Tekken 6 is the latest installment of Namco's popular 3D fighter, Tekken. Although, Tekken 6 just recently made it to console, it has been out and playable for a couple years. The game was first released in Japanese arcades in November of 2007. The following year, the game was updated (Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion) with new stages, characters, and tweaks to the game's balance. Now, in November of 2009, the game finally has a console version, based on the updated arcade game.

The plot of Tekken 6 is similar to every other plot of Tekken... someone in the Kazuya family wants to be all powerful and for some reason the only way to do that is to through a hand-to-hand fighting tournament. In this game's case, Jin Kazama is throwing the tournament. Now in charge of Mishima Zaibatsu, Jin has his plans set on world domination. The only thing in his way is his father Kazuya, head of the G Corporation. Jin plans to fight his father and win, taking Kazuya and G Corporation out of the picture, and securing his of dreams of becoming a global superpower.

The game itself is divided into three parts. There is scenario mode, online mode, and offline mode. Online and offline mode are the modes are the modes that reflect what I am going to refer to as “classic Tekken.” In these modes you can find the arcade mode, practice mode, versus (both on and off line) and more. All of these are set up with a one on one, hand-to-hand, 3D fighting match.

The controls at first seem relatively simple: one button for the right hand, one for the left hand, one for left leg, one for right leg and the D-pad (or analog stick) for movement. They can quickly become complicated though when you try to do the many juggling combos in Tekken, which the game heavily relies on. Once you land a hit on your opponent, it quickly becomes a test of your memorization skills and reflexes. It can be hard, but it's fun to see on screen.

Tekken 6 also has a new game play element known as “rage mode.” When a character's health reaches a certain low point, the character's attacks will deal more damage and give you a better chance at a come back. Sometimes it give you just the edge you need, although sometime you get it while still in hit stun from your opponent's combo and did won't make a difference. It's still an interesting mechanic that is getting mix review from the Tekken community.

Something that can be easily be loved by anyone who plays Tekken is the amount of choice that game offers to you. When starting Tekken, it will show your main character, which you choose, next to the menu. You can also tweak your main character's appearance. You can customize their clothes, shoes, jewelry and even their hair. You get to choose the background for your menu... and you can even change the effect for rage mode. Of course, you have to unlock money to make most of these changes, but you can use the money for more than your main character. You can customize any of the games 40, that's right, 40 character’s two default costumes.

In all, these “classic” modes are fun. Namco has done a nice job of adding and tweaking features from the previous Tekken games without losing any of the appeal that attracted fans of the previous Tekken generations. The fighting has felt energized and balanced. The fighting locations were great and the visuals were beautiful - not to mention that it includes a level with sheep (that you can kick around) and techno yodeling. I have had a lot of fun, and think that it's a great game that most people can enjoy.

The only negative thing I have to report is with online mode. There seems to be issues with lag on a regular basis. Namco has already addressed this and has promised a patch to fix the online issue, which should be out sometime early next year, although they have not said an official date.

Tekken's 6-scenario mode is very different from the "classic" Tekken modes. Scenario mode is a 3D beat-em-up style game, where you can run around 3D linear worlds fighting several enemies at a time, and boss fights at the end of a map. In this mode, you play as Lars with sidekick Alisa the android in search on Lars's past, as he has lost his memory. Scenario mode also has an area, which is essentially a mini version of arcade mode.

Accessibility Review
Tekken has both things that make this game friendly and un-friendly for the disabled gamer. Several things that make the game friendly include having remappable controls, closed captioning set on to default (since a significant portion of the characters speak Japanese), a simple interface, four difficulty levels and having the option to set a handicap for a player during verses.

This game is easily accessible for the deaf, color blind, and those with issues with gross motor movements. Things become a little murky however for people with slow reflexes, fine motor problems, or are one handed.

Quickly reflexes and precise button combinations are required for what I was referring to earlier as the “classic” Tekken modes. The game heavily relies on being faster than your opponent and strict timing to juggle your opponent. I doubt that you could get half way through arcade mode with out doing even a simple combo. These classic modes are not recommended for those with diminished fine motor skills. Scenario mode, on the other hand, can be played with fewer button inputs. You can play through this mode with out needing any of the extreme combos that are required for arcade modes. This is made possible by enemies having less life, a NPC playing with you, and items. There are several guns that you pick up by pressing one button and fire by holding down another button. If you play smart (like save the guns for a boss battle), this mode can be played by those with slower reflexes and by those who lack the dexterity needed for combo chains.

Things are also not very clean cut when it comes down to the one handed gamer, and relies heavily on the nature of your disability. Unfortunately, chances are it will not work. For example, this game would be easy for Sebastian "One Handed Terror" Jennings whose left hand never fully developed. He has a normal arm, and a partial palm but no fingers- a “paw” as he refers to it. With an arcade stick controller, Jennings can easily use his “paw” and still play – For those who don't have anything to move the directional pad or analog stick with, this game probably won't work out for you. This game would also not work well for people in the reverse of the Jenning's position, who have an underdeveloped right hand, unless you have a custom controller, which has moved the analog stick to the right side.