Tekken Dark Resurrection Knocks Out the Competition

User Rating: 9.4 | Tekken: Dark Resurrection PSP
Over the past ten years, Tekken has distinguished itself as one of the premiere 3-D console fighting games in the industry. Combining amazing graphics with a host of colorful characters the series has done everything its publisher, Namco, had ever dreamed. Well, everything except making a solid portable version. As a result, gamers often wondered when the day would come when they could play the game on the go the same way they played it at home.

Fortunately for them, Tekken Dark Resurrection for the PSP is not only the best fighting game on the PSP to date, its chock full of all the extra modes that Tekken fans love. Some may even say that Tekken Dark Resurrection is a step above the PS2 classic Tekken 5.

The reason for that is simple: Tekken Dark Resurrection not only features all of your favorite characters and modes from the previous games, it also sports two new characters exclusive to the game, Lili and Dragunov and marks the return of both Armor King and the Tekken Bowling game mode, a cult hit amongst Tekken fans, to the series. In doing so, Namco has managed to bring its stalwart fighting franchise to the PSP with absolutely no bumps along the way.

If having extra characters and modes wasn’t enough, the game’s graphics are easily the best on the PSP so far and are on par with the great presentation the series has had on the PS2. In addition, the game also supports online play and even has a new ghosting system, which enables players to download each others profiles and play against one another when offline. While this option won’t be used nearly as much as the character editor or Tekken bowling, it is a great alternative for hardcore Tekken fans that don’t feel like playing against the A.I. all the time.

Given all of these great gameplay modes and the fantastic graphical engine being used in the game, one would expect the game to load like an old dinosaur. However, despite having all of this content, Namco has managed to create a game that loads very quickly, making it a great game on the go and an even better title for gamers who can only squeeze in a few rounds a day.

In the end, Tekken Dark Resurrection is almost too good to be true; it has great graphics, controls like a dream and does everything short of clamping your hands to the system in order to keep you playing, offering you various gameplay modes and options to keep you busy. Simply put, games like Tekken Dark Resurrection only come around once every few years and is a must own for any fan of the series or fighting game fanatic.