Tekken: Dark Resurrection
Beat people up on the subway, and not get arrested for it.
Preview by Aaron Drewniak (Email)
May 14th 2006
The Basics: It might have been enough to port Tekken 5 to the PSP to create the first solid 3D fighting game on the go, but Namco decided to bring over the arcade upgrade Dark Resurrection that features two new characters, and plenty of new items to customize the whole roster. They've also included all the bonus features from the PS2 version of T5, an additional story mode to cover the new characters, and ad-hoc multiplayer for taking on your friends. If that wasn't enough, you can upload your customized characters in the form of "ghosts" that will even mimic your playing style, for people all over the world to download and challenge.
What we think: I assumed some sacrifices would have to be made somewhere to cram Tekken 5 onto the PSP, but aside from some very minor graphical downgrades that only really show up in screenshots, it looks and plays with the same fluidity of the PS2 counterpart. The new characters, Lili and Dragunov, are already some of my favorites after only a relatively short hands-on experience. Lili is all about grace and elegance as she stomps your face into the floor, while Dragunov is precision backed by overwhelming power. None of the bonus features or customization was available in the demo, but I don't expect they'll have any trouble with it.
Personally, I would have rather seen DR appear on the PS2 or maybe even the Xbox 360, but it does fill a niche that's been sorely lacking in the handheld arena, and ends up controlling better than any 2D fighter ported to the PSP. Only infrastructure is needed to make it ideal.
