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Review : Tekken : Dark Resurrection for Playstation Portable
Namco's Tekken : Dark Resurrection is a well done version of the 3d martial-arts tournament game Tekken 5 with some significant updates all crammed onto a small UMD disc. This game is actually a version of an upgraded arcade game but since the American arcade industry is a wretched shadow of what it once was this particular game was not seen in the US until now.
The basis of the game is a simple one. There are over thirty completely bad ass fighters trying to kick the stuffing out of each other. The plethora of fighters would make a doorman at a sci-fi convention blush. There is a panda, cheetah masked Mexican wrestler, plenty of cute girls in revealing outfits, ninja cyborgs, a Bruce Lee rip-off, a Jackie Chan rip-off, a demon, dinosaurs, kangaroo, a sumo wrestler and lots of guys from every kind of martial art. It is not the most serious game but it can be fun.
The controls are easy to pick up with four buttons signaling an attack from four limbs. The timing of your attacks play a more important role than just memorizing special moves. Just block, dodge and punch the hell out of the other guy before they can do it to you. It is pretty easy to pick up but the fast and furious action keeps you interested by stimulating our innate fascination with fighting.
The graphics are slick and impressive for a handheld game and all the smooth animation and interesting backgrounds are there. The time that it takes to load each arena and fighter is surprisingly easy to wait for and the game seems to pass through your cerebral cortex without having to go through a long wait that would harsh the rush.
Namco put in lots of combinations of tournaments and modes of play as they could as well as Tekken Bowling. This is a simple bowling game with the fighters knocking down gold trophies and lots of bikini glad girls dancing around the lane to a Eurodisco beat. Also there is a strangely fascinating mode where you can exchange points won from a match with different clothes and accessories for each fighter. You can dress the billionaire heiress a new cellphone or dress her up like a pale skinned mall goth. Rather than fighting to advance the weak plot I found myself trying to save up enough points to buy outfits. Violence + Consumerism = Fun !
The best part of a martial arts game is the two player versus mode where you can sit down and have a beer with a friend while engaging in a shared fantasy of a fight by simply pressing buttons and talking trash. There is a wireless networking mode where two PSP clad nerds can share the same copy of the game easily over the unseen ether between them. It is a crying shame that there is only support for in the same room wireless fighting because over the internet fighting would be just perfect for the many live alone gamers of Washington.
The Tekken blend of Japanese arcade game fighting and quick graphics have made it one of the most popular and well regarded martial arts games. This game brings a well needed genre to the PSP.
Jake at September 5, 2006 
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Cool, I've been looking for an excuse to buy a new PSP to replace my old one. Maybe once the price drops I can pick one up with a few pre-owned titles... including this.
Posted by: James @ HoHoCognitive at September 6, 2006 10:06 AM
