RD (Paul) 52'00"00 K.N
4TH (Law) 53'00"00 YRI
5TH (Jack) 54'00"00 KIN
6TH (Nina) 55'00"00 KMT
7TH (King) 56'00"00 KUN
8TH (Yoshimitsu) 57'00"00 KIM
9TH (Michelle) 58'00"00 NIK
10TH (Kazuya) 59'00"00 ISI
11TH (Paul) 60'00"00 Y.K
12TH (Law) 61'00"00 K.K
13TH (Jack) 62'00"00 JIN
14TH (Nina) 63'00"00 AKI
15TH (King) 64'00"00 NAK
16TH (Yoshimitsu) 65'00"00 KDS
Tekken / Namco Game Sound Express Vol.17 [Victor Entertainment - VICL-15039 - Mar 24, 1995]
- UPDATES -
REVISION 2 :
* Software version : TE1/VER.B (Japan)
* Software version : TE2/VER.B (World)
* Build date : 17:53:08, DEC 9 1994
REVISION 3 :
* Software version : TE2/VER.C (World)
* Software version : TE4/VER.C
* Build date : 15:07:12, JAN 12 1995
REVISION 4 :
* Software version : TE5/VER.A
* Build date : 22:16:57, MAR 23 1995
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* If you attempt to throw an opponent but it doesn't connect properly, the opponent will yell in a hurt manner. This can be done if you're slightly out of range (only just connect but miss), if the opponent is in the air, and also if they have their back turned. It's funny when you perform this against Yoshimitsu, as he will say 'Ow!' even though he wasn't hurt in any way!
* The slowest recovering move in the game is Jack's 'Body Press'. If Jack doesn't fully connect with the opponent, he will fall over and automatically stagger backwards, leaving himself open to lots of attacks. On the other side, if you happen to be crushed by Jack, you will be stuck on the ground for an even longer time.
* The most powerful move in the game is Jack's 'Gigaton Punch', at 128 damage points and an instant KO. The player must wind up by rotating the stick 5 times, with the announcer counting, and press Left Punch to complete the move. Failure to do so will leave Jack winding his arm for a short while and you can't move or block until he powers back down. Left Punch can be pushed during any wind-up but will do less damage the shorter the wind-up is.
* Nina has a special throw called the 'Back Hand Slap'. This unique throw can be linked to more damaging moves, in the form of an unblockable combo. Anna (CPU) has a toned down version of the same move with only one follow-up (Arm Snap).
- Back Hand Slap : In a quarter circle motion roll the stick D,DF,F and press LP+RP to initiate the throw. This throw is not very damaging and is the only throw to leave the opponent still standing. On its own it does 15 damage.
- Arm Break : Right after grabbing the opponent with the above move, quickly press LP,LK,RP,LP. Nina will grab her opponent's arm and bend it backwards. 20 damage (total 35).
- Double Arm Break : If you thought breaking one arm was enough, the 'Silent Assassin' will turn around again and break both her opponents arms at the same time. This is done right after the animation changes to 'Arm Break' by pressing LK,LP,RK,LP+RP,LP+RP in the short amount of time. 25 damage (total 60).
- Falling Arm Break : An alternative combo to the Arm Break. Nina will instead fall on top of her opponent's broken arm causing more damage. This is done right after the animation changes to 'Arm Break' by pressing RP,LP,LK,RK,LP+RP in the short amount of time. 25 damage (total 60).
- Arm Snap : Another Back Hand Slap follow-up. Right after grabbing the opponent with the first move, quickly press LK,RK,LK,LP+RP. Nina will wrestle her opponent to the ground and break their arm. 30 damage (total 45).
* Michelle is the only character in Tekken to have a back throw; a special throw which would be available to all characters as of "Tekken 2" and later. Wang (CPU character on stage 8) also has this throw. If you are caught in this move, hold Down to duck the throw.
Spin Behind to Behind Back Suplex: Press Back+RP (spin on hit), then hold LP+RP to initiate back throw. 12+45 damage (total 57).
* Some moves are not blockable if done in sequence : King's 'Exploder' and 'Running Exploder' can be followed up to a rising kick, as can Nina's 'Forward Flip Kick'. The rolling cross chop (all character except Jack) from the ground also has a similar property if a simple left or right punch is made. You can do basic juggle moves (air combos) from this feature.
* 10-Hit Combos (buttons : LP=1, RP=2, LK=3, RK=4) : These must be timed so each move corresponds with each hit (or, take advantage of the 'feature' which lets all buttons pressed at once count as each hit after the first). This was fixed in the PlayStation version and later games.
Yoshimitsu : 1,2,1,4,4,4,1,1,1,1
Nina : 1,2,1,2,3,3,2,1,2,4 (alt : d/f+1,2,1,2,3,3,2,1,2,4, alt.2 : f+2,1,2,3,3,2,1,2,4)
Law : d/f+1,2,2,1,3,3,3,4,3,4
Paul : 1,2,3,1,4,1,2,4,2,1
Kazuya : f,f+2,1,2,2,3,4,4,1,2,1
Jack : d+2,1,1,1,2,1,2,1,1+2,1+2 (quick press down+2 to start)
King : 1,2,1,1,2,4,4,4,1,3 (alt : f+2,1,2,2,4,4,4,1,3)
Michelle : 2,1,1,2,3,3,3,4,4,1
- SERIES -
1. Tekken (1994, ARC)
2. Tekken 2 (1995, ARC)
3. Tekken 3 (1996, ARC)
4. Tekken Tag Tournament (1999, ARC)
5. Tekken Tag Tournament Turbo (1999, ARC)
6. Tekken 4 (2001, ARC)
7. Tekken Advance [Model AGB-ATKJ-JPN] (2001, GBA)
8. Tekken 5 (2004, ARC)
9. Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection (2005, ARC)
10. Tekken 6 (2007, ARC)
11. Tekken 6 - Bloodline Rebellion (2008, ARC)
12. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (2011, ARC)
13. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Unlimited (2012, ARC)
14. Tekken 7 (2015, ARC)
- STAFF -
Director & Main designer : Seiichi Ishii
Coordinator : Masamichi Abe
Game maintenance : Teruaki Konishi, Masahiro Kimoto, Yutaka Kounoe
Design supervisor : Satoru Yamada
Character designers : Kunihiko Nakata, Masanori Kimura, Yoshihisa Yaguchi, Kenichi Isozaki
Motion designers : Hitoshi Matsuda, Masahiro Onoguchi, Shigeo Sasaki, Kaname Takai, Tetsuya Okamoto
Visual designer : Hiroko Ohnishi
Logo & Graphic designer : Hideaki Ito
Program supervisor : Katsuo Nakamura
Main programmer : Masanori Yamada
Game programmer : Naoki Ito
System programmer : Yoshihito Saito
Stage & Effects programmer : Toshihiro Itou
Motion picture & Enemy programmer : Kiyomi Moriya
Management of VRAM : Tetsuya Funatsu
Model convert programmer : Norimasa Matsuura
Tool support : Kazuyuki Nikaido, Naoto Hanai
Test mode programmer : Takayasu Yanagihara
Sound designers : Yoshie Takayanagi, Yoshie Arakawa, Kazuhiro Nakamura
Producer : Hajime Nakatani
Voice : Alex Easley, Ginga Banjou (Heihachi), Lisa Hart, Robb Satterwhite, Lynn Harris (Nina Williams)
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
Sony PlayStation (1995) : On this version, the Marine Stadium stage was renamed to just Stadium. The AI is also much easier. On the Stadium stage, a big screen reflects you fighting, just like the mirror on the Tekken 2 Devil stage. The music is remixed by default, including the Kazuya intro, but has the option of selecting the original arcade music, however there's no 'arcade' Kazuya intro music. The eight boss characters, as well as Heihachi, can also be unlocked on this game, and have some updated moves from Tekken 2 thrown in. Jack's 'raaah' sound (heard during Lift Up throw) is missing, however P.Jack has it, but P.Jack's 'mreeyah' sound has been replaced by it.
Sony PlayStation 2 (2005, "Tekken 5 Ultimate Collectors Edition")
Sony PlayStation 2 (2005, "NamCollection") : Japan release only.
Sony PlayStation 2 (2005, "Tekken 5") : Available in the Arcade History mode. This game is an updated version of the actual arcade version, with fewer options and no coin settings. The Marine Stadium stage has been renamed to Stadium again. The characters have the arcade AI, but are given sampled sound effects like the PlayStation version.
- CONTRIBUTE -
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