Tekken 4 (2001)

Tekken 4 is a worthy follow up of Tekken 3. With this first PlayStation 2 release, the next generation aspects that this installments presents, was unmatched at the time. The new graphics, the fast gameplay, the fluent animations, new mechanics, it was all stunning back then.

In terms of story, Tekken 4 picks up where Tekken 3 ended. Heihachi wants to use the captured blood of Ogre (which he did in Tekken 3) and wants to make himself immortal. This fails because he lacks the Devil Gene, something that Jin Kazama and his son Kazuya do have. He yeeted Kazuya in a volcano however and must now retrieve his remains in a G Corp laboratory. He sends a squad to the facility, only to find out that they are all wiped out by Kazuya himself, immediately learning that Kazuya is not dead.

To lure Jin and/or Kazuya out of hiding, Heihachi hosts the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4, with a grand prize that consists of the ownership of the entire Mishima Zaibatsu. Knowing that both will join the tournament, he puts his plans in motion. Jin and Kazuya win all their battles and are supposed to fight on Stage 7, but Jin is captured and disappears, making Kazuya the winner so far and earning him the privilege of fighting his old papa again. Heihachi woops the floor with Kazuya and transports him to the location that Jin is held, in the same volcano that Kazuya was thrown into, years ago. Just as he wants to chain Kazuya next to gin, the Devil gene activates in Kazuya and he breaks free. He beats the sh!t out of Heihachi and taunts Jin telepathically, who is instantly enraged and his Devil gene also activates. Kazuya and Jin fight, Kazuya is knocked out and after this, Heihachi regains consciousness and is ready for another beating, which he gets from Jin. When he is about to end Heihachi’s existence, a vision of his mother Jun appears, telling him to spare Heihachi’s life in her honor. Jin flies away, leaving his daddy and his evil brother K.O. on the floor. The family story gets better and better with each installment.

You have the standard modes from the first games, which includes the standard arcade campaign and the Team Battle modes. The Tekken Force mode from Tekken 3 is also present, but this is more like a mini game in which you play as a third person fighter of your choosing and beat up generic soldiers from Tekken Force, employed by Heihachi himself. At the end, you fight Heihachi. You can pick up health powerups to keep you going. The mini game is not bad, but not that great or revolutionary too.

In Tekken 4, you now use the terrain to your advantage. Walls and other obstacles are in place, which you can use to smack your opponent against. The new graphics and the improved dodging and cornering prevention, make this game feel ultra-realistic in terms of fighting mechanics. The mechanics are a little broken however, that's why they have been removed in later installments.

Tekken 4 features 23 characters in total. It added some new ones like Christie Montero, Steve Fox and Craig Marduk. All iconic characters that are unmissable in the later installments. Ten fighters are available by default, the rest can be unlocked by completing the arcade/story mode multiple times.

In terms of graphics, it is needless to say that this game looks amazing. The leap from the third to the fourth game is revolutionary. The animations are smooth as butter now, the backgrounds highly detailed, the characters polished and perfected, the lightning effects, the physics, it is a true next gen game.

The sound effects and the music is improved too. The capabilities of the PlayStation 2 shows when the stomps, falls and grunts blast through your tv and the new music tracks are really nice and really pump you on each battle.

The controls also feel a lot more responsive. This is mainly because the performed action or animations runs so much smoother, but making combo’s felt easier than ever with Tekken 4.

My only problem, once again, was the balancing issue with Eddy Gordo and his easy win streak by performing all low ground attacks. It is a flaw that still hasn’t been fixed. In fact, the problem has doubled by introducing Christie Montero, which is a female clone of Eddy Gordo.

Overall, I liked Tekken 4, and although it is not my favorite entry in the series, it is a worthy successor from the masterpiece Tekken 3.

Definitely recommend this game.

Tekken 4 is a visually enhanced fighting game taking the series back to its roots and adds to the Mishima family story in a more cinematic fashion.

Featuring wonderfully designed characters and fighting arenas in a more interactive setting, brings a refreshing change to the series.

Although it's a great looking game, it does lack in character selection, keeping some original characters with very few new faces, bringing replayability to an all time low.