Mainline Entries
Tekken | Tekken 2 | Tekken 3 | Tekken 4 | Tekken 5 | Tekken 6 | Tekken 7 | Tekken 8
Spin-Offs
Tekken Tag Tournament | Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Films & Shows
Tekken: The Motion Picture | Tekken: Blood Vengeance | Tekken: Bloodline
Original Release
- Even Better Sequel: After the divisiveness of Tekken 4, 5 and its rereleases are widely considered to be much-needed improvements and a return to form for the series. The gameplay was brought back to the basics, extra gameplay modes from Tag Tournament and 4 were featured, the cast of newcomers consists of fan-favorites like Asuka, Lili, and Jinpachi, and the graphics received a giant upgrade. Notably, 5 sold 6 million units on the PS2, making it the eighth-bestselling game for the console, which is made all the more notable due to it releasing in 2005, when most fighting game franchises (and the genre as a whole) were on a downtrend. It's also the second-most acclaimed game in the series, behind only Tekken 3.
- Franchise Original Sin:
- While the game received a lot of acclaim, it's impossible to deny that the game also set off the path for Jin's Face–Heel Turn and what many consider to be his character assassination. Case in point: his showdown with Jinpachi ends with Jin taking control of the Tekken force and giving a smirk - a foreshadowing of what he would do in the next game. Except that in the fifth game no one exactly knew what his motive was back then, and as questionable as his behavior during the ending was, it could be passed off as literally anything, even without the Devil Gene in mind.
- While most believe that Asuka's story direction becomes disappointing starting with 6 with her rivalry with Lili (who, despite appearing in the same game as her in Dark Resurrection, shares no story mode interactions with her future rival whatsoever), abandoning her possible potential to cleanse the Devil Gene, one can say that her more comedic role has been set in stone since her very debut in this game, where her ending immediately goes from 'temporarily dispelling the Devil Gene' into the anime comedy cliche of 'boy falls into girl's boobs, girl initiates Pervert Revenge Mode'. Said boy in question being her cousin and the series' main protagonist at that; as one of the only named relatives from his mother's side, there was a fair amount of potential to have Jin and Asuka have meaningful interactions, but instead the game set their one interaction to be such comedic cliche never to be brought up again, which may have shown how Asuka's place in story is set up from her debut. One can say that despite her 'potential', Asuka was never meant to be taken seriously, but instead was purposed for lighthearted comedy all along. Even more so with the reveal in Tekken 8 where Jun Kazama returns and the bulk of 'cleansing the Devil Gene' plot will be handled by her and Jin himself instead of Asuka.
- Game-Breaker: See the game's entry on the franchise page here.
- Harsher in Hindsight: "Heihachi Mishima... is dead." Two mainline games later... For real, this time.
- High-Tier Scrappy:
- Bryan. Unlike in later entries, where Bryan's fullest potential was locked behind an execution barrier, here, his signature Taunt Jet Uppernote is very forgiving to pull off, owing to a) his taunt giving him 18 frames of advantage as opposed to 16 in 7, and b) Jet Upper itself having a 13-frame startup as opposed to the usual 14. This, of course, would lead to Bryan being an absolute menace at the wall, seeing as he had a completely safe wallsplat into big damage. And if you thought Snake Edge was obnoxious enough in 7, here, it catches tech rollsnote , making him that much more of a pain when you're at the wall. And his Chopping Elbow (b+1)? Well, not only is it plus on block like you'd expect it to be, but it also launched on normal hit. Pair that with its large hitbox that is able to catch opponents that are rolling away from him and very high combo damage, and you have yourself an oppressive juggernaut of a character.
- Nina. All you needed to win with her were two moves - Blaze Stinger (uf+1), which was a stellar all-rounder of a move that gave Nina tons of frame advantage if it connected at all, and an oki tool owing to its ability to spike juggled opponents, effectively giving her a free juggle attempt if the opponent tries to tech roll, leading to a pretty nasty Cycle of Hurting. And her Uppercut to Jab (df+1,2) string, which was not only ridiculously oppressive (e.g., mid-high, +1 on Block and jails the opponent, meaning they can't duck the second hit after subsequent poke attempts), but also had a mid extension that could cancel into her Backhand Snap (qcf+1+2) series of chain throws.
- Memetic Mutation "HOO! HOO! HOO! HOO!"Explanation
- Narm Charm: Usually, all of the character speaking to each other in different languages tends to raise lots of questions among fans, and could break the immersion of some cutscenes. But for Wang Jinrei's ending where he watches his best friend, Jinpachi Mishima, pass away, the difference in languages between the two lets their friendship transcend language, and makes Jinpachi's death all the more poignant.
Dark Resurrection
- Ensemble Dark Horse: This game sees the debut of Lili and Dragunov, two characters who'd go on to become Breakouts in their own right.
- Polished Port: The PlayStation Portable version of the game is by and large the complete Tekken 5 experience, boasting a plethora of content that ranges from a proper tutorial mode (which wouldn't happen again until Tag 2's Fight Lab mode), retaining the pre-battle prologues for certain matchups in arcade mode (and adding more for Dragunov, Lili, and the second Armor King on top of that), and the Dojo Mode (reminiscent of SoulCalibur II's Weapon Master mode) that you can spend hours upon hours in, all on the go with the PSP's small package.
