Tekken 8 review: This brilliantly barmy game really hits the mark, writes PETER HOSKIN

Tekken 8 (PlayStation, Xbox, PC, £64.99)

Verdict: Punch… with feeling

It's been a while since Tekken 7. Nine years in fact. Long enough to forget how brilliantly barmy this series is.

But now, after Tekken 8, I'll never forget it. From the cinematic opening scene to the closing scenes of the story mode, this is a game that turns mercy up to 11.

Everything explodes. Everyone has a huge haircut. Many demonic pacts are made. And the best way this world knows to resolve its many disagreements is… a fighting tournament.

It's gloriously maximalist, but is it actually enough? After all, last year saw the release of what is probably the best fighting game of all time, Street Fighter 6, along with perhaps the runner-up, Mortal Kombat 1. All fighters who enter this arena have a lot to prove.

Fortunately, Tekken 8 is able to take on its competitors, in part because it has learned some of their moves.

This is a game that turns mercy up to 11

Fortunately, Tekken 8 is able to take on its competitors, in part because it has learned some of their moves

There's a wonderful 'arcade' mode straight out of SF6 where you take on a cartoonish personality and get to grips with learning Tekken's arcane operating system. It's more welcoming than the series has ever been before.

But Tekken 8 also stands out – and not just because it brings mercy. In other fighting games, the story feels like a secondary concern, a way to prepare you for the real business of online scraps against other people.

Here it's almost the other way around: Tekken actually cares about its cast of weirdos, its Kazuyas and Kazamas, and their long-standing rivalry.

And so, in the end, I also cared about who I hit and why. If that's not a heartwarming result, what is?

Another code: Recollection (Nintendo Switch, £49.99)

Verdict: good memories

Breezy, that's the word that kept coming to mind while playing Another Code: Recollection – and not just because half of it takes place on a windswept island and the other half on a presumably quite windy lakeshore.

No, this remake and reunion of two games released over a decade ago on old Nintendo consoles (2005's Another Code: Two Memories and its 2009 sequel Another Code R: Journey Into Lost Memories) is just… light-hearted.

I spent about ten hours browsing through it in a few lucky sittings. It's a frictionless ride.

This is partly due to the way the remake was made. Nearly everything about the original games, from the graphics to the mechanics, has been improved from the ground up.

Instead of struggling with outdated gameplay, you'll marvel at how modern it all feels.

Instead of struggling with outdated gameplay, you'll marvel at how modern it all feels

It's simple compared to other more recent narrative games, but certainly compelling enough to keep you moving forward

The story helps too. Here, spanning both parts of Another Code: Recollection, you'll find the story of a teenager's forgotten past, with a dash of Christie-esque murder mystery and a dash of the supernatural.

It's simple compared to other more recent narrative games, like the Life Is Strange series, but certainly compelling enough to keep you moving forward.

However, not all levity is welcome. As you help that teen, Ashley, with her own story, you often encounter puzzles that are so simple as to be unsatisfying.

Even gamers Ashley's age or younger would probably prefer a bit more of a challenge.

Still, on the whole this is a welcome – and well-executed – feat of restoration. Without another code: memory, some good things might have blown in the wind.