Arcade Mode is a game mode in the Tekken series of games. Arcade Mode represents the Arcade version of a Tekken game, but with animated cinematics awarded to the player after winning. The original Arcade versions only had a "You are the Champion" screen, showing replays of each winning move.
Unlike Time Attack mode, this mode's rounds and time limit can be modified to the player's liking.
Starting in Tekken 4 and with the new addition of "Story Mode", this mode was renamed to Arcade Battle. Story Mode was now given FMVs at the end of each playthrough instead of Arcade Mode, as well as the addition of prologues and epilogues at the beginning and end of the mode respectively.
Background[]
Tekken[]
In the first installment of the series, the player fights through nine stages. The first seven are against random characters, the eighth is against the character's sub-boss, and the ninth is against Heihachi Mishima, the final boss of the game. After defeating Heihachi, the character's ending plays and their sub-boss is unlocked for play. Clearing the game without using continues unlocks Heihachi.
Time records are saved in this mode, with the player entering their initials at the end of the game if a record is broken. Unlike later games, the same character can have multiple time records in the 16 positions available, whereas in later games, the time records were character-specific. If the number of rounds setting is a value other than 2, a small number will be added to the right of time record denoting the number of rounds played, for example, 1'23"451 if the game was set to 1-round matches.
When playing the game as Heihachi, the player will face all the sub-bosses, followed by Kazuya Mishima in his Devil form as the final boss.
Only the eight default characters have ending videos; completing the game with a sub-boss or Heihachi will go straight to the game's staff roll.
Tekken 2[]
The player fights ten stages, as opposed to nine as in the first Tekken game. The first seven stages are randomly selected fights against seven of the other initially available characters, while the last three stages are set. Stage 8 is against the character's sub-boss, stage 9 is against Kazuya Mishima, and stage 10 is against Devil after Kazuya transforms into him. Heihachi Mishima is the stage 9 boss for Kazuya with Devil still remaining as the final boss. Jun Kazama is the stage 9 boss for Devil and Angel, while Angel is the final boss for Devil. After clearing this mode, the ending is shown and the player's fighter's sub-boss is unlocked. Kazuya can be unlocked by clearing Arcade Mode with one of the sub-bosses after all of them have become playable, and Devil/Angel by clearing Arcade Mode with Kazuya. Unlike the previous game, time records are no longer saved in this mode, an additional Time Attack Mode was instead added for this purpose.
There are some exceptions to the statements mentioned above:
- Roger, Kazuya's sub-boss, will not be unlocked when Arcade mode is defeated with Kazuya, as this instead unlocks Devil/Angel. To unlock Roger and Alex, his palette swap, the player must win Stage 3 with less than 5 points of their health bar left, i.e. on "Great".
- Roger and Alex will face Kuma on stage 4 if the player wins the final round of stage 3 with less than 5 HP remaining, and will face each other as sub-bosses on stage 8.
- Kazuya cannot face Roger, Alex, or Kuma on stage 4 when fulfilling the above requirement.
Tekken 3[]
Tekken 3's arcade mode is very much like that of Tekken 2, however, unlike the previous games, there is no rival sub-boss to defeat on stage 8. The player faces random opponents on the first 8 stages, then Heihachi Mishima is the boss faced on stage 9 (with the exception of Heihachi, who faces Jin Kazama), and Ogre and True Ogre are the final bosses on stage 10. After winning the first round against Ogre, he transforms into True Ogre. Even if the game options are set to only one round, both Ogre and True Ogre are fought.
Unlocking a character is no longer connected with what character clears Arcade mode, meaning characters are unlocked in a specific order. This order is:
The first time players clear Arcade Mode, they will unlock Kuma. The second, Julia, etc. Each time, the player must go through Arcade Mode with a different character, chosen from those available from the start.
Along with True Ogre, the player will gain Theater Mode and Tekken Ball mode. When characters become unlocked, they are added to the CPU roster, randomly appearing from stage 4 to stage 8 with the exception of Heihachi, Ogre, and True Ogre, which are always on the final two stages. Gon and Doctor Bosconovitch are also added to the CPU roster once they are unlocked in their respective game modes, Tekken Ball and Tekken Force.
Tekken Tag Tournament[]
In Tekken Tag Tournament, Arcade Mode functions similarly to Tekken 2 and Tekken 3. From Stage 1 to 6, player faces random enemies. On stage 7, some characters will face their rivals, while others will face at least one of the boss characters. Bosses that can be faced on stage 7 include Jun Kazama, Heihachi Mishima, Kazuya Mishima, Devil, Angel, Jin Kazama, Ogre, and True Ogre. Unknown serves as the final boss for every character.
Tekken 4[]
In Tekken 4, what was formerly known as "Arcade Mode" changed its name to "Story Mode". The new Arcade Mode was given the name "Arcade Battle", and was essentially the arcade version of Tekken 4, only serving a function similar to Time Attack Mode, but with changeable options, such as round time and difficulty, and nothing could be unlocked from playing it. Heihachi Mishima is the final boss for most of the characters in Story Mode, while Jin Kazama is the final boss for Hwoarang and Kazuya, and Kazuya Mishima is the final boss for Heihachi. Kazuya also serves as a boss for Jin, right before Heihachi as the final boss. Kazuya faces Heihachi in a unique dojo battle.
Tekken 5[]
While Tekken 5 does have an Arcade Mode, much like with Tekken 4, Story Mode acts as the traditional Arcade Mode of previous games. For most of the characters, the stage 8 boss is Devil Jin. For Kazuya, Wang Jinrei, and Raven, it is Heihachi Mishima. For Heihachi, it is Kazuya Mishima, and for Devil Jin, the stage 8 boss is Asuka Kazama. Nether Jin nor Asuka face a boss on stage 8, instead facing a randomly chosen character. On stage 9, everyone faces Jinpachi Mishima as the final boss.
In Arcade Mode, the player fights an unlimited number of AI characters for money and rank. The rank of the character used, compared to the rank of the opponent, decides the amount of money earned. The higher the rank of the AI, the more difficult it will be to defeat. Devil Jin is the stage 8 boss for most of the characters, and Heihachi is the boss for a few characters, while Jinpachi is the final boss for most of the characters.
Ranking[]
See Also: Ranking
The ranks in Arcade mode are as followed:
Ranking gives promotions or demotions through winning or losing fights, respectively. However, when these promotion/demotion chance fights occur, it is decided on a point system. The player needs 3 points to be promoted, and -3 points to be demoted. How many points a player gets for a win is calculated as 1/(1 + x), "x" being the difference in ranks between the player and the opponent, meaning that fighting against much stronger opponents will not help the player gain ranks (they will earn more money though).
Examples (+ for a win, - for a loss)
- Master vs Master: 1/(1 + 0) = +/- 1 point
- Master vs Legend: 1/(1 + 3) = +/- 0.25 points
- Master vs 5th Dan: 1/(1 + 3) = +/- 0.25 points (just to show that it applies to lower and higher ranks equally)
- Master vs Tekken Lord: 1/(1 + 8) = +/- 0.111 points
One thing to note is that a promotion chance will occur if winning a fight will bring the player up to 3 points or above, so it is not required to have three points already. The same applies to demotions.
Earning Money[]
The default amount for each fight is 1000G, which is earned if player and AI are of the same rank. If the AI is of a lower rank, no matter how many ranks lower, 200G is subtracted from the default amount. If the AI is of a higher rank, 100G for each rank the AI is higher is added to the default amount. With the last three ranks, however, that default amount is changed to 2000G, though the calculations remain the same.
The actual amount earned in Arcade Mode is 800G-4000G. The amount earned is determined by which level the CPU opponent the player defeated is ranked.
Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection[]
See Also: Tekken 5:DR Ranking
Just like in Tekken 5, Dark Resurrection does have an Arcade Mode, but Story Mode acts as the traditional Arcade Mode. All of the unique bosses are the same as they were in Tekken 5, as is the final boss.
In Arcade Mode, all ranks return from Tekken 5 with the exception of "Conqueror", twelve new ranks have also been added.
Unlockables[]
In the PlayStation 3 version of the game, it is possible to unlock Jinpachi Mishima and Tekken 5 stages for use. Jinpachi Mishima can be unlocked by beating this mode once. Tekken 5 stages can be unlocked by beating this mode with three different characters (three times).
Earning Money[]
In the PlayStation Portable version of Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, the default amount given for a win is 2500G. If an opponent with a higher rank is defeated, the amount increases. If an opponent with a lower rank is defeated, the amount decreases.
In the PlayStation 3 version, Arcade Mode has 9 stages. The Fight Money is determined by the performance in the match under the criteria, Stage Bonus, Time Bonus, Health Bonus, and Special Bonus.
Tekken 6[]
See Also: Tekken 6 Ranking
Tekken 6's Arcade Mode is identical to the arcade version of it, Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion. In this mode, there is an extra stage boss, NANCY-MI847J, and after this extra stage, Jin Kazama is faced as a sub-boss, while Azazel is faced as the final boss afterwards. Players will continue on to face Jin Kazama whether they win or lose against NANCY-MI847J, with the battle only serving to reward bonus Fight Money.
Tekken Tag Tournament 2[]
See Also: Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Ranking
In Tekken Tag Tournament 2's Arcade Mode, there are six randomly selected ghost fights depending on the player's offline rank, and there are three boss fights. In the 7th round, the fighters go against the tag team of Heihachi Mishima and Jinpachi Mishima. After, they face off against True Ogre. Upon winning, they reach the final round against Jun Kazama. Beating Jun will have her change into Unknown, who will serve as the final boss in the second round. After beating all of Arcade Mode, as in previous games, the character's ending is unlocked.
Tekken 7[]
See Also: Tekken 7 Ranking
In Tekken 7, Arcade Mode reverts back to a similar format from the earlier installments. However, the player only faces five opponents. The first three opponents are randomly selected, while stage 4 is Heihachi Mishima in the Mishima Dojo. After defeating Heihachi, either Kazumi Mishima or Akuma will be fought as the final boss in Devil's Pit or Abandoned Temple respectively. If Kazumi is fought, she will change into her devil form after the player wins a round.
To face Akuma, these conditions have to be met:
- Get one perfect round.
- Win the first four fights in three minutes.
- Do not use a continue.
Tekken 8[]
See Also: Tekken 8 Ranking
In Tekken 8, There are eight stages in Arcade Mode. The first seven stages are random opponents, and ghost opponents will appear starting from stage 5. The final stage is Boss Devil Kazuya at Fallen Destiny. Azazel will be the final boss at an alternate variant of Coliseum of Fate if the player gets one perfect round on Hard Mode, True Devil Kazuya if the player gets two perfect rounds, and Angel Jin if the player gets three perfects without losing a round. Both True Devil Kazuya and Angel Jin are fought in Into the Stratosphere. In order to face True Devil Kazuya, Angel Jin, or Azazel, the player must have also already cleared Chapter 14 of Story Mode.
Currently, there is no sub-boss in the Arcade Mode of Tekken 8.