Back in December last year, Bandai Namco made an unexpected announcement at their “The King of the Iron Fist” championship tournament: Street Fighter’s fearsome Akuma (known Gouki in Japan) would be joining Tekken 7: Fated Retribution’s roster. Bandai Namco revealed a cinematic trailer for Akuma, along with several still images. But no video footage of Ryu’s classic Nemesis had been seen until last Friday, when Bandai Namco unveiled several minutes of Akuma gameplay footage:
Though the trailer is entirely in Japanese, it is clear even to non-native speakers that Akuma has faithfully retained much of his playing style from his Capcom home series. His moveset features his classic fireballs, shoryukens, and teleport dashes, and many of his poking moves are used in a way that resembles Street Fighter gameplay. Naturally, he can also unleash his Shun Goku Satsu, or Raging Demon, move on opponents to deal devastating damage.
Unique to Akuma is an “EX Meter.” Similar to a Street Fighter game, Akuma can build his EX gauge by dealing damage and taking damage. His EX Meter is partitioned into two sections and works similarly to how EX meter works in Street Fighter 4: at partial meter, Akuma can power up his special attacks, and at full meter, he can unleash a powerful super move (in this case, it is the Raging Demon). He is also able to extend his combos using FADCs (Focus Attack Dash Cancels) from Street Fighter 4.
Tekken’s fighting takes place on 3D arenas, though, which means that opponents can sidestep Akuma’s fireballs. This could potentially open up new avenues for mindgames in the Akuma matchup.
Tekken series veteran Nina Williams also appears in the trailer, where she shows off her signature neck locks and grappling moves. In a wedding dress, no less.
The rest of the video centers on Tekken 7’s newly-announced Rage Attack mechanic. Rage meter is built up over the course of a match and can be used to unleash a powerful Rage Attack when full. Each characters’ Rage Attack possesses special properties unique to that fighter. These are different from Rage Arts, which act more like traditional Super Moves in other fighting games and are also a new addition to the Tekken series.
Tekken 7 is currently in beta testing, in the form of public arcade cabinets in Japan. The game will fully release in Japanese arcades this summer. A PlayStation 4 release has been announced, but a release date has not yet been pinned down. Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada has told fans to “stay tuned” for more news on Tekken 7’s console release.
Translation credits go to Twitter user Flying_Wonkey, via Shoryuken.com.