Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Just plain fun"

Tekken 3 is regarded as the greatest Tekken game in the franchise.
Although the fighting was as solid as a rock when it came out in '98 on the PS1 ('97 for arcade machines) due to the fact it used Namco System 12 (1 & 2 using 11) which was a massive improvement over the other two, has it aged well compared to the newer Tekken titles?

Gameplay:

In Tekken 1 & 2 trying to hit some one was like waiting for your bread to turn into toast. It took forever! But alas, upgrading their gaming engine speed up the fighting and moving significantly. But it still feels slow and at times slightly unresponsive. But compared to the previous two this was a dream come true and doesn't really get in the way of gameplay.
Graphics have been sharply increased with much more detail on the characters and arenas you battle in, giving them 3D back grounds. Now it doesn't look like much compared to Tekken 6, but it holds up and is barely noticeable when your smashing Ogres face in with Gun Jack's metal arms.
The music is much more up to date. With a kick ass sound track to listen to while you fight to...not so much death...it is ten times better than it's father games.

Overall Tekken 3's gameplay is near on flawless, other than being a little slow for now-a-days, it seems to of aged remarkably well!

Story:

Although it has a supposedly "good" story, I on the other hand think it was executed rather poorly.
Skipping most the story (which is never mentioned during gameplay) Ogre has kidnapped all of the world's greatest martial artists. Choosing from a selection of characters (some later being unlocked), you set out to win the King of Iron Fist Tournament to face Ogre and then True Ogre to supposedly find the martial artist.
There are no cut scenes during the game until the end. And disappointingly has little to no connection of the story, with most of them being jokes.
An example would be Forrest Law's as he is training Paul and (I forgot) a relative in which they fall over.

Overall the story is very weak. So if you in it for the story avoid it at all costs! But if you don't care for it and just want to mow your enemies down for the sake of it, by all means, don't let this put you off.

Lifespan:

As you complete story mode you will unlock more character! And who doesn't love more people to beat up or beat up with!
But Namco hide more. Some characters can be accessed via a character alternative costume. For example: Selecting Kuma's alternative costume will select Panda as the player. This can happen with Eddy and Nina too.
Other than hiding them in selectable characters alt. costumes, there are two more: Gon and Dr. Boskonovitch who can be unlocked via Tekken 3's two mini games that I will later talk of.

Tekken 3 also has two mini games after you've finished arcade mode: Volly Ball and Tekken Force.
Volly Ball speaks for it's self yet the consequences of missing the ball is a result in damage to your health bar. Dropping to zero results in failure. Winning on the other hand results in unlocking secret character Gon, who in all aspects is a useless Koopa Troopa knock off, but entertaining all the same.
The other mini game Tekken Force is a side scrolling beat 'em up in which you choose your character and advance through 3 stages, beat up enemies, a boss then done (although picking up a chicken makes the narrator sound constipated, which is funny). The result in winning this is another secret character called Dr. Boskonovitch, who is mostly on the floor.

After completing these it gives you two more reasons to go back to the arcade mode. Once you've done that, you can all ways invite your friend over to thrash them a few times.

Overall:

Tekken 3 was the turning point for it's franchise. Although today it will seem slow it's still a brilliant fighter for fans of Tekken, fighters or retro gaming overall.
With nice graphics, good gameplay and content, this isn't to be missed.
I got my Tekken on a 3 for £5 offer at game station, so it's cheap and fairly easy to find.

Buy it.

-iamllamapie