Every Tekken Game, Ranked

I first started Tekken when I was 6 years old, and have been a fan my entire life. It’s the series where I wrote my first terribly written fanfiction as a 7-year-old, and pretended to be 13 on various forums when I was 8. It’s poetic that, 25 years later, my first article for DualShockers is about a franchise that has shaped me the most as a gamer and a writer.

Tekken is a series that builds upon muscle memory with its legacy players. It’s like a friend you haven’t seen in years, but you hang out, and it’s like yesterday. So, where does each game in this fighting series, mixed with seriousness and silliness, rank? Let the librarian who grew up with it tell you. I’m omitting remasters/mobile/console ports and focusing on the mainline releases instead.

These selections will be ranked by personal preference since many of the games are already well-regarded.

The Classic That Started It All

While some may feel the graphics and gameplay are outdated, it’s worth going back to see where it all began. If you’re used to the gameplay mechanics of later entries in the series, going back to this will be jarring due to muscle memory, especially if your main is in this game. The opening with Galaga is a fun Easter egg to unlock Devil Kazuya, but there is not much else going on in this game.

The rest of the series builds upon the mechanics in this one and improves further. I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up getting the remake treatment one of these days. While the music in this one has been recycled into newer entries, it would be nice to see the stages, in particular the Marine Stadium stage, remade in modern graphics. Maybe it could be DLC in a future title. Here’s hoping.

9 Tekken 6

Very Slow Loading Times

Tekken 6 was the first to introduce the rage system, which increases your strength when your health gets low. The Tekken-Force style beat ’em up for the story kept you occupied. Azazel is the most difficult final boss in the series.

While the war plot was interesting, some characters were reduced to joke characters. Asuka Kazama, my main, seemed to have an important role in the Mishima family drama in her Tekken 5 ending. Instead, she ends up having a rivalry with Lili de Rochefort for the rest of the series.

Gameplay-wise, Tekken 6 had the best customization options, but the loading times for offline, single-player matches were noticeably long. You also couldn’t rank up offline past 1st Dan, forcing you to play online. If you had terrible WiFi like me, it just wasn’t worth it.

8 Tekken 4

It Gets More Hate Than It Deserves

This was the first Tekken to introduce walls into the gameplay, which left many divided due to the brutal placements. Katsuhiro Harada himself had a difficult time after the release.

What makes up for the gameplay is the story. Each character has a thoughtful prologue explaining why they’re entering the tournament and an epilogue that wraps up their arc. Endings are both serious and hilarious.

You’ve got the typical Mishima-family drama, with one of my favorite endings of all time, with Marshall Law fighting a customer who says his food sucks. The music and ambience of this Tekken were also top-tier.

This Was Too Short

Tekken 7 introduced rage arts and power crush to the gameplay, borrowing elements from other fighting series. It was cool to see Noctis from Final Fantasy XV, and Negan from The Walking Dead in this game. However, modes like Survivor and Team-Battle were removed despite being staples.

Story-wise, this was the Tekken to conclude the Kazuya vs. Heihachi Mishima feud. However, the narrator who guided the story just felt dry. I beat it in a day and have the least amount of hours played on this of all Tekkens. Characters who did not have a part in the drama found themselves with brief character episodes that left legacy fans like me wanting more.

Legacy characters such as Lei Wulong, Anna Williams, and Julia Chang ended up as paid DLC, which was disappointing to us long-time players.

6 Tekken 8

The Bridge Between Legacy And New Players

There’s a lot of backlash against this Tekken, especially with the reworks to the rage system. However, there is an effort to make this Tekken a bridge for newcomers and legacy players alike.

The replay system is vital to seeing how you can improve. Customizations that were free in previous games now have to be earned through a paid-for battle pass, which I have to admit keeps me coming back to this Tekken, unlike 7.

Story-wise, fans were most pleased to see Jun’s canon return to the series after being gone since Tekken 2. The offline arcade quest was brief, but it added more to do when you were done with the story.

5 Tekken Tag Tournament 2

The Long-Awaited Non-Canon Sequel

I was so happy when this was announced. As a non-canon game, this is where Tekken gets to be at its silliest both in gameplay and in endings. Wang Jinrei has what’s probably the funniest Tekken ending of all time. Snoop Dogg even makes a cameo with his stage and music.

I honestly wanted more DLC for this. The online community is still around, too, but I’ve buried my PS3 too deep in my closet to try it out for myself. This was the game I played the most during the PS3 era as a busy college student.

4 Tekken Tag Tournament

You Had To Have Been There To Experience It

This was one of the first games released for the PS2 that included every Tekken original character in the series up to that point. At the time, it was awesome to see the recreated Tekken 3 stages and other beloved characters in next-gen graphics.

We were introduced to the Tekken Bowl mini-game, which added more to do and had nice touches depending on who you were playing as. And, if you don’t like the Tag function, you could play solo.

If you were unlucky like me, your PS2 eventually stopped playing blue discs, and you had to upgrade to a PS2 slim. I spent many days as a child longing to play the game again, troubleshooting whatever I could to get it working. Also, this Tekken has the best music and introduced the jukebox. I always change the character select theme in later games to this one.

3 Tekken 5

Perfectly Balanced, As All Things Should Be

Tekken 5 took what fans loved about Tekken 3 and 4 and combined them all. The balance between gameplay and story was perfected. This was the first Tekken that allowed you to customize your character and introduced a rank system, giving you more to do after getting everyone’s ending.

The console release coincided with the 15th anniversary of Tekken and allowed you to play the arcade versions of Tekken 1-3. Jin Kazama had his own special, The Devil Within beat ’em up gameplay mode, which had fans speculating that Jun was still alive and could return to the story.

From the space mini-game opening reminiscent of Tekken 1, Tekken 5 truly felt like a celebration of the series at the time.

2 Tekken 2

The Sequel That Cemented The Series

What gives this Tekken its charm is the Easter eggs that no other Tekken has, such as Big-Head mode. You could also leave your character idle during practice mode to see what they’re thinking about.

To unlock Roger or Alex, you had to win the final match with a “Great” during Stage 3. Tekken 7 takes a little-known detail from Heihachi’s stage and uses it as a plot element, something I didn’t notice until years later.

Tekken 2 the best end credits song, too. This was the first Tekken to have stages attached to characters, adding more personality beyond what was covered in the manual.

1 Tekken 3

The Greatest Of All Time

Chances are, if you’re a legacy player like me, this was most likely your first Tekken and thus deserves the number one spot. It was also a great entry point to the series, as half the cast was new, given that it takes place 20 years after Tekken 2.

Many fan favorites, such as my former main Ling Xiaoyu, make their first appearance in the series. Mokujin was a wildcard character if you were feeling chaotic. It was the first time Tekken had a guest character with Gon, whose fart mechanics added silliness to the gameplay – a must if you are playing with friends. Tekken Ball was also a fun addition with friends.