You wa Suck!
I'll admit that I'm not overly familiar with Hokuto no Ken. I know the basics, though, from the few episodes that I've seen, from the other games I've played, from the live action film, reading the prequel manga, and just simply from the pop culture effect.
What I do know, is that Hokuto no Ken is amazingly badass. Bruce Lee worship, exploding enemies, massively tense showdowns... all of which are null from this game.
I don't know a darn thing about the Raoh Gaiden spinoff manga/anime, so maybe this game is totally in line with the source material. However, this does not change that the game is amazingly dull.
To be fair, the character models are sharp and crisp, cel-shaded to look like they popped right out of the manga. The backgrounds, however, are dull and muddy. Everything else falls victim to being just plain uninspired. Nothing in the game reflects the 'cool' factor that people think of when they think of Hokuto no Ken.
Gameplay eschews the standard fighting game setup and sticks with a 3D version of Smash Bros. Triangle jumps, Square blocks, and Cross and Circle attack. L and R, used individually, modify standard attacks into special ones. Pressing them both together with Circle or Cross perform super moves (Level 1 for Circle and Level 3 for Cross). Unfortunately none of these moves are visually appealing - even finishing your opponent with a Level 3 super is about as exciting as ending the match with a single punch.
Overall, the game could have flown as cutting edge back in PlayStation 2's infancy, but as a release on PSP in 2009 when there are already much better fighters available, it is absolutely abysmal. Thankfully, I paid $20 for a used copy rather than the $50-60 new copies are going for on eBay, but even at that price, I feel I got massively ripped off. Unless you are a hardcore Hokuto fan that has to have every piece of merchandise, save your pennies.