Tekken 6

Tekken 6 is the sixth installment of the famous fighting series, which brought the Rage mechanic to the combat system - when a character's health runs low, their attacks are temporarily strengthened, changing the dynamics of close matches right at their very end. The game comes from Namco (today Bandai Namco) and its internal Tekken Team, which has developed the series since the first installment, and it brought with it what was then the largest selection of fighters in the series' history, including both new faces and returning characters from previous installments.

The 2007 arcade version was the very first form of Tekken 6 that players could encounter, and it was available exclusively in Japanese arcades on specialized arcade hardware. Unlike the later home versions for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PSP, it was a pure combat skeleton without the expanded story mode Scenario Campaign, which was only added for the console releases two years later. The arcade version was also continuously updated over time directly in the arcades - Namco released balance revisions and added characters even before the content was locked into the form that home consoles received. Players thus fought for coins against each other directly in the arcade, which created a completely different, more tense competitive atmosphere than playing in a living room against a computer or a friend on the couch.

This version is therefore essentially the raw essence of the game - the fight itself, without the wrapping of story, artwork or unlockable content, which a fighter had to enjoy right at the stick and buttons in the arcade, face to face with a live opponent at the neighboring controls, where it was just about winning the next round and holding onto the machine until a stronger challenger came along.

Why play it: For players who want to experience Tekken 6 in its most original, rawest form - without the story padding and bonus content, exactly as players first encountered it in Japanese arcades two years before it arrived home on consoles.