
For a game series that prides itself on its complex mechanics that has players controlling each limb of the playable fighters, it was cool that a pure boxer like Steve could still stand out without using any kick-based attacks. Steve Fox in particular became the breakout character in Tekken 4, with him being somewhat of an abnormal character in the roster as he was a boxer. It really pushed the series forward, making it much more immersive.Īs with every new entry in the series, Tekken 4 added new characters like Craig Marduk, Christie Monteiro, and Steve Fox, all of whom have made appearances in subsequent games in the series.

This just meant that Tekken 4 had a more consistent roster, though that did not translate into a more balanced cast of characters.īeyond that, with a leap to a new console generation, it saw the addition of much more realistic character models and environments, as well as voice acting for the characters in cutscenes.

Tekken 3 had far-out characters like the baby T-Rex Gon, living training dummy Mokujin, and the monstrous final boss Ogre. By that we mean that it eschewed most of the non-humans in the cast, with the only outlandish character remaining being series villain Heihachi Mishima’s pet bear, Kuma.

So what made Tekken 4 decisive for longtime fans? Let’s find out.Ĭompared to Tekken 3, the roster for Tekken 4 kept things a lot more realistic.

It took another two years before Namco brought out the big guns with Tekken 4.Īn instant success in the early days of the PS2, Tekken 4 was an engaging evolution of the PS1 games, and yet it is seen as somewhat of the black sheep of the series when looked back on today. When it came time to make the leap onto the PlayStation 2, Namco tested the waters with Tekken Tag Tournament, a spin-off that championed 2v2 battles.
