Tekken 6: Hands-On And A Whole Lot More

This fall's dual release of Tekken 6 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will include unique content that's exclusive to each version. Namco Bandai didn't come out and say that content would manifest as unique characters in the two games, but you can see that coming from a mile away (the technique having worked out well enough for the Soul Calibur series, and all). What you probably didn't see coming is a PSP release for the game, though that makes sense next to the announcement of a Soul Calibur game hitting Sony's handheld around the same timeframe.

I didn't see Tekken 6 PSP at this week's Namco Bandai press event. Instead I played the PS3 version, which--like its counterparts--is based on the arcade expansion Bloodline Rebellion and will include all of the characters who appeared in that version in Japanese arcades. As someone who's reasonably familiar with the Tekken series but isn't especially good at it, I can tell you: This definitely plays like Tekken. I tried a few rounds with Kazuya and Jin and was able to bust out all of the basic combos that I could remember with those guys. And there are nearly 40 other characters to choose from, if those two old standbys aren't your cup of tea.

The biggest but seemingly minor additions to the gameplay include a rage mode that kicks in when your health drops below 10 percent, giving you a last-ditch chance to tear up the other guy. The backgrounds are also said to be more interactive, since you can knock opponents through walls, over ledges, and so on. You can see some of that business going on in this trailer.

Tekken 6 definitely looks nice enough; a Namco rep pointed out motion blur effects that are being individually applied to each character. It's a subtle effect that seemed to enhance the smoothness of the action, which seemed to be running at a solid 60 frames per second already. Since we're still early in the PR cycle for the game, Namco wasn't talking about much else in this home version, including specifics about modes, online play, or anything of that nature. But at any rate, what you're really getting with this package is a nice-looking home version of Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion, which is probably exactly what people who are really into Tekken would want.

In the interest of turning this into a Tekken 6 mega-post, here's a ton of screenshots from the console version.

Here's character art!

I CAN'T STOP POSTING ASSETS HERE'S PSP SCREENS .

You know what? One more trailer. There's enough Tekken 6 for everyone!