After a brief introduction in the Japanese market, Namco has begun testing Tekken 4 at arcades across America. For some background on the game and its associated development, Arcadia recently sat down with producer Katsuhiro Harada, designer Yuichi Yonemori, and director Masahiro Kimoto.
Arcadia: First, I\'d like to ask you about the new characters. How did you try to differentiate the new character Steve Fox from Brian, they\'re both essentially kick boxers?
Harada: Yes, though Steve is more of a plain boxer. He doesn\'t have any special types of kicks or anything. He can do defensive kicks, like when getting up from a fall, but not much more than that.
Arcadia: So he punches even when pressing the kick buttons?
Harada: Yes, we were worried about that inconsistency, though we\'ve decided to make the kick buttons perform sways and special moves. He also has some wrestling style moves.
Arcadia: Without kicks though, he has virtually no low attacks. Doesn\'t the gameplay get monotonous like that?
Harada: Most of his attacks are mid-high range, but he\'s fast and many of his attacks are effective while blocking. So I think we\'ve made up for the lack of low level attacks. I think we\'re starting to differentiate the characters by \'in-and-out\' fighting as well. Thereby, some characters are meant to fight close and others from a distance. Steve helps us broaden that aspect in Tekken 4.
Arcadia: Why did you decide to include Christie?
Harada: She succeeds Eddie in the capoeira fighting style, and is meant for experienced players. During the development of Tekken 3 we had a character more like Christime in mind. It was odd that Eddie ended up being included at all, but the modeling of Christie just didn\'t work then. There was also the argument that a male character was better suited for the capoeira fighting style.
Arcadia: But now that the technology has evolved, so you can create the character you originally envisioned?
Kimoto: Yes, although we had already decided to include Craig in Tekken 4. So we wanted a new female character to balance everything out.
Arcadia: Can you explain Craig and his style. He looks like a wrestler, although his attacks seem somewhat varied?
Harada: If by varied you mean a wide selection of attacks, I think that\'s more Yoshimitsu\'s specialty. We didn\'t want another character that relied on blocking and finished off opponents with throws. So we\'ve made his attacks and defensive moves somewhat different. Like Jack, Craig can grab players by the legs and swing them around. But you need to plan your attacks in order to be successful with him.
Arcadia: You mentioned Yoshimitsu, he look much different in Tekken 4, why?
Harada: Originally we wanted him to look robotic, but people think he should look more insect-like. We went through several designs before we arrived at his finished look in Tekken 4.
Arcadia: Are there time release characters in Tekken 4?
Harada: Yes, but I can\'t go into specifics. Characters like Heihachi and Ni are too important to the storyline not to appear though. [laughs..] Speaking of the story, this time we had a movie scriptwriter work on the plot.
Arcadia: Why did you decide to add walls in Tekken 4?
Kimoto: It had nothing to do with Virtua Fighter 4.
Harada: Did you have to say that? [laughs..]
Kimoto: The truth is, with Tekken 3 we wanted to add walls but the PSone/System 12 hardware couldn\'t handle that many polygons. With the PS2/System 246 however, things we\'ve always wanted to do are possible now. Normally, a developer would dream of creating a fighting game with endless playing fields. [smiles..] We could have added walls in Tekken Tag for the PlayStation2, but since it was meant to be an arcade port we decided against it.
Arcadia: Speaking of Tekken Tag, there were some stages with moving playing surfaces. Are there any stages like that in Tekken 4?
Harada: Not where the entire stage moves, but some have areas that move.
Arcadia: Will the stage movement interact with the collision detection, in other words, will it have an affect on the way damage is inflicted?
Kimoto: No, characters automatically adjust their attacks to different fighting angles. The only gameplay affect moving surfaces have is during aerial combos, and that depends on where you start your attack.
Arcadia: Still, the addition of walls and moving surfaces will change gameplay strategies, don\'t you think?
Kimoto: Perhaps, I think players will learn that certain characters perform well on specific stages. Some characters have advantages depending upon the stage, but we\'re leveling the playing field by allowing players to select their stage.
Harada: Players can also choose their starting position in the stage.
Arcadia: What about new defensive techniques?
Yonemori: Tekken has always been focused on the offensive aspects, but in order to make sure the action isn\'t one-sided, we\'ve beefed up the defensive options too.
Harada: For example, there\'s a new position change move that players can do execute like a grapple command. If used intelligently, this command can be a good defensive technique.
Arcadia: Did any unusual things happen during the development of Tekken 4?
Harada: This may not seem unusual, but we were planning to test Tekken 4 in early May. But then Mr. Mitsuhara heard about it.
Arcadia: Mr. Mitsuhara of Arika?
Harada: Yes, somehow he always finds out about what Namco has planned. [laughs..] He found out when and where we were planning to test, so we canceled it at the last minute. Mr. Mitsuhara didn\'t know this because he was in Los Angeles. Apparently, he returned to Japan the day the test was supposed to open.
Arcadia: Uh oh...
Harada: He went straight from Narita airport to the proposed test site and looked around, but nothing was there. He phoned me to ask about the test and I told him it was planned but we canceled it. He said, \'Are you kidding me, I flew all the way from Los Angeles! [laughs..]
Arcadia: In summation, can you explain what you think makes Tekken 4 truly a \'new\' Tekken game?
Kimoto: The fact that you\'re never invulnerable. Even if your characters is knocked down or againast a wall, they can rebound and take the offensive. Situations where a player is almost untouchable should be avoided, so should laser beams and supernatural attacks.
Harada: In my opinion, it\'s the new techniques and characters. I think we\'ve distinguished Tekken 4 from other 3D fighters. We\'ve done some weird stuff, but we drew the line at unrealistic elements and that\'s what makes it \'Tekken.\'
Yonemori: Most characters in Tekken would look downright strange in another fighting series. As for the gameplay, I think the fact that we focus on offense and strong attacks as opposed to slowly chipping away your opponents makes Tekken special.
