Tekken it to the next level


Another member of the Kazama clan joins the Tekken Tournament.

We've gotten some more information on the upcoming beat 'em up, Tekken 5.

On the newcomers: Asuka Kazama is supposedly a cousin of dark angel Jin Kazama, which explains why she fights so much like the late, great Jun. The Wesley Snipes' lookalike Raven is indeed a ninja and master of the elusive style of ninjitsu. And finally, Weng Fei fights in a style similar to that of longtime Tekken vet, Paul Pheonix.

Despite the ominous opening cinema in which he is apparently blown up with an army of Jack Robots, Heihachi Mishima is far from croaked (Come on... No one was fooled by that) and will obviously be one of the many time-release characters.

There will be as many as 31 characters all in all.

The latest Jack model is Jack 5.

Kuma/Panda will be playable. Other confirmed time-release characters are kickboxer Bruce Irvin and assassin babe Anna Williams (who either went into cryogenic freeze herself or is ten or twenty years older). There will also be a Sumo Wrestler present (may be Ganryu), and Eddy Gordo will be back as well (probably an alternate costume to Christie Montiero).

There will be some Virtua Fighter 4-style customization, such as adding little accessories or articles of clothing, extra colors, etc. These may be accessed through a 'Conquest Mode' of play similar to that in Soul Calibur. Expect tons of unlockables.

The gameplay will generally be more geared to the fantastic as opposed to the hype-realism of Tekken 4. So, expect lazers and other weird attacks to return. Yay... Fart attacks...

Finally, the Tag Team feature introduced in Tekken Tag Tournament may return.

The arcade version should be appearing in late 2004. Expect a home version on the PS2 by early 2005.