The power of Tekken appears to be going strong into 2012, between the forthcoming Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Capcom's Street Fighter x Tekken, and now with Tekken 3D Prime Edition for Nintendo 3DS.  Namco has announced an official release date for the game, as well as some bonuses that'll be packed in with it.

Tekken 3D Prime Edition is set to debut on February 14th -- yes, Valentine's Day -- on Nintendo's handheld platform, complete with 60 frames per second animation (even in 3D) and 40 characters to choose from, including longtime favorites like Paul Phoenix, King and Nina Williams.  Furthermore, it'll also include a new training mode to try out your combos on, as well as Tekken Cards that you can trade with your friends following battles.  (The game fully supports Wi-Fi fighting, so you can head into the lobby and challenge all comers.)

What's more, Namco has promised the inclusion of one more extra, which was previously available exclusively to PS3 owners as part of the Tekken Hybrid package.  The extra is the animated Tekken: Blood Vengeance movie, which is a CG-animated tale that ties in with the fighting series' ongoing story.  It will be shown in 3D, though viewers can easily turn the option off using the game system's slider.

It sounds like a great package, but the question is if fans will still accept the game.  After all, Tekken isn't as deep a fighting experience as, say, Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, which is still undoubtedly one of the platform's most popular games.  But with all its included options and a bevy of fighters, we're sure it'll do pretty well in sales...and pave the way for better Tekken experiences to come in the upcoming year.

About the Author

Robert Workman

Senior Writer/Editor

Robert has years of experience in the video game industry, writing for such sites as AOL GameDaily, PlanetXbox360 and Comic Book Resources.  He can also outdrink you any day of the week.  And twice on Sunday.  Follow him at www.twitter.com/thedcd.