Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion (PS3, 360, PSP)

At last night's Namco Bandai event in San Francisco, I was able to get some hands-on time with the hotly anticipated fighting game, Tekken 6, after more details about the game were provided during the company's formal presentation. The Tekken series has been around since 1995 and has sold a total of 33 million units across the entire franchise. The next iteration of the series will be hitting the PS3, 360 and the PSP this fall and will feature console-specific content that "the team is well known for." After watching a guitar-heavy trailer featuring plenty of gameplay clips, I sat down with the game and tried it out for the first time. Although my experience was limited to four characters from a roster of more than 30, it was great to finally play it.

If you're new to the Tekken party, I'll give you the basics. For many years, Tekken has occupied the 3D fighter realm, giving players the ability to fight one-on-one with a host of different characters. Although Tekken 6 is bringing a few new additions to the table, most of the gameplay mechanics will be very familiar to gamers that have followed the series. At the very core, each character has four attacks -- usually two punches and two kicks. Special moves can be executed by combining the two together and throws are also a vital aspect of the combat.

The four available fighters in the demo build were Jin, Kazuya, Zafina and Bob. Playing across a variety of levels, I fought several matches as each character, though I've already taken to Zafina. She's clearly the weirdest of the four, especially when you factor in her victory animation which has her crawl off the screen like a spider. She uses a variety of stances that modify her move set, making her a much more advanced character than the other three.

Jin and Kazuya are harder to differentiate in Tekken 6, as both characters felt somewhat similar. Both fighters sport a more balanced style, combining speed with power to create a fairly deadly combination. In other words, I got totally destroyed several times in a row, but I'm not going to complain -- it's a learning experience.

Then, of course, there's Bob. I'm sure I'm not the first person to point this out, but Bob feels a lot like the cousin of Rufus, one of the new characters in Street Fighter IV. Both fighters are heavy but surprisingly quick and offer something much more than simple comic relief.

The stages in Tekken 6 are nicely detailed and vary widely in location. You have the expected assortment of city streets, casinos and the like, but you also have the best stage ever created. That's right, you can take the Iron First Tournament to a small field full of sheep, which can be knocked into the air with stray attacks. Never has a fighting game been more amazing, as you can fling sheep about with just a few punches.

Besides the obvious inclusion of online play, Tekken 6 also boasts new moves for every character and several gameplay tweaks. Rage mode has also been added onto the combat system, which powers up your attacks when your health drops below ten percent. This gives near-death characters a definite edge, which makes them even more dangerous opponents.

Tekken 6 looks very polished and the clothing textures are amazing, so this is definitely a treat for the eyes. After playing so much Street Fighter IV, I have to admit that Tekken 6 felt extremely sluggish to me, but I only had a few moments to play. I'm sure more time with the game will help warm me up to the combat.