Picture the scene as an over-excited, pimple-faced teen sits for the first time at a shiny new machine in his local arcade. He has waited an agonising 45 minutes and watched as challengers came and champions went. Rabbit-like first years throw down the gauntlet to arrogant fifth years, for once the playing field levelled. The ever-present Japanese exchange student, with wild red hair, stands as a god surveying his subjects. Everyone seeks his approval.

Pimple-face's hand shakily deposits his 30p, eliciting a deep, throaty growl from the machine: "Welcome to the King of Iron Fist tournament". He unshoulders his bag, loosens his knuckles and chooses his character. Ready, FIGHT!! The battle swings like a pendulum, Acne-boy and the current champion Fathead are evenly matched but the challenge ends in defeat for our hero. He leaves the noisy arcade dejected but exhilarated, secretly vowing to become the best fighter in the Tekken 2 arena.

And that I did! Sure, I went hungry for a bit, preferring to throw my tuck money into that sit-down, rather than spending it on something as boring as food, but it was worth it.

This was the magic of Tekken, a beat-em-up with so much variety and nuance of play that you could play the same character for months and find new tricks and moves every time you played. Unfortunately the forth (fifth if you count Tekken Tag Tournament) in the Tekken series has lost a hearty chunk of it's former sparkle, leaving it a bit lost up against the likes Virtua Fighter, Bloody Roar and Dead or Alive.

The two most sizable complaints I have about the changes made in Tekken 4 are in the character models and the music. On both fronts Namco seem to have just ripped out the old and shoved in the new with little regard for the continuity of the series. For example, Nina now looks constipated, Yoshimitsu is vaguely reminiscent of a cheap action man figure and Hwoarang wears shoulder pads under his Gi. Many of the characters now look too silly to be taken seriously. In reference to the soundtrack, it barely classes as noise! Tekken 1, 2, 3 and Tag had some corking tunes adding a little extra pace to the fights, but 4s brain-damaging elevator music does not please at all.

The additions Namco have made to the game simply aren't enough to keep this title above all the rest in the charts. A total of three new fighting styles were just about sufficient to keep me happy, but I imagine more hardcore Tekken fans will find themselves sorely miffed (ouch!) at this insignificant addition. Some of the environments are destructible, but why can't we throw our opponent off the roof or over a cliff, a la DOA? This sort of thing would have given T4 a much fresher feel, even if it has been done in other games. Stealing the best ideas from the competition is never a problem! The position change is a new generic move, meaning that if you find yourself being pummelled in the corner, there is a way out albeit a tricky one to pull off while being force-fed endless knuckle sandwiches. Tekken force makes a comeback but whilst being better quality than T3's force, it still doesn't make up for the fact that there's something awry in the state of Tekken.

All of this may seem like I'm saying that T4 is not worth your greenbacks, but this is not necessarily true. A lot of the quality has been kept from the series and most of the graphical enhancements are very welcome. A total of twenty new fighters may not appear much by Tag tournament standards, but when you consider that each combatant has his or her very own distinct style you can see that there is, in fact, a good deal more variety in this instalment than any other.

There are no Jack/P. Jack or Forest/Marshall law similarities here; even Heihachi and Kazuya fight very differently now. I can't quite work out if I like it or not yet. Jin has undergone a massive change from the Mishima style to more traditional karate moves, making him a new (ish) character. The other two styles are boxing, with Steve Fox and some other form of martial art, which would be best be described as 'Ouch-nasty-big-man-causing-me-pain-kung-do' from Craig Marduk. Both of these are unique and fun to play but one or two more characters wouldn't have hurt, would they Namco?

Each of the established characters has an average of 10-15 new moves, giving you just about enough novelty to keep you playing with your old faves and from what I can tell they are well balanced. For example, King is now more accessible to the novice and Heihachi's devastating juggles have been toned down a bit, leaving them just as flashy, but slightly less cheap. Namco have added different stances to more characters, allowing you to psych out your human opponents and adding to the already huge command list. You can quite easily go through story mode with Lei, for example, and not have to use the same move twice. No, seriously, I've done it.

All the usual suspects are present in terms of play modes, with Story mode being the biggest change. Bouts are mixed in with the narrative allowing you to follow the fortunes of your character since the last Iron Fist. It's pretty banal and not a giant step from Arcade and Time Attack, but it's interesting enough first time around. Survival, Theatre and Time Attack round off the modes, along with the aforementioned Tekken Force -uninspired but I suppose you'd miss them if they weren't there.

I've touched on the presentation previously but despite it's graphical superiority, I can't bring myself to say that T4 is any more stunning than T3, or even T2 in their respective days. This was, for such a fan of the series, a real misery. That said, the environments are neat, ranging from sun-drenched beaches through sweaty jungles to the final stage, a cage match. They are well varied and easy on the eye, not to mention numerous. These arenas are differently sized and fighting on top of a building requires different tactics to fighting in a cramped pit. There are one or two pleasant touches, such as hair and clothes moving in the wind and the ability to take out innocent bystanders, giving each round a unique feel, but I so want to pummel my opponent through the wall and into the adjacent room.

From the eyes of this long standing Tekkenite, Tekken 4 is a bit of a disappointment; a little more imagination would have gone a long way toward making this the smash hit title it should have been. As it is, if you're new to beat-em-ups you could do a lot worse than purchase T4. If, like many, you see this title and Virtua Fighter IV as rival purchases, don't. They are very different styles of fighter both with their own pros and cons. I suggest you try them both out, but for one ex pimple-faced teenager, Tekken will always be king.

Reviewed by Thomas Leclerc for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).