Tekken 5

Tekken 5 from 2005, by Namco, marked the series' return to form after the more lukewarmly received fourth entry. The fighting system became faster and more accessible, fights are more fluid and less dependent on wall-juggling exploits, the roster of fighters numbers over thirty characters including the return of fan favorites, newcomers like Asuka Kazama and Raven, and Jinpachi Mishima as the final boss, with the Mishima family saga forming the backbone of the series' story. Arenas returned to flat, open spaces without unnecessary uneven terrain, which restored a readability to fights that the previous entry sometimes lacked. Graphics running on modified arcade hardware pushed the visual quality of fighting games on PS2 to a new level of character and environment detail.

The game is also renowned for its content generosity, it includes complete arcade versions of the first three Tekken entries as an unlockable bonus, plus the beat-em-up side mode Devil Within, in which the player goes through Jin Kazama's story in the form of platforming action, and dozens of hours' worth of unlockable costumes and items for customizing fighters. This combination of a balanced fighting system, an enormous amount of content, and great two-player fun on a single console made Tekken 5, for many fans, the best entry in the entire series.

Critics and players still rank it today among the top fighting games on PlayStation 2 and one of the reasons Tekken remained the genre's dominant franchise. Namco was betting on a faithful port of the arcade version at the time, and with Tekken 5 it succeeded completely, including preserving the speed and precision of controls from the arcade cabinets, so for the first time the home version felt like a full substitute for visiting the arcade. The controls remained faithful to the series' tradition, four buttons correspond to a fighter's four limbs, so even a newcomer quickly grasps the logic of attacks, while advanced players hone the dozens of moves of each character. The game is still played at tournaments and on the esports scene today as a reminder of the era when Tekken defined the standard for 3D fighting games on home consoles.