Review Summary: No flashy theatrics, no breathing room, just an hour and a quarter of the most lethal, relentless electronica ever applied to a videogame.
Tekken 3's soundtrack encompasses the very essence of what made the ground quake when the game was initially released. Whereas the game itself was a success by significantly expanding upon every aspect of its predecessors, as well as introducing a slew of new features, its music appropriately follows suit. The overall attitude and direction that the OST takes itself in could not be further removed from the often-times cheesy and disproportionately theatrical styles of the previous two efforts. Yet at the same time, it builds on the foundations of the previous games' eclectic instrumentation and themes, as well as the idea to provide enough amounts of catchiness to give the players something to groove to.
Heavily influenced by the then-ongoing big beat revolution of the mid-to-late-90's,
Tekken 3's OST offers up over 20 tracks of electronica-based stage theme songs, all of which are allocated to a particular character in the game's roster. Featuring some ridiculously hard-hitting hooks, an abundance of industrial-tinged guitar licks, more complex drum patterns, and a number of sleak synths, one would not be faulted for mistaking the OST for a legitimate dance album plucked straight out of the aforementioned rave scene if they didn't know any better. It's amazing how intricately produced some of the tracks are, especially when you compare them to the generally simplistic compositions found on the previous game. Almost every track resonates in one way or another after they have finished, whether it be due to the sheer intensity, pace or funky nature. Furthermore, no character is spared a multi-layered track regardless of their importance or detraction from the game's evidently darker tone (e.g: a tiny dinosaur, a panda, and an inanimate ragdoll made of tree bark).
As a result of the absence of tracks which represent the cutscenes to each character's ending, which acted as segues to each track in the previous game, the OST rarely gives the listener time to breathe over the course of its hour and a quarter runtime, constantly throwing track after track of infectious beats in your face. While this does admittedly result in some fatigue towards the climax, it never bores, and there really is something interesting to pick out of each character's distinct theme that reflects off of their persona and the landscape that their fights take place in. Although in saying that, a few songs simply don't suit their respective fighter, such as the all-American rugged biker Paul Phoenix, whose stage is a run-down back alley, being given a track loaded with synths that border on anthematic and sliced-up drum patterns, but no expected heavy guitars like many other songs feature, or the ninja Yoshimitsu, whose stage is a dark forest, backed by a bunch of big baselines and acidic synths, despite there being more than enough room to fit in some tribal or atmospheric instrumentation.
None of this halts
Tekken 3 from having some of the most substantial and well-produced videogame music to ever come about before the majority of game soundtracks had budgets big enough to be backed by choirs.
Tekken 3 was truly a game of new beginnings, with all of its features becoming the threshold of quality for all of its successors and their peers in the years following, its soundtrack not withstanding. Above all else, however, the OST encompassed the game's ability to adapt to new trends in its genre, and go above and beyond to put itself over the more established franchises. The game launched its series into worldwide recognition, and what better soundtrack to help compliment this success but one that would take familiar audiences completely off-guard.
