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SOCAL has had Tekken 6 for a little over a week now… There are mixed feelings on the game as a whole, but one thing is for sure, Tekken 6 is fun! Check below for some impressions from Southern California players and some pictures and match vids as well!

The only dedicated Tekken 6 cabinet in North America being occupied by dedicated Tekken players…

Tekken 6 first arrived in Southern California on March 18th, 2008. Now more than a week later and with tons of rage victories, tears, and bound combos for all… SOCAL shares their thoughts on Namco’s latest installment of the Tekken series…

USA Tougeki 2007 representative, Mike “MYK” Kwon, has shared many thoughts and opinions on the game since his initial playthrough… Like many others on Tekken Zaibatsu he mentions the changes in Tekken 6’s movement system and sidestep system in comparison to Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection.

So it’s pretty much how others have reported it, it has been nerfed. I’ve asked a couple people what they think about it and the majority agrees. At first you don’t notice it at all, feels the same. Then you start trying to ss jabs or some poke and you always end up getting hit by one thing or another. To me it feels like most of the time I just have to stand there and guess mixups, just to avoid unnecessary damage for trying to move out of the way (could just be because Bob is one fat mofo).

There’s really two sides to this though. There are many times I’ve seen well timed sidesteps go around plenty of moves. Lili’s sidestep for example from what I’ve seen it’s pretty similar to DR. There was this time where I’ve seen Law do a d1 and Lili just stepped it all the way to his BACK! Also lets not forget Steve, he could still avoid quite alot thanks to his extra little sidestep, but the transition from his wve~dck being slowed down kinda evens it out for hardly getting his big dck2 launcher. Sidewalk feels the same, its just the sidesteps that I feel has been nerfed.

Also backdashes are smaller as well, some bigger than others, but in general not as big as before. Backdashes being smaller makes the game feel much more up close, reminds me a bit of T4’s close range game. For the most part you won’t be backdashing all the way to the back of the screen while you “sip on your chill.”

As for the movement change, maybe a few more days and I’ll get used to it.

From early reports, everyone is having fun with the game. Although there are some that question how the game will end up competitively in the long run.

Shaun “UNCONKABLE!!!” Rivera, another well known Tekken player since the TTT days, comments…

I agree that the game is fun, but watching somebody lose to an 85% damage rage combo is like watching somebody slipping on ice and doing a faceplant on concrete. Sure, it is fun when you are watching it, but it is not very fun when it is your face hitting the concrete.

While many people are skeptical, there is a fair share of people that are also praising Tekken 6 for it’s gameplay changes… Reepal “Rip” Parbooh, The “Law” of California & 2nd Place at EVO North, is one that praises Tekken 6 for it’s exciting and “new” approach…

Rage Mode makes the game 10x more fun to watch. I see people complaining about the tracking, but from what I’ve seen, the tracking is consistent within the game. Yes, the tracking is DIFFERENT for moves, but its consistently different. In DR I could count on my junkyard combo to keep tracking as I delayed it, and in this game I can’t. Yeah, its different. Thats what happens when a NEW game comes out… it not the exact same thing. Look back at the history of Tekken and its obvious.

You guys say movement is ‘nerfed’ but now forward grabs dont track. Before if someone was trying to just move all day long, you could forward grab. Now without a universal tracking move, its harder to evade everything.. makes sense to me.. 5.0 movement was same as DR except there was no universal tracking (forward grab). Playing that game after DR, you realize how overpowered the movement was in it.

From what I’ve seen this first week, the movement is different, but its still important and can still be used effectively. If anything, its harder and requires stricter timing.

Since it’s arrival, Tekken 6 has seen lines upwards of 20 people during peak hours to a constant flow of 3-4 regulars throughout the day.

The competitive draw of Tekken 6 is so great, that you don’t care how close you have to sit next to your opponent, you just want to play the game. Even if your ass cheeks are touching each other… -_-

Being one of only two places in the United States to have Tekken 6 (and being the only one with an official Namco cabinet), the game shows no sign of slowing down. How long will this continue? Who knows! Knowing the fickle arcade industry, you can never tell. From a personal standpoint, I’m positive that SOCAL’s dedicated Tekken scene will keep the competitive community alive. So look forward to more updates on Tekken 6!

Special thanks to MYK, UNCONKABLE!!!, and Rip for their input (via TZ forums). Also special thanks to SuikenUser for the pictures and Juggernaut for the videos!

Links:

• SOCAL Tekken 6 Match Videos (Courtesy of Juggernaut)

Related Articles:

• SDTEKKEN.COM – TEKKEN 6 Arrives In Southern California!

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 29th, 2008 at 4:09 PM and is filed under Arcade, Match Videos, Namco, SD TEKKEN, TEKKEN 6. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.