Challenging and fun.

Overview: Namco, THE name for 3-D fighting games for everyone in the know, has done it again with the latest in the Tekken series. Choose your fighter, and step into the ring. There, you will be treated to a variety of special moves and throws, the vast majority of which are taken directly from the martial arts world itself.

Gameplay Mechanics: Easy to play, tough to master. Some may say impossible. What can you expect otherwise from a game that has nationwide tournaments devoted to it! To know one's enemy in this game is to know how to win... and that means knowing every character in the game. Take a while? Sure. Absolutely. But it's worth it when you amaze your friends with your knowledge of 10-strings (that's 10-hit combos, at least one of which each character has) and your ability, therefore, to BLOCK each character's ten string.

The beauty of this game is that there's always a way out. Combo breakers do not exist per se, but there is usually a weak spot in the middle of a lengthy combo where you can get out of it with a quick jab or a low block. Knowing when to use these moves takes time to learn. Tekken 3 is quite possibly the most difficult fighting game to master.

Miscellaneous: Tekken 3 is not the type of game that you can jump right on into. You will have to practice quite a bit before you will see any results. I have seen masters play this game, and even with my knowledge, I could not have damaged any of them at all. Two mashers may have fun playing each other, but this game is designed to be mastered.

Rating: Watching two people who really know what they're doing playing this game is like watching people doing a complex and deadly dance. I downloaded the Tekken 3 tournament play from last year. It was beautiful. I highly recommend this game.