The other day I was walking the streets of Kobe with my girlfriend when we spotted a Namcoland, a type of Japanese arcade. I was feeling lucky and figured I would try and win some stuffed animals when I came across an advertisement for Tekken 6. I took a picture and headed inside hoping to see more. I was completely unaware that the game had been released in its arcade form, so I was pretty surprised to see it.

It cost 100 yen to play, which is roughly one US dollar, but you get what you pay for in Japan.

This photo was taken with a cell phone, so I apologize if the quality isn’t outstanding. As you may be able to tell, for 100 yen you get to play Tekken 6 with your own enormous screen and speakers. It also had a chair, and a slot for a credit card if you are planning on getting comfortable. If someone wants to play against me, there is the exact same setup right next to me, and the two units are connected.

Let’s get into the gameplay: I chose Miguel since I have been interested in him after hearing about the four new characters. Miguel’s fighting style is filled with violent moves involving a bunch of headbutts and double-fisted slamming motions. His kicks were a little slow, but he feels like a well rounded character. When he crouches it looks like he is just watching his opponent, and not really blocking or anything–all of his stances are funny that way. He was a fun character to play.

I was doing pretty well and getting used to some of Miguel’s combos. He seems to have a few different while-rising combos that are pretty effective. In round 4 or so I came up against another of the games new characters, Zafina. Her fighting style is geared toward misdirection, as it often seem like she is going low, but then goes high or mid. Really annoying! Anyway, she beat me good.

I wanted to save my money, and I could imagine myself getting carried away, so I only played once. All in all the game doesn’t feel much different, but the graphics are greatly improved. Some of the areas I battled in were really nicely designed, and the opening sequences where the characters say their irritating catch-phrases really showed the power of the PS3.

Roy japan, namco, preview, ps3 0 comments