Why play Tekken 3?
Rollback :)
What kind of game is Tekken 3, and what about it is different from Tekken 7?
Tekken 3 is a ground-based 3D fighter that heavily emphasises movement as a way to secure hits, perhaps more than any other game in the series. This game features many highly damaging launchers that are safe on block due to pushback, requiring sharp movement in order to make them whiff, allowing you to punish and in conjunction, has some of the fastest movement in the series, with massive backdashes and sidesteps.
Damage is high but combos are short, and the game features very few stances or true 50/50’s which might be expected of Tekken, if you’re coming from 7. This leads to a very fast, tense but easy to learn offensive game, with still a lot of room for mastery.
Tekken 3 was also much earlier in the franchise, and as such, many characters have much smaller novelists and much less refined gameplans than in more modern titles. Sometimes this can lead to characters that feel unfocused (Bryan and Anna feel like shells of what they are nowadays), but most times these characters have fleshed out ideas with minimal fluff and retain much of their modern gameplan, leading to a lot of transferable skills between Tekken 7 and 3.
Finally, here’s a list of some of the mechanics Tekken 3 does not have in comparison to Tekken 7:
- No Rage
- No sidewalk
- No universal low parry
- No Bound/Screw
- No walls
What is this Archetype thing based on?
The Archetype slot on each characters infobox is based on, like a lot of things in this wiki, the work done over on the Wavu Wiki, specifically RogerDodger's Archetype radar graphs. Character's archetypes are based on how their tools suit key roles in the Tekken system. Keep in mind that Tekken characters aren't as specific in their gameplans as characters in other fighting games. Many Tekken characters have mixups, keepout tools, pokes and evasion. These are meant to be ways to show players what each characters is specifically good at. The archetypes are:
Poke
- A gameplan based around, fast safe moves and using them to chip at the opponent. Key examples of this are Law.
Mixup
- A focus on mid/low or strike throw mixups. A great example of this is Jin's 50/50 from wavedash, or King's wide variety of 1 and 2 break throws.
Keepout
- A plan based on keeping the opponent out of close range with big buttons. Magic 4's and the EWGF are fantastic examples of good keepout tools.
Whiff Punish
- A focus on punishing the opponent for missing or "whiffing" moves. A good whiff punish tool is something fast, with an easy input and good safety, like Bryan's f,f+2.
Okizeme
- A focus on ground hitting moves, tech traps and covering multiple wakeup options all at once. Okizeme in Tekken 3 is often weaker than in other Tekken games, as the lack of walls make it hard to restrict opponents options.
Pressure
- Many strong tools to use in pressure while plus, for example, a df+1 with followups would be a good pressure tool, as the df+1 stops many defensive options and the followups would also apply a mixup.
Defense
- A strength in buttons to use while minus. Evasion, parries or just strong fast buttons would be good examples. Movement should also be taken into account here, like the speed and distance of the characters backdash and sidestep.
Tricky
- A focus on options that are difficult to defend against. Eddy and Hwoarangs many repeated kicks moving from low to mid back to low are a good example of this. These characters place many situations and outcomes in front of you at such a rapid pace that it can be extremely difficult to keep up.
Please keep in mind that these broad definitions and outlines were created in mind for a different game, Tekken 7, so as this wiki gets updated and filled out more, these archetypes can be swapped out and changed to better reflect the state of Tekken 3.
What is the tier list for this game?
Pre-revamp wiki tier list:
- S Tier: (True)Ogre
- A Tier: Jin, Xiaoyu, Heihachi, Law
- B Tier: Lei, Nina, Julia, Yoshimitsu, Anna, Mokujin
- C Tier: Eddy, Paul, King, Hwoarang, Gun Jack
- D Tier: Bryan, Kuma/Panda
- E Tier: Dr. B, Gon
What is Mokujin?
Mokujin has no fighting style of its own. Instead, Mokujin chooses the fighting style of another playable character. Mokujin changes fighting styles after every round, although it will occasionally use the same fighting style two rounds in a row. The chosen fighting style is selected at random.
What resources are available for this game?
ThatBlastedSalami's Tekken 3 Retrospective, written by Phil "Dinosaur" Mackenzie, is an engaging and informational primer for Tekken 3, and is a fantastic introduction to some of the game's most interesting traits.
Leon Massey's video is mostly about Gon and Dr. B and the information surrounding their past, but it's a very interesting piece of content that looks at what makes these characters so intriguing.
This video by Sparing on the Tekken 3 Museum channel is a massive collection of info for competitive Tekken 3, featuring combos, Guard Break followups and even character overviews. The channel is also a good resource for match footage from the Russian Tekken 3 community. Make sure to turn on captions when viewing.
