Tekken 8 review – 3D fighter packs more punch than ever

PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X (version tested); Bandai Namco
The venerable 3D fighting game's latest iteration makes its violence thrillingly vibrant with a new roster of contenders squaring up to Paul Phoenix and Jun Kazama

It's been almost 30 years since the original Tekken burst into arcades to face off against Sega's Virtua Fighter and kickstart a decade-long battle for fighting supremacy. Arriving on PlayStation, the game's smooth, detailed 3D visuals, arresting characters and accessible control system brought a new generation of fans to the fighting game genre, and subsequent instalments have built on those solid credentials, although not always with the same impact. While Tekken 7 was subtle step forward rewarding committed players, Tekken 8 feels like the first iteration in a long while to truly up its ambitions and entice newcomers. The result is a thrillingly vibrant video game.

For the uninitiated, Tekken 8 is the latest in a series of fighting games by arcade legend Namco, in which a group of gloriously ostentatious warriors compete to win the King of Iron Fist tournament in one-on-one battles in an enclosed arena. Players fight against successively tougher computer-controlled opponents in Arcade and Story modes or against each other in local or online Versus bouts.