Despite offering a variety of new gameplay features, Tekken 4 was a bit of a letdown for a lot of Tekken fans. At a time when Virtua Fighter 4 was all the rage and Soul Calibur II was gaining a lot of deserved attention, Tekken seemed to have slipped out of the limelight and fallen behind. As a long time Tekken fan I thought this was a shame, as I really did enjoy Tekken 4 and felt it was a great game overall. After revolutionising arcades outside of Japan with a card-based ranking system in 2004, Tekken 5 has now hit the PlayStation 2 in an attempt to bring the series back to its well-deserved former glory.

There are no extra elements thrown into the battles this time; no breakable walls, no cliffs to fall from and the position switch from Tekken 4 is gone as well. What Tekken 5 does offer, however, is some of the finest martial arts action you can find anywhere. Each character has been revamped with plenty of new moves and animations, and like Tekken 4 there are very few "clone" characters that simply have the similar or exact moves as another character. Jin Kazama again uses a traditional Karate move set instead of the Mishima style used by Kazuya and Heihachi, while the three new characters offer not only great new styles but excellent personalities as well. Raven, a mysterious special agent apparently involved in the 'death' of Heihachi, uses an absolutely fantastic Ninjitsu style that has easily made him one of my favourite Tekken fighters ever. Feng Wei, a new Chinese warrior chasing down scrolls stolen by the Michima Zaibatsu, uses a great Chinese Kenpo technique. Finally, Asuka Kazama uses her own Kazama style based on traditional martial arts taught to her by her father.

Aside from the expected Tekken warriors such as Paul Phoenix, Yoshimitsu, Kazuya Michima, Jin Kazama, Hwoarang, Nina and Anna Williams, King, Lei Wulong, a new Jack-5 model, Martial Law (Forest must still be running around causing trouble outside of the tournaments), Julia Chang, Kuma and Panda, there are some surprise returns from characters who haven't been around as of late, some of which featured in Tekken 2 but were dropped when the game made a 19 year leap to Tekken 3. Ganryu brings his expected Sumo style back to Tekken, Bruce Irvine gives Bryan Fury a run for his money by adding another kickboxing style to the fray, even Hwoarang's mentor Baek Doo San is back, as well as Wang Jinrei and Lee Chaolan (as himself, not Violet).

Tekken 4's debut characters also return with their great styles from before, each with updated move sets. Eddy Gordo fans still need to get their fix from Christy Monteiro's lighting quick Capoeira style again, as Namco made a respectable move and left him out of the tournament once again (his storyline just didn't make sense to include him again) and British boxer extraordinaire Steve Fox brings a refreshing and unique style to Tekken 5. Finally, the murderer of Armour King and the original King from Tekken 1 and 2 returns as well; of course I'm referring to the Vale Tudo warrior Craig Marduk. Each and every character brings something unique to the game and there truly is something for every player. All the great styles make for some absolutely fantastic bouts with great motion captures for every strike; the slow motion replay at the end of each match making it that much better.

It's true that this game lacks some of the almost standard features found in games like Mortal Kombat: Deception and Dead Or Alive, like interactive arenas or online play, but the sheer fun of the battles almost makes up for it. From throws to a freeform combo system, powerful slow strikes and amazing juggle combos, Tekken 5 is what martial arts action should be all about. When a game lacks online play and flashy arena destruction, it needs to have a great fighting engine to counteract these omissions and Tekken 5 certainly does.

One thing it has over a lot of the competition is a great storyline and fantastic characters. The mysterious devil gene within Jin and Kazuya is always intriguing and makes for some epic battles and attacks, and the grandfather-father-son relationship between them and Heihechi is very cool. Almost every other character is memorable in their own way too, some due to the amount of time they've had with the series (Paul for example) and some due to fantastic character designs and personalities (Raven fits this one well.) Yoshimitsu and King are both mysterious classics in their own rights, while Bryan Fury is such an absolute badass that you can't help but like him. The Tekken cast are all much more memorable than the cast of similar titles like Virtua Fighter and Dead Or Alive for example and in my opinion they rival even the great cast of Mortal Kombat: Deception.

Though the boss in Tekken 5 almost feels like a deus ex machina that Namco pulled out to simply have a final powerful boss, he actually does have some relevance to the story. Some players will undoubtedly be turned away by the style of boss this is; instead of being a great fighter who has mastered the arts, he simply has a small variety of very powerful attacks that he repeats multiple times, one of which takes nearly all of your life and can only be strafed around (which is hard to do quickly) and he'll usually repeat the attack instantly after you dodge it, thus hitting you anyway. Though challenging for a while, once you get the hang of his attacks you should easily be able to come up with a way around him; it might just take quite a few rounds for each character.

Tekken 5 features an enhanced difficulty level, referred to as Ultra Hard that is sure to give some players a headache. The AI randomises their attacks, so it can be difficult to tell what is coming; however, Tekken vets who have been playing and mastering the game for years (or just die-hard fans of fighting games) will probably be able to overcome even the ultra hard difficulty quickly.

Of course, with every fighting game there is something equally as important as the fighters and that is where the warriors are fighting! Though Tekken 5 lacks dynamic environments that change areas as the battle progresses, it features some very clever and fantastic looking stages. For instance, the Dragon's Nest sits high atop a mountain area and displays a giant dragon in the background that falls apart when players are thrown against it. The Cathedral is an epic looking arena that features some amazing lighting and sees battles with Jin's amazing devil form. Speaking of lighting, Moonlit Wilderness has to be one of the most impressive fighting grounds I have ever seen in a game, taking place in a field full of tall grass under a bright moonlit night, near to some ancient statues, with each character emitting a beautiful glow. Stages like the Waterfall are full of puddles of water that react as characters walk over them or land in them, while Pirate's Cove has mounds of gold coins that scatter throughout the arena as the battles take place. Empty swimming pools, a penguin-infested Polar Paradise, a dojo in the process of burning down and an underground illegal fighting arena are also included, with plenty of others too.

Tekken 5's arenas are not without their share of interaction; there are plenty of objects that are destroyed when a player slams into them and almost every time a fighter lands on the ground, various cracks are made as pieces of concrete come apart. My only disappointment with the arenas is the final boss battle, which feels primitive in both design and graphics. It is also unfortunate that King's sky-tower arena has been dropped, as it could have looked truly spectacular!

In the arcades, Tekken 5 had a nifty feature that was only previously available in Japan, where the players had cards that kept their nicknames, records and customised characters on it. Hell, players could even bring their PS2 controller and plug it into the arcade! You could say the game was an arcade revolution and some of these features have been brought over to the PS2. Like Virtua Fighter 4, the arcade mode pits you against "ghosts" of real players, who play like the actual players do. You'll see their nickname displayed below their health bar, as well as their rank (ranging from beginner, 9th Kyu, up to 1st and beyond) The difficulty is determined by the challenger's rank and each ghost profile has customised characters, so they all look different from each other, even when two profiles use the same fighter. As you beat challengers you gain points that eventually allow you to level up to a higher rank. The system is a great one and adds a lot of replay to what could have been a dreadfully stale arcade mode.

I'm having difficulty sitting at the keyboard to write this, because at the moment I'm having an absolute blast ranking up my custom King so I can earn money to put towards new purchases for other characters. Tekken 5 features a great section that allows you to purchase numerous visual enhancements to any character in the game, for both of their outfits. Accessories vary for each character and range from the wacky to plain awesome. For instance, one character can be equipped to have a giant fish on their back, or maybe simply a backpack. A couple of fighters can have holstered guns or sawed off shotguns, or maybe just a wallet chain or handcuffs. One of the best things however are the hair styles and masks. King can be equipped with around four different masks, one being Armour Kings and another actually revealing part of his face. Devil Jin can have long hair that covers almost his entire face and goes down below his chest making him look truly evil. Another great customisation, and probably the best, is the ability to change the colour of almost every part of any outfit, giving each character your own unique feel. Though a lot of the characters in the game look spectacular (I can't stress it enough, Namco has outdone themselves when it comes to character designs here), if you dislike one it is easy to change their outfit around until you like it.

Though the menus don't look at all as I expected and much of them seem to have a lot of empty space, the presentation of Tekken 5 otherwise is phenomenal. From the moment you boot up the game and play a short shooting game during the loading screen, to the absolutely AMAZING introduction sequence (perhaps one of the greatest opening scenes ever created with fantastic music to boot), your senses are in for a real treat with this title. The ending cinema sequences are usually incredibly good, some enormously funny (Asuka Kazama, Paul Phoenix, Lee Chaolan), some full of incredibly well directed action (Bryan Fury, Yoshimitsu, Hwoarang) and some just plain cool (Jin). The introductions take a nice twist as well, featuring superb artwork with a good narration overlap that does a great job introducing the character and why they're in the tournament.

The graphics in Tekken 5 are ace all around and very smooth on top of that. Featuring some of the best lighting effects I've seen in a fighting game, the detail on the characters' muscles, clothes and hair is simply phenomenal and every single frame of animation is an absolute joy to watch. Moves flow together well even if they aren't a proper combo and you'll be surprised how great an exchange of moves between competitors ends up looking, especially during the replays; there's even some incredibly cool throw counters hidden away as well. The signature energy blasts that debuted in the original Tekken are still here and light up the characters in a really fantastic way. Concrete cracks, glass shatters, water splashes, wood breaks; Tekken 5 excels in almost every way when it comes to graphics and the sound is not short of spectacular either.

Every sound effect for every punch, kick, throw and swipe is satisfying and the sound of a character's body smashing against a brick wall is perfect. Unlike KOF: Maximum Impact, the voices in this game are spot on and fit each character well. It is rare that characters end up sounding how you thought they would when you first saw them, yet most of these seem to do just that, which is good since you'll hear them talking quite a bit in story mode both in and out of fights. Worth noting is that each character speaks their native tongue as well, so you won't find Kazuya speaking perfect English here. The music is superb, in the cinematics, menus and the battles themselves with each stage getting its own background music. All of these can be listened to via the theatre mode, which is where you can re-watch any characters prologue and epilogue as well.

Unfortunately Tekken 5 is not online, which I almost considered marking it down for, but the game is so outstanding in every other aspect that it would pain me not to give it the praise it deserves after the amount of work Namco has obviously put into this title. There are no flashy sections in matches where the characters move from area to area; just pure, perfect martial arts action. Every character has a deep system of moves and combos; you'll probably continue discovering new abilities weeks after you started. Wrestling fans will be amazed at the amount of work put into King's move set that really makes him feel like an actual wrestler and not a big fighter in wrestling gear.

Even without online play, there is plenty of replay value hidden away, with a full ending for each character, dozens of fighters to unlock, hundreds of accessories to buy with money you must earn and a variety of modes expected from a fighting game. The arcade mode really packs in a lot of replay value with the great ranking system, as well. Finally there is a new third person action mode, similar to Tekken Force, called Devil Within, staring Jin. Though it is fun playing through once, it is nothing worth writing home about but offers some good, classic beat 'em up action and delves deeper into the history of Jin. If this wasn't enough, Tekken 5 even comes with arcade perfect ports of Tekken, Tekken 2, and Tekken 3. I don't even have to tell you why this is a good thing... Anybody who enjoys a trip of nostalgia will love it.

Tekken 5 may lack online play, but trust me when I say that is all it lacks. It is an amazing fighting game, sure to please fans of the series and the fighting genre, bringing the franchise back to its roots and offering outstanding martial arts action. My only real complaint is that more new characters would have been appreciated, although the amount of fighters returning from Tekken 2 almost makes up for it. If you're looking for a superb fighting game for the PS2 with awesome characters, arenas, a good story and outstanding, addictive gameplay then look no further, as Namco have outdone themselves here; welcome the King of Iron Fist Tournament back to glory!

Reviewed by Christopher Martin for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).