Tekken 3D: Prime Edition

Tekken 3D: Prime Edition is another fighting game in the Tekken franchise, released for the Nintendo 3DS in February 2012. This makes it the second Tekken game that was released on a Nintendo platform after its "predecessor" Tekken Advance was released for the Gameboy Advance handheld back in 2001.

Tekken 3D: Prime Edition supports the handheld's 3D capabilities and maintains a steady 60 FPS even when running in 3D Mode, excluding during Online Play to ensure 60 FPS.

41 characters, based on their Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion incarnation - except for Heihachi Mishima, who becomes younger again - and new stages are introduced in this game. A total of 17 different stages are featured in this game: eight are created entirely new and the remaining stages are redesigned boards taken from Tekken 6 and Tekken Tag Tournament 2. Among them, five stages actually have several variations giving a total of 34 stages.

Tekken 3D: Prime Edition also features 765 collectible Tekken Cards (not to be confused with the Tekken Cards featured in Tekken Card Tournament). They depict 3D images from the entire Tekken series and can be unlocked by clearing the new mode Special Survival, exclusively to this game, and by streetpassing. Cards exchanged via the in-built StreetPass function of the 3DS can be unlocked by spending CP (Card Points). CP can be gained by clearing Quick Battle and Special Survival.

In addition, Tekken 3D: Prime Edition is bundled with the 3D movie Tekken: Blood Vengeance and is the first Nintendo 3DS game to do so.

All in-game mechanics of Tekken 3D: Prime Edition are entirely based on Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion (PSP version). However, Tekken 3D Prime Edition also introduces some new features.

ModesEdit

Special SurvivalEdit

Special Survival is a newly introduced battle mode, exclusively to this game. It essentially replaces both the Survival Mode and Time Attack in previous installments while adding the feature of gaining Tekken Cards.

The player is to fight against either 5, 10, 20, 40 or 100 random opponents in a row with just one lifebar (the latter four modes need to be unlocked first one by one). After a won fight, the player regains a small amount of health, which is then carried over to the next round. Winning a round with a "Perfect!" grants the player to start the next round in Rage Mode, however, upon taking any damage the Rage Mode effect vanishes instantly. The quicker the player completes the mode and the more juggles he/she utilizes as well as move varieties, the more Tekken Cards and CP are rewarded to the player at the end.

Additionally, every tenth battle is a Special Match. Special Matches require certain battle conditions to be fulfilled in order to win the round and consequently a Tekken Card. This includes: aerial juggle damages opponent only, the opponent is in Rage Mode - or a combination of the previous two -, or the opponent can be damaged by counterhits and/or by (whiff) punishment only. Special Matches - not against Heihachi Mishima - are always battled on Urban War Zone, Lightning Storm, Fiesta del Tomate and on Cemetery.

After completing the beforementioned battle modes, two more modes can be unlocked: 40-Battle-Mode EX1 and 40-Battle-Mode EX2. In 40-Battle-Mode EX1 you can damage the opponent only through aerial juggles while in 40-Battle-Mode EX2 by counterhits and (whiff) punishment only. Due to the given battle conditions, Special Matches still do occur every tenth battles (under the prevailing battle condition), albeit are not labelled as such.

Furthermore the final opponent in both 40-Battle-Mode and 100-Battle-Mode is always Heihachi Mishima fought on the Lotus Hall stage. He starts the fight in Rage Mode and with a larger life gauge. This match is also a Special Match.

Sometimes the player's character's name flashes indicating the possibility of gaining a rare Tekken Card, if victorious.

Special Survival is also the only mode during which the player can fight on all stages including their several variations (excluding the Practice Stage). The order of all appearing stages is however predetermined for all Special Survival Modes.

Quick BattleEdit

This battle mode replaces the traditional Arcade Mode with a hint of Story Mode known in previous Tekken installments. The player is set to battle 10 opponents in a row, while having the possibility to rank up (so called Ranked Matches). The last three opponents always depend entirely on the first character the player has started the mode with. After clearing the mode, the player is rewarded with CP. The harder the difficulty setting, the more CP can be gained at the end.

Ranking up in this game also unlocks the colour swaps for the characters, but this has to be done individually for each character. There are, excluding the default costumes, nine colours that can be unlocked. They are unlocked by reaching the Mentor up to the Vindicator rank.

The following ranks are attainable in this game:

*Note: Once you promote to this Dan Rank, it becomes your new minimum rank, i.e. you can never demote from this rank.

**Note: Ranking up offline after reaching "Juggernaut" will take a much, much longer time now. Additionally, the ranks "Tekken Emperor" and "Tekken God" are not present in Quick Battle Mode, thus disabling the possibility of ranking up till "Tekken God" solely offline.

Versus BattleEdit

Two players can fight against each other - either via Local Play or via Online Play. The former one can be played with two 3DS's nearby while the latter one is played via Internet. The player then has the option to select either Random Matches or Friendly Matches. It is only possible to rank up during Random Matches. However, during an immediate rematch in Random Matches, the player cannot change their Main Character.

Versus Battle is also the only and first battle mode allowing to fight on a Practice Stage.

Due to hardware limitations and to ensure a smooth and fair gameplay, the 3D effect of the 3DS is disabled during Versus Battles to guarantee 60 FPS at all costs.

Practice ModeEdit

Like previous Tekken installments, this mode allows the player to practice moves, combos, juggles, and fighting against a chosen dummy character. Information like total damage, buttons pressed and attack analysis will be shown. The player can choose the dummy to stand still, jump, guard, (tech) roll and to fight with different difficulty levels.

In addition, Tekken 3D Prime Edition now allows the player to temporarily activate Rage Mode for practicing purposes.

Tekken CardsEdit

There are 765 Tekken Cards in total. These cards depict 3D scenes, CGIs, and promotional wallpapers from the entire Tekken series including cutscenes from the 3D movie Tekken: Blood Vengeance. There are also three different types of Tekken Cards: bronze ones, silver ones and golden ones - depending on rarity.

The player may set three cards for exchange via StreetPass. Tekken Cards received that way can be bought by using the in-game currency CP (Card Points). One Tekken Card costs 20 CPs with no exception.

FeaturesEdit

New FeaturesEdit

• Like previous 3DS fighting games, Tekken 3D: Prime Edition also introduces the Touchscreen Command feature for players to pull off moves and even combos. These commands can be customized, however, only moves listed in the movelist can be applied to the Touchscreen, thus no full combo can be assigned to it this way. Moves with special properties (such as iWS moves, iWR throws or iWR moves (except for Lars' f,f,f+3), JF moves and EWGF) cannot be assigned to the Touchscreen either.
• Tekken 3D: Prime Edition now allows the player to temporarily activate Rage Mode during Practice Mode.
• Heihachi Mishima returns in this game in his Tekken Tag Tournament 2 incarnation and thus younger self, including all move and property changes, except for his Ultimate Tackle move.

Missing FeaturesEdit

• Both Azazel and NANCY-MI847J are absent in this game, as are several Tekken 6 stages. However, they still make a cameo appearance on Tekken Cards. To compensate for this, new stages are introduced in Tekken 3D: Prime Edition.
• Arcade Mode, Story Mode and Ghost Battle are absent as well, but are replaced by Quick Battle to some extent.
  • Same goes for the traditional Survival Mode and Time Attack mode since they were replaced by Special Survival.
• The Customization feature was entirely removed, but replaced by the Color Edit feature. Therefore, there are no Item Moves at all.
  • The Color Edit feature is restricted to ten preselected colour swaps.
  • Due to this, Gold Rush is made redundant and thus is completely absent.
• Graphically, both Rustic Asia and Hidden Retreat do not show the kickable pigs and sheep, respectively.

Tekken 3D: Prime Edition features all available characters in Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion, including Heihachi's Tekken Tag Tournament 2 incarnation.

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  Alisa

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  Anna

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  Armor King

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  Asuka

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  Baek

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  Bob

• 

  Bruce

• 

  Bryan

• 

  Christie

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  Devil Jin

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  Dragunov

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  Eddy

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  Feng

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  Ganryu

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  Heihachi

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  Hwoarang

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  Jack-6

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  Jin

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  Julia

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  Kazuya

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  King

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  Kuma

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  Law

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  Lars

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  Lee

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  Lei

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  Leo

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  Lili

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  Marduk

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  Miguel

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  Mokujin

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  Nina

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  Panda

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  Paul

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  Raven

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  Roger Jr.

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  Steve

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  Wang

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  Xiaoyu

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  Yoshimitsu

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  Zafina

*completely coloured in black and white
**multi-tier stage
***has 5 variations
****walled and non-walled version

During the press conference at E3 2011, Nintendo announced Tekken would be coming to the 3DS handheld. At the same time, a demo was shown featuring the Tekken in-game engine along with a young Heihachi. Producer Katsuhiro Harada promised the game would run in full 60 frames per second with the 3D effect on. Its beta name was revealed as Tekken 3DS.

On August 17, 2011, a new trailer for Tekken 3D: Prime Edition was released, alongside its official name. It was also revealed that the game would include all characters of Tekken 6 Bloodline Rebellion including the Tekken Tag Tournament 2 incarnation of Heihachi Mishima, as well as a 3D version of the movie Tekken: Blood Vengeance on the game's cartridge. The game also has more than 700 artwork cards from the entire Tekken series to collect that can be shared via the StreetPass function on the 3DS. All characters will retain their two available default costumes from Tekken 6 (unlike in Tekken Tag Tournament 2).

On January 23, 2012, the lastest trailer was released. It re-confirmed previous announced features, and confirmed Online Play and the return of all Tekken 6 Bloodline Rebellion in-game mechanics and demonstrated the usage of the Touchscreen Commands and the StreetPass feature. It also showed some snippets of the new stages as well as the returning stages. A new mode was also introduced: the Special Survival Mode, during which the player has to fight with only one lifebar in order to gain Tekken Cards and CP. Furthermore a new match-up type was introduced: the so-called Special Match. Winning a Special Match requires certain battle conditions (such as damaging the opponent through aerial juggles only). The reward will be a Tekken Card.

On the verge of the release of Tekken 3D: Prime Edition, new information surfaced: Both Arcade Mode and Story Mode would be absent from this game as well as the customization feature in previous Tekken installments, however, the latter one would be replaced by a simple Color Edit feature to change the color palettes of character's costumes. Furthermore it was confirmed that Online Play will temporarily disable the 3D effect of the 3DS to ensure 60 FPS during online sessions. Aside from this, Ranked Matches and the Ranking System of Tekken 6 Bloodline Rebellion was confirmed.

Critical ReceptionEdit

Upon release, Tekken 3D: Prime Edition has received mixed to slightly positive reviews. IGN has greatly praised the game's visuals and good framerate, but it lamented its lack of game modes and low replay value. Gamespot stated that while it looked and played very well, the game seemed incomplete. Tech-Gaming found the game's engine to be up to the task, but bemoaned the laggy online multiplayer. GamesRadar gave the game 5/10, praising its high character roster and graphics, but critizising its lack of single player modes. The Official Nintendo Magazine UK rated it 81% and called it a "perfect, smooth version of a great fighting game, and not much else". Tekken 3D: Prime Edition currently has a Metacritic score of 64 out of 100.

Video GalleryEdit

Image GalleryEdit

• Screenshots
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  The chose between Tekken 3D: Prime Edition and Tekken: Blood Vengeance.

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  Tekken: Blood Vengeance.

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  Start Screen.

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  Main menu.

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  Swap color menu.

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  Swap color menu.

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  Tekken Cards album.

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  Tekken Cards album.

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  Some of the Tekken Cards - Xiaoyu Tekken 3 Card.

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  Some of the Tekken Cards - Lei Tekken 3 Card.

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  Some of the Tekken Cards - Julia Tekken 4 Card.

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  Character select screen.

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  Character select screen.

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  Versus screen.

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  Alisa vs. Lars.

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  Anna vs. Nina.

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  Armor King vs. Feng.

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  Asuka vs. Yoshimitsu.

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  Jin vs. Hwoarang.

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  Lili vs. Julia.

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  Heihachi vs. Leo.

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  Paul vs. Steve.

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  Miguel vs. Bob.

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  Xiaoyu vs. King.

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  Obtaining Tekken Card.

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  The Command system on bottom screen.

• Beta-Screens
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  Alisa.

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  Asuka.

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  Bryan.

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  Heihachi (P1 outfit).

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  Heihachi (P2 outfit).

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  Kazuya.

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  Lili.

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  Xiaoyu.

• Stages
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  Bowling Rooftop Alley

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  Wrecked Dojo

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  Cathedral

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  Desert Wasteland

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  Temple of the Dragon

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  Ancient Ruins

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  Zaibatsu Headquarters

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  Lotus Hall

• Promotional
• 

  Tekken 3D: Prime Edition cover.

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  Promo Poster.

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  Promo Poster.

• Tekken 3D: Prime Edition is the first Tekken handheld that allows Online Battles outside of Ad-hoc (PSP).
• It is possible to trick the game into making it actually assign iWR and JF moves. The reason for facilitating the execution of said moves is that some moves that can be assigned to the Touchscreen actually have "Perfect Frame" properties. Nonetheless not all moves and "secret moves" can be used that way.
• For unknown reasons, the Special Match stages are coloured in black and white only.
  • Beta screens suggests that originally the Special Matches were going to take place on any stage rather than only on the "black and white" stages.
  • Similiarly, the possibility of winning Tekken Cards was expected to be part of Online Play.
  • The Tech Demo depicted the Wrecked Dojo stage as an abandoned one rather than a wrecked one.
  • The lifebar had a different design than its final counterpart.
  • In the TGS 2011 Gameplay Video some stages were shown that have been tweaked for the final version of the game.
• On start-up, the player is asked if he/she wants to spend 10 Play Coins for 30 CPs.
  • The highest amount of CP the player can have at the same time is 999.
  • Similarly, the max play time count is 99:59:59.
• Before each round of any Ranked Matches the rank of each player including their possible Promotion Chance or Demotion Risk is only shown until the round starts.
• Disconnectors (either accidently or on purpose) will be punished by the game: they will have one loss add to their win/loss-ratio - the win/loss-ratio of the one who stays online is unaffected, however.
• Currently, the highest attainable rank offline is Tekken Emperor, rather than Tekken God.

• http://www.facebook.com/notes/tekken-3d-prime-edition/compilation-of-all-known-features-in-tekken-3d-prime-edition/222407034521693
• http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/632839-tekken-3d-prime-edition/61989328

• Official Homepage (Tekken Official)
• Official Website (Nintendo of America)
• Official Website (Nintendo of Europe)
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