- Tekken 4

Tekken 4 is almost here. Some people will say it is the same old Tekken, just a prettier Tekken 3. This is simply not the case. Tekken 4 has evolved more than any Tekken to date. Perhaps only us Tekken veterans will notice, but the fact remains, Tekken 4 brings some major changes and enhancements over previous games in the series. Tekken 4 is the result of a lot of years of tweaking into something quite polished.

First, the visuals. Tekken 4 looks extremely good. If you played PS2's VF4, you'd notice the rough visuals as far as textures and jaggies. Tekken4's visuals puts PS2's VF4 to shame with no jaggies of shimmering and detailed textures with very expansive backgrounds. The characters arent quite as detailed as VF4 but the animation seems a bit better. Easily the best looking fighter on the PS2. Tekken 4 is also the first progressive scan compatible game for PS2. Lets hope this trend continues. There is also an option to flick on/off the flicker filter of the game. Put it on and the game has no jaggies or shimmering and everything has a smooth look. Turn it off& everything will be really sharp but there will be some shimmer. Either way, the game is beautiful if not a little barren in a couple stages. But the reflections and water in the mall arena, from the glass in the windows, or the floor, or the gold lining in the shops, I've been heartily impressed. The smoothness and detail of the statues, its surprising how much it imitates the real sculpture's attention to human skin. The little details like the hatch being open to airplane, or "Geken" playing at the movie theater in Shinjuku...the game just looks amazingly clear and sharp.