With the recent release of Tekken 8, we thought it was time to take a look back at the series that has set the gold standard for fighting games time and time again.

Trying to trace the long and complicated history of fighting games is like trying to determine the trajectory of a drunk spider with four pairs of mismatched stilettos. Luckily, the Tekken series has pursued cleaner, more sober directions over its 29-year lifecycle. So let’s take a look at what makes Namco’s premier fighting game series so enduringly popular.

How Many Tekken Games are There?

Tekken has primarily been an arcade game, and has been developed for various home consoles over the years. The first coin-op game called “Tekken” was released in 1994, followed by Tekken 2 (1995), Tekken 3 (1997), Tekken Tag Tournament (1999), Tekken 4 (2001), Tekken 5 (2004), Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection (2005), Tekken 6 (2007), Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion (2008), Tekken 7 (2015), and Tekken 8 (2024).

Each iteration has seen a conversion to a console or a small detour to a portable console Bos5000, with versions of this great game appearing on all PlayStation and Xbox consoles, the WonderSwan, and the Game Boy Advance.

What’s it all About?

For the fighting game newbie, fighting games basically involve fighting other people in hand-to-hand combat using on-screen characters with strong martial arts skills and abilities. Some of these fighting games are more bizarre and fantastical than others (for example, the Mortal Kombat series relies on gore). And while Tekken also has special moves and elaborate combos, it is favored by fighting arts fans because the character skills are similar to those of fighting game fans. Although the key ones are different, they are not the same as those of real martial arts. B. A fusion of judo style with full-contact punches and kicks. So what you get with Tekken games is a combination of fantasy combat sprinkled with real-world fighting styles.

The Art of Fighting

To play the game at a basic level, you simply use the control stick to move your character around the screen and the buttons to punch and kick. In Tekken, your character has two buttons on his arms (left and right) and two on his legs (left and right).

However, thanks to each character’s extensive move list, it gets much more complicated than simply spamming a button. By performing different key combinations, you can invoke different moves and chain different moves together to devastating effect, called combos. Add in blocks, counterattacks, and Tekken 6’s new rage meter (which allows weakened characters to access their last reserves of power), and you’ve got a pretty complex combat system. Plus, each character has a different set of moves, allowing for some interesting variation in fighting styles. Did we mention there are 32 unique fighting characters? No? Well, we’re here to tell you.

The World of Tekken

You could fill the entire internet (yes, the entire internet) with the storyline of the Tekken series and its various character rosters. As for the storyline, all you need to know is that each game is based on a fictional fighting tournament called “The King of Iron Fist”. The tournament is hosted and funded by a corporation called the Mishima Zaibatsu, and the winner usually gets ownership of the organization and can host the next tournament.

In Tekken 6, Kazama Jin was scheduled to participate in the King of Iron Fist tournament, but it was canceled due to his mysterious disappearance. In Tekken 7 and Tekken 8, the King of Iron Fist tournament was canceled again due to a series of unprecedented events.

Tekken has introduced us to an amazing variety of characters over the years, some appearing for short periods of time, others coming and going throughout the series. Some main characters (such as Heihachi Mishima, Paul Phoenix, and Yoshimitsu) have appeared in every Tekken game. The characters come from all over the world and bring different fighting styles to the tournament. Furthermore, in addition to more serious characters and relatively serious fighting styles, some characters have a supernatural side, like Ogre and Devil. On the other hand, there are also more light-hearted moments, thanks to humorous characters such as Kuma and Panda. One of the things that makes the Tekken series so fun to follow is the fact that each character has their own detailed backstory and reason for taking part in the tournament.

Tekken in Pop Culture

The Tekken series is so popular that its influence has spread to other games and media. Yoshimitsu also appears in Namco’s weapon-based fighting game Soul Calibur. Heihachi appears in Namco’s party game Pac-Man Fever, and curiously Yoshimitsu, Eddie, and Heihachi also appeared in Anna Kournikova’s Smash Court Tennis. Other media appearances include DC Comics’ Tekken series called Tekken Forever, Tekken: The Movie, and countless references in TV shows and movies such as EastEnders, Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, and Boy, Where’s My Car?.

Tekken has been a top choice for fighting fans since its release in 1994, and has remained at the top through multiple iterations. We hope that this brief look back at the game’s history will bring back fond memories for fans, and more importantly, we hope it will convince non-gamers to sign up as well, because Tekken 8 has just been released, and you’re going to need to get in shape if you want to be the King of Tekken.