Completion time: 13:22

I chose Tekken as the game to launch this project solely because this was one of the first two games my dad got when he bought himself a PS1. Other than 2 and 3, I’ve never held much of a soft spot for the franchise, and I knew coming in that this would be a rough start. Father Time hasn’t treated this one well.

You can definitely see how far the franchise has come, from 10 hit combos and no proper 3D maneuverability, to the crude visuals. I know I enjoyed Tekken back in the day, unlocking all of the hidden characters repeatedly until my dad finally purchased a memory card. In 2021 however, I’m happy to beat this and move onto the next game, as everything about Tekken has age poorly. It’s playable yes, but everything is just average at best, with stiff controls, and definitely not worth coming back to experience years later.

Was this a marvel back in 1995? For sure it was, yeah. You never saw much of this type of game on home consoles before its release, save Sega’s fledgling offerings. I’m just hoping Tekken 2, and especially Tekken 3, are as awesome as I remember them to be. If they aren’t, well there’s still a plethora of games to go through that will surely yield some good times! As for this one, leave the memories alone.

Rating: 5

Twitch VOD: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/921529499
YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNs2XYdG4Zo