The Nestlekwik Happy Hour for July 26, 2008Nestlekwik: Welcome one and all once again to the podcast you have to read, The Nestlekwik Happy Hour. Today we're coming at you a little late in the evening, but don't fret as there will be no dirty content airing over the waves this evening. It was a little hard to stop relaxing after a busy week last week, but we've somehow managed to come back with a brand new episode tonight. My cohort is in a hurry to make the annual STORM tournament, so we'll have to get right to it this week - please welcome MixMasterLar.
MixMasterLar: It's past the children's bed times. Are you sure we can't be rated R this time around? Let's have some drinks and swear a lot.
Nes: I'm afraid the sponsors don't take kindly to that.
Lar: Wait. We don't have sponsors.
Nes: Well, we would if you would get your mind out of gutter.
Lar: *looks nervously at watch*
Nes: Yeah, yeah, I get it. Let's hurry on to this week's review and MixMasterLar's review on a series that few people can match him on ... Tekken!
Happy Hour Review: Tekken 3Lar: Possibly the most well known and popular fighter for the first Playstation, Namco's Tekken 3, brought 3D fighters back into the limelight with some pretty impressive fighting styles, nice graphics that pushed the PSX hardware to its limits and fast-paced action.
The game is a port of the arcade title and all the fighters, stages, music and moves where kept while adding more characters, an arranged soundtrack and a lot of extra modes to enjoy (Tekken Ball anyone?). The one downside of the transition is the graphics aren't as rich and the action isn't as brisk as the arcade version, but most players hardly seem to notice.
Tekken 3 keeps all the advances that Tekken 2 made while adding two major adjestments. The first is the abilty to sidestep to attack from the side or even your opponent's back and the second addition is the abilty to roll off the ground doing a fall and spring back up by tapping one of the punch buttons during impact by simply holding forward/back. These two additions majorly affect the feel of the game about as much as the reversals did in Tekken 2.
The game's controls are fairly simple: You have a button that repersents a limb and pressing that button attacks with that limb. Adding joystick movements changes things around a little but because the command reflects what the fighters do, it's possible to learn 80% of a character's movelist by simply watching. Other unique command include throws which allow you to grapple an opponent or reversals which allow you to counter an opponent's attack.
Music is at it's higest popularity in Tekken 3, as no other Tekken games received quite as responsive reviews before or since (but we at Gemubaka do believe that there's just no beating the Tekken 2 soundtrack). Everything here is electric and fits very nice. The PSX version comes with both the arcade's music and an arranged option to let you hear remixes of the themes (the last Tekken to do so). For my money, the arcade themes are the better deal.
The story of part three is presented decently as well as the game is the start of the Kazama-Mishima family feud: Jun Kazama failed to arrest Kazuya and instead was inpregnated by him. She then leaves the force and goes to the mountains to raise her son alone, while Kazuya's father, Heihachi, defeats him and throws him in a volcano. Fast forward 20 years later when Heihachi is working with world leaders attemping to achieve world peace: A young man named Jin has arrived in Tokyo calling himself Heihachi's Grandson and asking if he would train him to avenge his mother's death by the hands of a monster named Ogre.
There is of course much more to the story and each fighter has their own reasons for entering the tournament that was laid to capture Ogre. Since it's still early in Tekken's life at this point, most of the characters arent as hokey or run-down as we've seen them as of late (will Hwoarang ever give it up?).
The character Roster cleaned house for the time and brought mostly fresh faces to the table. The two downsides to this is most of them fight like one of the missing Tekken 2 characters (with a few added moves, of course - even Paul Phoenix received new moves) and all of the characters have returned so much now that replaying the game or playing it for the first time after all these years doesn't show why the change means anything. When all was said and done, the game's arcade release only introduced Xioayu's Kung-fu,Hwoarang's alternate style of Tae kwon Do, Eddy's Capoeria and Ogre's unique "Tekken 2 Medly" as brand new. The PSX version added new gimmick characters like Dr. Bostronavich and Gon (a character from the manga of the same name) to the table. Dispite all this, the roster is pretty expanded and there's a character for everyone. The game plays fairly balanced for most fighters of the time and you shouldn't get too bored unless you already know the characters from other titles.
Or unless you like your fighters hard, of course. The worst flaw of the PSX game is the difficulty is way too simple compared to the older Tekkens (or newer ones for that matter) and the Survivor Time Attack, Team Battle and the bonus game Tekken Ball dont make up for the ability to speed run the game in 2 minutes once you get an idea of how the moves work. Upon opening the game for the first time, I unlocked all characters except the two bonus console exclusives in about an hour. Again, unless you already know the other Tekkens inside and out then you shouldnt get too bored learning all the character's moves - which turns out to be the game's highpoint.
All in all, Tekken 3 is a balanced fighter that was great on the PSX. By today's standards, however, it fails to measure up to a couple of other entires in the Tekken series.
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/uLalfaiwIM0&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/uLalfaiwIM0&rel=1</a>]]> Nes: Back in its infancy, Tekken was a sort of landmark release in the realm of fighters, arising as arguably the first true competitor to the Virtua Fighter series. With the seventh installment of the series in the wings, waiting to be released, the series assuredly has a large fanbase and with a buddy-buddy relationship with Sony, gamers were starting to be treated to perfect to near-perfect arcade ports on 32-bit systems. While Tekken 3 holds a place in many people's hearts as a favorite, I could just never see the same appeal in the entry.
If I could say there was one huge advancement the series made with Tekken 3 is in both arcades and the Playstation, the graphics are made so much cleaner, both in the characters and the backgrounds and the game's displays and menus are a ton more attractive. While the jump in quality isn't exactly up to the same distance covered from 1 to 2, Tekken 3 was definitely the most attractive-looking 3D fighter for its time and when paired with the relatively solid animation, made the title quite a treat for onlookers when it first hit arcades.
While Tekken 3 has all of the punishing knockout sounds it still uses to this day, the music isn't nearly as memorable (for me that seems to be a trait for the series as a whole as the only stage tune that has ever stuck out in my mind is Tekken 5's Moonlit Meadow). I usually have to go out of my way to pay attention to the music in the series, but that may be a good point as it just may be that I'm too engrossed in the action to pay any mind to the melodies. Overall, though, the series' trademark ampped-up punches, kicks and throws will ring through players' ears and bring them even closer to Namco's representation of martial arts action.
When I look at the series' gameplay, however, I would have to say my biggest Tekken turnoff is in its huge lineup of "dial-a-combos" which half the time, don't really even register as combos. As Lar pointed out, the difficulty took a nose dive in Tekken 3 and while each fighter has a long list of attacks at their disposal, only two are necessary against the computer and maybe five tops are necessary against human opponents unless they really know what they are doing. I really can't agree with proper balance being present in Tekken 3 as I really don't consider characters that can rack up close to 50% damage with nil effort. The easiest example of this is the player-whored Hwoarang who can launch opponents into the air with a few presses of left kick and juggle for extra damage with a few mere presses of right kick. I've also publicly proved my point of this in arcades, choosing Hwoarang and blowing through the arcade mode without losing by doing nothing but repeatedly jamming on right kick. I doubt this possible on the highest difficulty levels but even the normal difficulty should challenge players to do more than hammer on one button.
Another item I can agree with Lar on is the lack of effort required to unlock everything in the home version. Blowing through such an easy game gets extremely tedious and even the addition of PSX exclusive characters and modes can't inflate the interest in single player for very long. In contrast to other fighting popular fighting games, I became quite bored with Tekken 3's single player mode extremely fast and even bouts of multiplayer couldn't hold my attention for long (Tekken Ball is a bit of a different story, though). I wouldn't necessarily put Tekken 3 at the bottom of the Tekken stack, but in my mind it is definitely bottom tier, perhaps only besting Tekken 4 and Tekken Tag. The arcade version takes advantage of the hardware for its time and the port is nearly spot-on, but in my opinion, while Tekken 3 still shames many a pathetic fighting game, the game play isn't all there to make it as fun and memorable as some of the other entries were for me.
Final Thoughts: For the first time, our opinions are mixed a bit, but we can't argue that picking up Tekken 3 is a good idea for fighting and Tekken enthusiasts, especially when it can be played on the Playstation 2's Tekken 5 for less than $20. The exclusives on the Playstation make picking it up on PSX a better deal content-wise, but nothing is as authentic as playing it in the arcades. While Tekken 3 doesn't stack up to other entries in the series, its easier difficulty makes it a great entry point for beginning players and since most of the moves carry over to future games, learning and mastering the title won't be a waste of time.
Lar: I can't believe you hold Tekken 3 in such low regard.
Nes: It's pretty easy actually. You should try it some time.
Lar: That doesn't even make sense. But I've heard you could unlock Kazuya and possibly Jun if you beat the arcade mode 1,000 times.
Nes: Odd. Would they even be worth it? I could play Tekken TAG if I wanted them that badly.
Lar: Well, it's extreme bragging rights. Plus you need a copy of Tekken 2 to download the characters
on the card.
Nes: You say that as if you know it's true.
Lar: Well ... I don't. I never did it.
Nes: I thought you were a Tekken guru.
Lar: Yes, well, gurus have better things to do than play through Tekken 3 1,000 times.
Nes: Such as?
Lar: Playing through Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection 1,000 times.
Nes: Ah, yes. Understood.
The Happy Hour Picks of the Week for the Week of July 28, 2008*As a friendly reminder, these picks are based on hype and preview media and merely suggest what titles we are looking forward to most. We have not actually played builds of these titles unless indicated and do not guarantee their quality.Pick of the Week Runner-Up #1 - SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 - Nintendo WiiAlready released for the Playstation 2 and Sony PSP, SNK hits the Wii with its first collection. Instead of shelling out $9 a pop, SNK Arcade Classics will ease the burden on your wallet by offering up a total of 16 Neo-Geo arcade perfect ports for the single price of $30 (in case you don't want to stress your brain, 16 Neo-Geo Virtual Console titles would tally $144). As long as players have options to use the Classic Controller or other configurations, players will have just as great of an experience as those with the PS2 or PSP versions and the multiple achievements in the game will test their mettle and unlock a number of goodies.
Pick of the Week Runner-Up #2 - MLB Power Pros 2008 - Playstation 2, Nintendo WiiGiven its first chance at life in the U.S., the long, long, long-running Japanese series was received with open arms and as such will return for another season in the big leagues. The game's most notable trademark lies in its charming character designs while introducing fun, simple arcade-style baseball reminescent of classic arcade titles. While the title may come across as childish looking, a ton of strategy and a mind-boggling mound of statistics await those who wish to dive into it and RPG-like simulation modes coupled with season and career modes will really keep the ball rolling until a possible sequel next year.
Pick of the Week for Week of July 28, 2008 - Soul Calibur IV - Xbox 360, Playstation 3It should be no surprise Soul Calibur IV is the most anticipated game of next week and for good reason as the number of features and characters are larger than ever before. Designed for the current-generation of consoles, the title looks amazing and if the game play is as sharp as it has been in the past, players will be looking at a real winner this week. With a little bit of fan service, Yoda and Darth Vader make a guest appearance depending on the version you own, and the Force Unleashed's apprentice also makes an appearance. The options expand even further, however, with the return of character creation. Fans of fighting should definitely pick up Soul Calibur IV as it is promising to provide a number of features and expansive replayability both locally and online.
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/GTR9hhn2qSY&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/GTR9hhn2qSY&rel=1</a>]]> Lar: So Konami is testing a new music game in japan right now
Nes: No duh. We talked about DDR X last week.
Lar: No, no. A new - NEW - music game.
Nes: Really? So we're going to have our 47 millionth Guitar Hero clone now?
Lar: No, it seems that it's played using multiple touch screens on a grid. The game is called "Jubeat."
Nes: Jer-Beat?
Lar: No, no. You say it as "You-Beat."
Nes: Then why the J?
Lar: Js are cool, man.
Nes: I know, just like J2Games!
Lar: That's two Js, so it's double cool.
Nes: Definitely.
Demo Jubeat on the PC with a Mouse!Click on the link above to launch Konami of Japan's Flash demo of Jubeat. Upon loading, just click on the field labeled "START" and a demonstration movie will roll. If you should want to skip the movie, click on the box in the lower-right corner (It says "Movie Skip" if you really want to know). The tutorial will explain that players should click on a box as it is highlighted. When the highlight animation bursts green, clicking it will result in a perfect timing while clicking on it in other timings will result in "good," "early" or "late" ratings (not clicking will result in a miss). This demo is extremely simple, only using the middle two rows and predictably moving clockwise the whole time, but it should give players a good grasp of what to expect from the title.
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/CeeggopK-wk&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/CeeggopK-wk&rel=1</a>]]> Developer QuotesWe recently spoke again with Glenn Stotz, product specialist at TOMY, this time for the Nintendo Wii's upcoming Naruto: Clash of the Ninja 2. He had a lot of good things to say about the title and so far we're expecting to see a solid fighter packed with tons of content when it releases this October.
From our report at Gemubaka:"The game in question is the North American sequel to the Nintendo Wii brawler Naruto: Clash of the Ninja, which, much like our previous Naruto preview, brings the U.S. yet another completely original story in the Naruto universe. In fact, Stotz was quite happy to throw the word "new" around quite a bit, promising us a new, original story, new characters, new stages, new gameplay features and new modes.
The most attractive new feature to fans of the series will no doubt be the addition of four original characters to the Naruto universe, introduced for the first time in Clash of the Ninja 2. The quartet is completely shrouded in mystery at this point as Stotz is not uttering a word at this point about the contents of the game's original story and who these characters are and how they are involved, but they will join a cast of three extra characters new to the series, with two never having been in a Naruto game prior to CotN2. While nothing is known about the new story and characters, they will no doubt hold true to the source as the team has been working in collaboration very closely with the team who produces the series' stories. All we know at this point is the game will fall in the Naruto timeline after Sasuke has left the village and it will delve a little into some of the characters' pasts and place them in new situations, facing new enemies. Finally, hardcore Naruto fans no doubt follow the series' Japanese progress, but they should know TOMY is required to follow the American television progress and no Shippuden characters will be present in the title."
Glenn Stotz on not doing online multiplayer: "We chose to invest the time in refining the game system and adding content. With the quickness and nature of the game, it would be hard to properly implement online. We thought that time was better invested in content."
On developing a completely original title based on a franchise: "It's a lot different due to the original content. Everything has to be approved by the series' owners. It's a lot more work, but it ends up making the title a lot closer to the series and true to the universe."
Nes: Alright Lar. You're free to go to your event now.
Lar: Ok ...
Nes: What's wrong? You can ... go.
Lar: Can you give me a ride to the tournament?
Nes: What?
Lar: Yeah. It's kind of too far to walk and my car is in the shop.
Nes: I was wondering why you stuck around for the entire show. Will there be food there?
Lar: I can buy White Castle for us.
Nes: It's a deal. See you next week folks!
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