A Faithful Portable Translation of Namco's Arcade Hit
Tekken fans will have no doubt squirted a nostalgic tear back in 2005 with Tekken 5. It did a great job of restoring what made the Tekken series great in the first place with new combos, traditional 2D combat and an impressive array of extras to play and unlock. So it's a real wonder how Namco were able to restore that goodness in a portable version of the game, Tekken Dark Resurrection.
Originally, Dark Resurrection was an update of the original game featuring more customisation options, two new characters and stages and completely remixed visuals and sounds which were much superior to those of the original game. However in the PSP version, which features only half of the storage of a PS2 disc, a lot of that magic is still there.
The visuals, although sacrificed a little due the PSP's limited power, still look absolutely beautiful especially on the sharp and bright TFT screen that it's being played on. Each level is animated lovely with cheering crowds, incoming choppers and dust blowing in the sky. This is only taken a step further by the players own animation which is silky, smooth and response – prime for a fighting game.
To add, the combos and moves are still as compatible with the PSP controls as they were on the Dual Shock 2 controller, minus the rumble of course. There are also new moves to master and different animations in use that are pretty cool and a neat addition from Namco. Of course, I couldn't continue this review either by commenting on the new characters, Lili and Dragunov. Lili is the daughter of a wealthy oil field owner and fights with Arial attacks and speedy combos. Dragunov is a Spetsnaz soldier who fights with strong, slow attacks much unlike Lili.
All the common modes of Tekken have returned, including Arcade, Team Battle and Practice Mode. The character customisation has also returned too but it offers a lot more than it did in Tekken 5 with improved numbers of clothes and accessories to add to your characters and the pricing has been changed to make that fairer. You can earn money to buy these features by battling foes in the Tekken Dojo. In the Tekken Dojo you fight to also increase your rank and skill in the game. Also the endings and other FMV sequences make a return in the Theatre mode which is pretty cool.
There is another mode which is a worthwhile feature in Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection called Attack. Attack features Time Attack and Survival which are now regular features in the Tekken series but it also has Gold Rush, a game where you beat enemies for a period of time to get the highest score. Gold Rush is a decent game to play with friends. Speaking of friends, vs. Battle has been replaced by network where you find fights locally via a battle lobby. You can share your game and data with a friend in Network mode which would more than come in handy if they also have a PSP but don't have Tekken 5 to play with you.
Tekken Dark Resurrection has the ability to go online and submit your high scores as well as download ghost packs to improve your skill via Network mode which is a nice bonus and a first for fighting games of its kind. With gradual play you can unlock bonus games too, namely the famed Tekken Bowl mode which fans of the series will remember dearly from Tekken Tag Tournament. This mode plays much the same on Tekken Dark Resurrection and is just as much fun, if not more, on PSP.
Although there are still a few problems with Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection despite how exciting of a PSP game it is. The biggest disappointment is the inability to play online against someone, which is darn shame seeing as it was the most anticipated feature of the release. Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection is a short game because of this. Once you've finished the game with all characters then there is little else to do. And unlike in Tekken 5, all of the characters are unlocked and ready to play so there is less reason to play through story mode with all the characters.
The problem of lifespan is more amplified too by the fact that Arcade History mode and Devil Within are both missing in the package of Tekken Dark Resurrection, which sucks but perhaps they weren't so important to begin with. Nethertheless they made the game longer and gave gamers better reason to keep playing.
But overall Tekken Dark Resurrection is a highly commendable title for PSP and fans will be pleased to finally have an accurate version of the game to play on the go. On top of that, owners will have the satisfaction that the Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection is completely exclusive to Playstation Portable too.
