Reviewing this now since i will probably never beat this game.

As someone who as only very recently gotten into fighting games through the street fighter series, when i saw this at the thrift store for 15$ i figured why not give it a try. In the end i can say i can see why this game is so highly praised, especially when i consider when it came out. The graphics are absolutely incredible and though i am way worse at this than i am street fighter, the game-play has a sort of fluidity to it that is very hard to explain, you really just have to feel it for yourself. There are plenty of modes to play, in fact probably more than i ever will be able to play.

My personal problems with the game come with the inputs. While i think it is super cool that each character has such a wide range of moves, it is very, very difficult for me to remember which ones do what when i am playing, as someone who only as of recently can just barely handle all the moves in street fighter. Still, this is just an issue with me and not really with the game.

Overall i think this game is excellent and probably one of the best multiplayer games on the playstation, though it can be a bit frustrating when I'm completely one-sidedly crushed by my friends who are somehow 10 000 000 times better at the game than me.

Tekken 3's NA release on Playstation apparently just turned 24, so I figured I'd use it as an excuse to talk about it. I'd love to play it to get a refresher, but unfortunately my physical copy has seen better days and has a hard time loading even on my PS2.

Despite my own subjective opinions about how I like Tekken 2's roster and music more, it's hard for me to argue against how much 3 refined itself gameplay-wise. The flow of matches are much better due to not being able to jump as horrifically high and now everyone can take advantage of the third axis with universal sidestepping, adding more depth. The AI is even a lot more reasonable this time, five hundred times more beatable than 1 and not constantly ducking under shit on reaction like in 2.

The new modes added for the Playstation port are a mixed bag though. Tekken Ball is absolutely fantastic and super addicting to play especially with a friend, but Tekken Force? Eeeeeeeehhhhh. I like the idea of turning the game into Streets of Rage, but the execution here is a tad lackluster and making us beat it four times to unlock Dr. B is kinda horse shit.

Speaking of Dr. B, I was never a big fan of the two Playstation-exclusive characters. Gon and Dr. B are both the worst kind of trash-tier type characters, not only are they super gimmicky but they're also unfun to play against. Basically a precursor to Yoda in SCIV. It's a minor gripe that basically calls back to roster preference, but hey it's something to talk about. Though it was a nice subject to bring up to tell if someone was actually decent at Tekken.

"Hey what do you think of Gon?"

"He's OP!"

"lol"

My favorite ending off the top of my head was definitely the one where Bryan just ends a bunch of those Tekken Force guys by throwing a fucking tank cannon at them. Close second is probably Ogre's ending just because it's pretty damn badass or Xiaoyu's anime one. I wasn't the only one who originally couldn't pronounce her name right? Oh man, let's not even think about Hwoarang. "How-were-RANG", like a boomerang lol.

Anyway, I like Tekken 3. It's pretty good even if I do heavily prefer Tekken 2's entire presentation despite 3's higher polygon count. Please don't ask me about that, it totally has nothing to do with nostalgia.

The game that changed Tekken as a whole despite the somewhat dated visuals (imo) and man the speed and physics in this game are on point, setting the standard for each new entry in the Tekken franchise. It's like they found the perfect balance between fast-paced action and smooth gameplay.

Having the addition of sidestepping really just changes how you play the game because in the previous games the gameplay was mostly confined to a two-dimensional plane. It was all about timing your moves and blocking and rinse and repeat until your opponent is defeated

Dope fighting game. I got pretty obsessed with it back in the day. I didn't even owned a PS or the game, my friends where coming or borrowing the console for the weekend and I was just playing all day. I remember my cousin and I trying insanely to finish all Tekken Force Mode I don't remember how many times until you unlock Doctor Boskonovitch. We almost cried when it finally happened! And Gon! That lost cousin of Charmander and Agumon, damn that little dude was amazing and fun to play with. Great game.

Definitely the best Tekken game out of the PS1 Era. Great roster, good final boss with Ogre (Not Shrek!) and the gameplay gets a lot more 3D which is epic.

Don't understand that Gon character though. Who is he again? lol

Yeah this game is a timeless classic. So freaking good I love it! This is when Tekken really started to pick up with it's 3D elements. Mad respect!

Tratando-se de jogos de luta em 3D da era 32-bits é um tanto quanto compreensível o distanciamento do público mais jovem, afinal, nem todos carregam conteúdo, visuais, música, gameplay e principalmente a diversão que Tekken 3 proporciona. Como já de costume, a série tinha em sua casa o PlayStation, e não à toa - as versões caseiras eram melhores que as dos arcades.

Seu antecessor havia trazido algo que o primeiro título não tinha - identidade própria - e isso nem tanto em termos estéticos, mas principalmente na jogabilidade. Tekken 1 chega a ser tosco, possuía tanto espaço pra melhoria que era quase que obrigação do segundo título ser superior. E Tekken 2 foi. Não só foi um sucesso, (dos primeiros anos do PlayStation) como conquistou a tão desejada personalidade própria.

Logo, já era de se esperar que Tekken 3 seria, ao mínimo, neotérico. Foi o primeiro jogo a utilizar a placa Namco System 12, (sistema superior baseado na Namco System 11, esta que tinha um hardware relativamente similar ao PlayStation) cujo trouxe a dificuldade de ser portado, processo que demorou cerca de oito meses. Diferentemente de Tekken 2 e Tekken 1, este precisou ter cortes gráficos mais significantes para que a versão caseira fosse lançada. Com um time talentoso e já experiente, a fórmula do "Punho de Ferro" estava pronta.

Para um jogo de 1997, (em tese, 1998, pois cresci jogando a versão de PlayStation) Tekken 3 continua sendo familiar a todos que jogaram lançamentos mais recentes da franquia e, para aqueles que se aventuraram em títulos anteriores, a sensação é de um refino gigantesco. As CGIs estão melhores, os visuais são melhores (e de certa maneira envergonham seus títulos anteriores por estarem no mesmo console) e o combate finalmente se definiu como próprio. Não só isso, a obra ostenta conteúdo, com vários modos divertidos e um elenco de personagens competente (infelizmente bem pequeno se comparado aos padrões atuais da franquia).

Por fim, saliento que Tekken 3 é um grande jogo que não sofreu com suas décadas acumuladas, pelo contrário - parte disso é seu charme. Recomendado tanto para novos aspirantes ao Torneio do Punho de Ferro, quanto para os veteranos que já estão cansados de derrotar o Ogre (e claro, fazer pontuações no Volleyball!).

Tekken 3 is often regarded by most as one of the best fighting games on the PlayStation, and for good reason!
It takes a lot on what Tekken 2 did and expands upon it a lot!

The visuals are really great for the console it is on, with nice detailed textures and models. The CGI renders also look way better than last time, feeling last plastic-looking.
The soundtrack is also really well done! Not every tune was great to me, but there were a lot of catchy themes that got me pumping for a fight!

Tekken 3 also does some improvements on gameplay, not only with there more combos to master, but you can actually move on the Z-axis this time, by pressing up or down twice.
And the character roster is also very diverse, and there are some funny picks, although to be frank here, I wasn't the biggest fan of playing as Gon or Doctor Bosconovitch. Not my style.

Additionally, there are some new modes to play around with: Tekken Force and Tekken Ball.
Tekken Ball pretty much is volleyball, but you do damage by getting the ball on your opponent's side. It can be quite fun, even if I didn't play it all that much.
Tekken Force, on the other side, feels like an entirely different beast. While it has similar controls to the main game, it's structured like a beat'em up, where you go through 4 stages, defeating every enemy in sight, with a boss at the end.
I did like the premise of the mode, but it felt a bit awkward to control, especially when it came to moving my character around to grab healing items. Also, unlocking Doctor B. via this mode was a bit of a pain. Like Survival Mode, this mode has no continues, so if you die in it, you gotta restart from the beginning. That sucked, especially when I was so close to the end.

Regardless, Tekken 3 is a really fun fighting game, and feels like the Tekken series has finally found its strive in the fighting genre!

A fighting god Ogre rips Grandson's mom's fucking head off
Grandson doesn't like that very much and is mad
Grandson enters tournament arranged by Grandfather (Father from previous entries)
Grandson fights Grandfather and wins
Grandson Fights Ogre and wins but then Ogre eats his grandfather????????
Grandson wins again but then his grandfather shoots him
Grandfather makes a goofy ass smile and attempt to leave
Grandson unleashes emo powers and slams grandfather to the ground before flying away.

And Mokujin is there.

Tekken 3 is a sort of mood-focused masterpiece for Tekken in the same way that Third Strike is a mood-focused masterpiece for Street Fighter; where 3S is a game where the atmosphere causes the gameplay to get a distinct tint of bittersweet nostalgia and a light fear + hope for the future, Tekken 3 is a game where every single part of it oozes the feeling of grungey, rough and halfway to being sleazy 90's edge - with just enough sophistication to not get lost in the sauce.

Heihachi's theme in this is an absolute fucking ALLTIMER. They never gave the old man a theme better than the one he got here.

Although I have dabbled in fighting games here and there, the only major franchise in this genre that I'd consider myself to be a devoted fan of would be the Super Smash Bros. series. In terms of the genre's most iconic franchises, I find the first three Mortal Kombat games to be irresistibly charming and nostalgic (even if they barely work as actual fighting games), and the phrase "not my thing" constantly echoed throughout every match of Street Fighter II I've ever played. Other than that, the only fighting games I've really sunk my teeth into were the Super Smash Bros. games, Injustice 2, and, for some reason, the Wii port of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. Despite all of that, the Tekken franchise has always looked intriguing to me after playing a bit of Tekken 6 at my cousin's house a few years ago, and since I've heard a lot of people say that Tekken 3 was the best game in the series, I was pretty excited to give it a go.

I don't know what it was about Namco's late-90s offerings on the PS1, but they always seem to be jam-packed with personality, but unlike the laidback confidence of something like Ridge Racer Type 4, the cool allure of Tekken 3 comes from its in-your-face aggression. Even when you're not fighting an opponent, Tekken 3 still knows how to put you in the mood to fight someone from its varied cast of characters, as the stylish menus, energetic prerendered cutscenes, and amazing music do a lot to make the game look as exciting as it feels to play. Speaking of which, the actual combat in Tekken 3 is awesome, as the tight controls, buttery-smooth animations, and the well-implemented third axis meshed well with the impressive amount of moves and combos to make each punch and kick feel natural and weighty. The satisfaction that comes from experimenting with the roster is amplified by a ton when it comes to learning combos, with characters like Bryan Fury and Eddy Gordo being especially fun to play as thanks to how flashy, yet intuitive their movesets were for me. Pretty much every positive thing I've said about Tekken 3 is increased tenfold when multiplayer is involved, as this game is an absolute blast to play with a friend.

As great and mechanically robust as the traditional one-on-one fights are, I will admit that the most enjoyable way to play Tekken 3 for me came from the ever-so-silly "Tekken Ball" mode, and while the actual path to unlocking it can feel a bit grindy due to how often you have to keep replaying the game's standard arcade mode, the amount of fun that I had playing the mode made it all feel worth it. Playing through that mode was also satisfying in its own right, as it not only unlocked the rest of the game's roster, but each playthrough rewarded me an ending cutscene that pretty much always made each run feel worthwhile in how over-the-top (and occasionally funny) they were. My only real complaints with Tekken 3 can be found in its single player content, because while there are quite a few modes to choose from, a lot of them just felt like slight variations of the arcade that you're already going to spend a lot of time with. I also wasn't the biggest fan of the "Tekken Force" mode, because while the concept of a Tekken beat-em-up is really cool, it was all very clunky in its execution, and actually beating it feels based more on luck than anything else. These gripes pale in comparison to just how fun and stylish of a game Tekken 3 is, though, and it definitely deserves its legacy as one of the best fighting games on the PS1 (although it's not like it had very much competition to begin with).

This is where Tekken really begins. Everyone got the lead out of their shoes, and compared to the first two games, Tekken 3 is blindingly fast. It's also really fun. It's stuffed with features that will have you coming back for more continuously. On Playstation, this game could actually hit 480i. Which is impressive for 1998. Every other Tekken has tried to capture the magic of this one, with decidedly mixed results. This game however is a certified classic. A game so good, it killed Virtua Fighter's relevancy outside of Japan. Even without the extra features of the PS1 version, it's a fantastic game. With Tekken Ball and the Beat-Em-Up side content, it becomes one of the greatest fighting games ever. Street Fighter 2, 3, 4, Soul Calibur, Virtua Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat 1, Marvel vs, Capcom 2, and Tekken 3. These are the most important games in the genre, in my opinion. So what are you waiting for? Enter the King of Iron Fist Tournament. Enter the Tekken.

Sometimes saying "this game was good for its time" can sound like damning it with faint praise, but that's not the case with Tekken 3, because it was really damn good for its time. Tekken 2 showed flashes of brilliance but I think this game was where the series really found its feet, and started to clearly pull ahead of its direct rival Virtua Fighter. Perhaps the one thing I could complain about is that button mashing makes a very viable strategy if you know which character to pick (spam the kick buttons in various combinations with Eddy or Hwoarang and it's hard to lose). But the game had plenty else going for it: tight controls, huge movesets, interesting characters, plenty of unlockables, and a great sense of style. Definitely one of the best fighting games of its era.