Tekken is an arcade fighting game developed and published by Namco. Originally released on arcade gaming machines in 1994, it was later ported to the PlayStation a year later and became the first entry in the Tekken series. This fighting game series has been well-received by critics and fans of the genre over the years and provides players with up to 17 playable fighters to unlock and play with through the Arcade mode.

The story goes that Kazuya Mishima, the sole heir to the Mishima Zaibatsu (family business empire), was thrown off the top of a mountain by his father in order to test if he has the strength and will to survive and take over his position. However, this has left Kazuya with a large scar and a burning grudge against his father. Years later, the latter created the King of Iron Fist Tournament in an attempt to finally decide his son’s worth.

As this is the original game in an immense well-known and popular franchise, Tekken is the birthplace for many names that fighting game fans are familiar with, such as Heihachi, Kazuya, King 1, Nina Williams, Yoshimitsu, and many, many more. Each fighter brings a unique set of skills to the table and is a master of their respective martial arts and fighting style. Tekken has a few game modes that players can enjoy, including the Arcade mode, the 2P Play mode, and the Test mode. What is interesting with the console version is that Kazuya’s alter ego, Devil, was added into the game as Heihachi’s arcade mode final boss.

In terms of graphics, Tekken had pretty good quality ones for a game in the mid-90s. This is in conjunction with the incorporation of texture mapping and animating of 3D character models, giving it a somewhat 3D feel to an otherwise 2D fighting game.

To sum it all up, Tekken is an awesome fighting game that deserves to be hailed as one of the classics that brought about the golden age of fighting games. Head on over to retrogames to play this one for free now.