Anybody who has enjoyed the 3D fighting games on the Dreamcast, Soul Calibur and Dead or Alive 2 specifically, will probably find Tekken 3's controls to be stiff and the animations to be jerky. I'll admit, that I'm not the biggest fighting game fan, as a matter of fact, you could call me a casual gamer in the fighting department. I suck at combos, I mash buttons, and I don't have the patience to master a specific character's moves. I'm used to the smooth animation and the detailed characters offered in the Dreamcast's 3D fighting games, and the polished graphics.
Going into this review, I was not a big fan of Tekken 3. I never purchased any of the Tekken games for PlayStation or PlayStation 2. When it came to Namco Soul Calibur was my fighting game of choice. However, after awhile the game began to grow on me. I still think that the controls are a little jerky, and I'm not 100% used to the 2D fighting engine (I kept wanting to push up and down to slide around my enemy as easy as it is in the Dreamcast's 3D fighters).
One thing that bothered me the most about Tekken 3 is that it's basically a 2D fighter hidden behind the fa�ade of a 3D fighter. The backgrounds never get any closer as the fighters walk towards the edge of the battlefields. It's as if they're fighting on a treadmill. Give me a 2D fighting game like Marvel vs. Capcom 2 or give me a 3D game like Soul Calibur -- don't give me a mix of the two, because it confuses me.
Thankfully, this is not specifically a review of Tekken 3, and instead is supposed to be a review for the Bleemcast emulator for Tekken 3, so take my comments on Tekken 3 with a grain of salt.
Emulator-wise, Bleemcast for Tekken 3 isn't as visually impressive as Bleem's other offerings with Metal Gear Solid or Gran Turismo 2. I would have rather seen how they handled a more detailed 3D game like Final Fantasy IX. However, I guess there was enough feedback requesting a port of Tekken 3 for the Dreamcast. Don't get me wrong, the graphics of Bleemcast for Tekken 3 are nice and polished, but it looks like a slightly uglier version of Virtua Fighter 3TB. It looks like a smoothed-out Playstation game.
Bleem also includes a bug alert of glitches in the game that you might experience. They include: sharp "cracks" in object and backgrounds; flickering polygons or objects/shapes that suddently "pop up"; and objects that overlap or pass through each other. (However, I never really noticed any of these problems in a way that would cause great distraction. Remember this is an emulator. If you want a perfect game, go out and buy a PS One.)
Also, much like the other Bleemcast releases, saving a game of Tekken 3 requires a completely dedicated VMU to save any and all PlayStation emulated games. Today, that shouldn't be a big problem since VMUs are quite cheap now that the Dreamcast's console is only $50. But it's something to think about when making the decision to purchase Bleemcast.
Bleemcast for Tekken 3 is an good emulator for the Dreamcast. Any hardcore fan of fighting games should pick up Tekken 3 and this Bleemcast disc, if you don't already own a PlayStation.
It did take awhile for me to get used to Tekken 3's gameplay, and I'm still not as appreciative of it as many others are, but it's growing on me.
I'm sorry to see that Bleem called it quits, because there were a lot of great PlayStation titles out there that should have graced our beloved Dreamcast system. If only things had been a little different. Who knows? Maybe we would have had those 4 Bleemcast discs supporting 400 of the PlayStations best titles.
If you don't already own a PlayStation or PlayStation 2, and are a fan of critically-acclaimed fighters, pick up Bleemcast for Tekken 3.
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