Is the french perfect tense the past tense?

It is a type of past tense. There are 3 past tenses in French: le passé composé (perfect tense), l'imparfait and le passé simple. Le passé simple is no longer used a part from in literary works and the other two are the most common, with different uses based on the context and the meaning you wish to convey.

In short, yes. The perfect tense is one of the French past tenses.