Tekken: Dark Resurrection

Rating ESRB: Teen Genre action Publisher Namco External Links Official Tekken: Dark Resurrection Website Official Namco Website

Tekken may not have been the first 3D fighter to make its mark (that would be Virtua Fighter), but it was certainly the most popular one. As the PlayStation ran away with the 32-bit generation, so did its flagship fighter. Tekken was good, and Tekken 2 was great - but Tekken 3 was brilliant. It remained the high point of the series even as sequels tried to change things up a bit. Tekken Tag Tournament was a fun diversion, and Tekken 4 failed to deliver the same kind of impact as its numbered predecessor.

So what's a large gaming publisher to do? Go back to basics, as they did with the 2005 release of Tekken 5. Sure, it was largely a visually upgraded version of Tekken 3, but that was certainly enough to get people excited again. To enhance the return on their investment, Namco Bandai reissued the game in arcades with additional characters and visual upgrades, and now that game is available on the PSP as Tekken: Dark Resurrection. The result: Namco Bandai have finally answered the nagging question that has lingered since the introduction of the handheld - where are all the great fighting games?

The success of a 3D fighter often relies on the strength of the graphics engine, and Dark Resurrection is luckily no slouch. The game runs at a fluid clip (60fps) and never lets up, even on the more elaborate settings. It looks like a PlayStation 2 game, aside from the little issues that come with the small screen (jaggies, some rough textures). The series has always been known for its great CG movies, and the move to the PSP has not prohibited the continuation of this tradition. A lengthy intro can be viewed from the menu screen, and each character has an ending movie that either concludes or extends his or her respective storyline.

Nearly every character returns from the previous games, along with a few new ones (for a total of 35+ fighters). Some thirty-five stages are also present, many with visual upgrades over the original versions. Think of Dark Resurrection as the ultimate collection; almost like Mortal Kombat Trilogy, without all that Mortal Kombat nonsense. The fighting is as explosive as ever, and the controls work much better than expected. Some PSP games have been handicapped by the design of the d-pad (and the shortage of buttons), but the customizable control scheme present in Dark Resurrection does nearly everything expected of it.

The amount of content packed into the game disc is simply staggering. Story Battle pits your character against a set amount of fighters and rewards your tenacity with an ending cinema, while Quick Battle lets you fight an endless queue of enemies until you fingers bleed (and perhaps beyond). Arcade Battle is also present, as are the requisite Time Attack and Survival modes. Tekken Dojo mode has your character traveling across the land, defeating A.I. characters at each and every dojo until you are the true master.

A small amount of gold is awarded at the completion of each battle in Dark Resurrection, and the accumulated gold can be spent buying items to customize a character of your choice. A couple of bonus games can be unlocked as well; Command Attack challenges you to input move combinations as quickly as possible, but Tekken Bowl is the real draw. Sure, it may not be the best handheld bowling mini-game in recent history (that award goes to Monkey Bowling in Super Monkey Ball Jr. for the Game Boy Advance), but it is still terribly addicting, and is just another way that the game extends the experience.

My only major complaint is the lack of online play via the infrastructure mode. Sure, you and a buddy can connect Ad Hoc, but the only thing you can do with your wireless network is download goodies (ghost fighters, exciting). Hey, developers of the world: embrace portable online brawling. We all want it, and I doubt it is an impossible task. The only other issue here is that the game isn't a huge step forward for the franchise, but the change of scenery makes that point moot. Tekken: Dark Resurrection is hands-down the best fighting game available on any handheld gaming platform. It has everything you love about Tekken, minus all those pesky quarters and/or console systems.