Tekken: Dark Resurrection

Is this the PSP's beat em up to beat em all?

When it comes to beat em ups, none quite do it like Tekken. Since the first in the series Namco have delivered hit after hit with each sequel. Now PSP owners can rejoice because the Tekken series has landed and it looks great!

If it’s something that the PSP has been lacking, it’s been a decent beat em up title. Street Fighter Alpha 3 came close but was still lacking something. Tekken Dark Resurrection has that something and so much more.

Back are all your favourite characters from past Tekken versions akin to what Tekken Tag was like for PS2 owners. However a couple of surprises await all owners of this game. Making their debut are Lili and Dragonuv. Lili enters the tournament in the hope to find a good fight after getting a taste for battle four years prior to the event. Dragonuv however is from an Elite special forces squad is investigating the remains of an object. Both have brand new endings and are fitted in nicely to the Tekken story.

Those expecting a continuation of the storyline may be a bit let down. Dark Resurrection is basically the same timeline as Tekken 5. This isn’t a bad thing however as the game will include story lines for every single character that’s new to this timeline.

The graphics are nothing short of stunning. The CG endings are there and they all look wonderful. On a downer, the textures are quite visually lacking, but considering that you’re playing on a PSP this can be overlooked. The only real draw back is some minor ghosting which doesn’t really affect gameplay.

Moves are just as responsive as their PS2 counterpart. This makes pulling off those 15 hit combos just as easy as they’ve previously been. In fact nearly everything from Tekken 5 can be found in this version, right down to Tekken Bowl.

The game truly shines when it comes to wireless play. Playing with a friend over wireless ad-hoc is flawless. No lag and completely smooth. Also included is the option to hop online to download extra content, including other peoples saved ghosts so you can see first hand how to pull off devastating combos.

Simply said Dark Resurrection should belong on every PSP owners handheld. It’s polished, fun and addictive. There’s so many hours of gameplay you wonder how they were able to fit it on a tiny UMD disc. Go treat yourself to an early Christmas present and get this game. Two thumbs up.