Review: Tekken 3D Prime Edition (Nintendo 3DS)

Nothing quite says “hardcore game” like the fighting genre. It was one of the first classes of games to be taken seriously enough to spawn a whole host of professional competitions and tournaments.

Nintendo 3DS is no strangers to fighting titles. Tekken 3D Prime Edition bursts onto the stage to take some of the limelight off it’s arch rivals Dead or Alive: Dimensions and Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition. Does it stand up to the challenge?

The Review

Tekken 3D Prime Edition is an interesting entry in the series. For long time, hardcore fans, there isn’t much new in terms of gameplay. For those who have not played Tekken before and want to see what the fuss is about, this game is tailored to you, and everyone in between.

One of the standout features that will appeal to Tekken veterans is the included movie, Tekken: Blood Vengeance — a full length, action packed, 3D CGI movie based in the Tekken universe. It looks and sounds amazing and should be reason enough to hook the hardcore player in.

The game itself is broken up into three main modes; Special Survival which gives you one health bar and as many opponents as you can get through, Versus Battle is your multiplayer options and Quick Battle, as the name suggests, throws you into a battle against a CPU.

Tekken 3D Prime Edition greets you with 40 characters which is a mighty impressive lineup for a handheld. The fights you play are silky smooth, even in 3D mode. Online multiplayer has been a mixed bad in my experience; it can be hard to find an opponent I’ve found and a couple of occasions there has been some lag issues, but in general it plays out great, though 3D mode has been disabled.

The touchscreen during battles is customisable, allowing players to set up shortcut to moves as they please. This is a great addition for new players, and really helps those who aren’t great at the game remain engaged even when fighting against highly skilled players.

Playing with the Nintendo 3DS’ circle pad is a dream and feels right — even more so than the tried and true D-Pad. Other controls are set out as you’d expect, and the large touchscreen buttons mean you wont have to use the stylus to access your shortcut attacks.

Tekken 3D Prime Edition also uses StreetPass and the Nintendo 3DS’ native “Coins” system. These are both used to collect and trade Tekken Cards of which there are 700 in total. It doesn’t add much to the gameplay, but is a neat feature in and of itself.

Overall, Tekken 3D Prime Edition isn’t trying to revolutionise the series. It’s a great entry point for people wanting to get into the Tekken world. The free movie boosts this game’s must-get factor for veteren players, but overall you’re not going to be disappointed.

Trailer

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Gi--bks_GU&w=560&h=315]