Tekken 5 (鉄拳5) is a fighting game developed and published by Namco for the arcades in 2004, and for the PlayStation 2 in 2005. It is the fifth main and sixth installment, in the Tekken series, marking the tenth anniversary of the series. The game is set shortly after the ending of Tekken 4 showing a new person taking over the zaibatsu special forces while a sidestory focuses on the protagonist Jin Kazama as he faces several enemies from the G Corporation.

The game removes several major gameplay changes introduced in Tekken 4, such as uneven stage terrain, in favor of a faster gameplay akin to the older games in the series. It is also the first game in the series to feature the ability to customize characters with accessories, clothing, and other aesthetic items purchased with in-game currency. There are up to 32 characters to choose from, including seven new fighters, as well as Jin’s alter-ego Devil Jin. The home version includes a mode known as Devil Within, a variant of Tekken Force introduced in Tekken 3.

The game was upgraded to Tekken 5.1, which had mostly balance changes to the gameplay, and later the update Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection which was released in 2005 and later ported to the PlayStation Portable and the PlayStation 3 as Tekken: Dark Resurrection. Tekken 5 was a critical and commercial success, selling over 8.2 million copies including expansion. Critics praised the return of classic gameplay features and the large amount of replay value provided by the PlayStation 2 port though the final boss was criticized for being too powerful while Jin’s story mode was felt boring in comparison to the fighting game part. A sequel titled Tekken 6 was released in 2009.

Gameplay[edit]

New to Tekken 5 is the crush system which affects the vulnerability of a character while they attack. For example, a move with jumping properties, such as a hopkick, will be completely invulnerable during most of its animation time to all of an opponent’s low attacks.^[1] It also retains its wall juggling concept from Tekken 4, but the element is effectively more difficult to abuse and easier to defend against. The home version is a collector’s edition of sorts, as it includes the arcade versions of Tekken, Tekken 2, Tekken 3, and StarBlade. Tekken 5 also allows players to customize their fighter for the first time, allowing them to change the colors of their outfits, buy additional costumes, and equip them with items by using money gained from playing the Story, Survival, Time Attack, the side-story Devil Within, and Arcade Battle modes.^[2]

The raised and lowered sections of floors featured in the Tekken 4 levels were removed for the fifth installment. This change made gameplay throughout each stage generally similar, aside from wall placements. In addition to removing the uneven nature of the Tekken 4 styled stages, the design team returned to the style of stages from previous games by having some stages without barriers by allowing them to be infinitely scrolling. For walled stages, the fights take place in fairly symmetrical boxes without any uneven walls. Floors could also crack after one of the characters hit it hard enough. Only one part of a stage can be cracked at a time, however.^[3]

Gameplay of Devil Within showing Jin fighting in his Devil Form

Other changes over the Tekken 4 design included the removal of the positional change techniques, bringing back traditional air combat and using a juggle system more akin to Tekken 3 as opposed to the 4th game’s less juggle-friendly gameplay. The fighters were also forced to remain stationary prior to the round beginning.^[4]

The game also includes Devil Within mode. This is the fourth installment in the Tekken Force series (the first two instalments can be found in Tekken 3 and Tekken 4 respectively. Similar to Death by Degrees, ‘Devil Within’ focuses solely on one playable character, Jin Kazama, who can also transform into Devil Jin. This is a traditional platform game in which players must guide Jin through a series of labyrinth style levels and entire enemy armies. This mode features bosses, such as True Ogre from Tekken 3, who is not playable in Tekken 5.