"...Guaranteed to become an instant classic." by Mike Chasselwaite

July 27, 2006 - Fighting fans don't have to hold their breath any longer. A sigh of relief will follow the acquisition of Tekken: Dark Resurrection for the PSP, which is virtually guaranteed to become an instant classic. It's fast, furious, fun and fantastically florid and flagitious. (My dollar-store thesaurus only contains words that start with F. I wondered why it was so thin.)

Tekken: Dark Resurrection is a great fighting game. There is so much to do in this game it's almost ridiculous, and you don't have to be a hardcore fighter to play the damn thing. There's a tutorial that will explain just about everything that you need to know. From there it's up to you. There's no doubt the game will require practice and patience, but it will really pay off in fun dividends if you invest the time. To that end there is a Practice mode where you can spend as much time as you like taking on different fighters and applying various fighting techniques.

There are more than 30 fighters in the game and even the most experienced of gamers will find a challenge whether it's in the single-player, two-player verses mode or collection of mini-games. This is not a typical button masher. To be a consistent winner requires finesse, timing, reflexes and strategy. Regardless of your skill level you will always be able to find a fighter at your level - or beyond.

In my humble opinion, I have to tell you that I believe that Tekken: Resurrection is a superior game to Tekken 5 for the PS2 - in virtually all areas. Only the controls are questionable. Wait a second, they aren't questionable, they almost suck. Almost. This time the problem isn't with the nub, it's with the D-pad. It's so sensitive that it's very difficult at first to access the exact angle. Of course I'm talking about diagonals. I'm here to tell you that while it's extremely frustrating, and you might even begin to think you've made a mistake buying or renting this game, just keep at it. It will eventually become second nature to you.

Tekken: Dark Resurrection is a near perfect port of the arcade version which was created almost as an expansion pack to Tekken 5. While the gameplay remains unchanged, (hey it's a fighter), there are new levels, new moves, new characters, new backgrounds, new tunes, new modes, new interfaces, lot of customizing options and tons of other unlockable goodies. It's virtually an entirely new game. The gameplay mechanics are very well tuned with responsive controls and smooth animation, even in the ad hock multi-player mode. No unfortunately there are no playable online modes, though there are some things you can do online which I'll discuss later. The framerate is quick, and it even outpaces the processing capabilities of the PSP at times resulting in what looks like bad edits in a homemade movie. There is some aliasing but overall the game looks brilliant with incredibly well detailed environments and well-rendered characters.

The cast of characters is an eclectic bunch. There are cops, bikers, chicks, cyborgs, aliens, samurais, animals and monsters. All of the fighting is head-to-head, marital arts style. Different characters have different moves and abilities which can take some time to learn. A lot of the standard moves are mapped to the same buttons so you don't have to learn an entire move set for each character but you do have to take into account his or her overall agility, resilience and special powers. The customizing options are incredible, so if you invest enough time into each character you can really make them unique. You can change their hairstyles, wardrobe, accessories and even screw around with their names. There are cutscenes that feature back history on all of the characters. There is plenty of tongue-in-cheek humor to be enjoyed but despite all of the dialog the characters never show any depth or nuance of personality - exactly like real-life fighters.

Mini-games include Bowling and Gold Rush in which you can earn a lot of money to use to unlock more goodies. The Dojo mode lets you fight characters of varying levels just to test your skills and see if you can earn more money and upgrades faster. There are no online modes but you can upload and download ghost fighters. These are recordings of single-player fighters that simulate your, or another player's, fighting style and assimilates it into the single-player mode so that it can be played against. It's the closest that you'll come to a playable online mode. You can also post your scores online on the leaderboard which has various categories that you can aspire to dominate.

Tekken: Dark Resurrection is a great fighting game to have on hand. With the various modes such as Quick Match and a game-sharing two-player mode, you'll always be prepared for an instant challenge. You may not even scratch the surface with a rental but keep in mind that the more you play this game the more secrets will be revealed.

Features:

• STUNNING GRAPHICS: The beauty of TEKKEN is re-created on the handheld console, delivering one of the most realistic graphics on a handheld platform. A variety of destructible objects pump up the action on 19 stages!
  
• VARIETY OF CHARACTERS: Play as one of over 30 characters, including classics Jin, Heihachi, Paul, Law and more. New characters Lili and Dragunov join the classic cast with all-new fight styles and moves. Collecting victories to lead your character to become king rewards you with ending movies for each character!
  
• CUSTOMIZABLE CHARACTERS: Use your fight money to customize your characters with more than double the items seen in TEKKEN5, the sky's the limit on the unique look your character will have!
  
• AD-HOC MULTIPLAYER BATTLES! Using Wi-Fi connectivity of the PSP platform, you can battle against your friends take your customized, original character against theirs and let the battle unfold!
  
• BONUS MINI-GAMES: Mini-games provide a little breather from heart-pumping fighting action for more fun against friends!
  

By Mike Chasselwaite
CCC Freelance Writer

Rating out of 5 Tekken: Dark Resurrection (PSP) 4.7 Graphics This is one seriously good-looking game. It's colorful in a way that would make a cartoon envious, and it's just jammed with environmental detail. 4.0 Control It will take a few hours to come to grips with the D-pad but if you spend the time you'll reap the rewards. 4.4 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting The music, sound effects and dialog are virtually all new. 5.0 Play Value Lots to see, do, punch, kick and throw. A perfect game for the PSP. It's got tons of depth, excellent controls and is always ready for a fight. 4.5 Overall Rating - Great Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Namco readies their arcade expansion for the PSP and it's looking hot. by Vaughn Smith

April 28, 2006 - If you haven't stepped foot into an arcade lately, for shame. You think that those consoles you have at home are good enough? Okay, you may have a point, but don't you secretly wish that playing your Xbox 360 required a big fat handful of tokens which you'd receive from the hungover, overweight zombie at the snackbar? Now that's the arcade experience at home! Don't forget about the B.O. and urine stench!

Speaking of the arcade experience at home, thanks to the PSP and it's robust architecture, you can now bring the arcade into your home and then take it right back out on the streets...where it belongs. Namco is porting their Tekken 5 expansion to the PSP and it's looking dynamite. Hot stuff. If you've longed for the days of playing a kick ass fighting game on the go, Namco has got you covered.

Dark Resurrection will feature an assortment of modes that would make the PS2 proud, so prepare for a fighting game experience which will keep you busy for quite awhile. Gamers can try their hands at the following: Arcade is your standard "fight throw an assortment of opponents to reach the boss battle" which we're all familiar with, Quick Play offers instant fighting gratification against the games AI, Story Mode will take you through numerous matches that culiminates with a CGI ending sequence, Network is an all new mode made exclusively for the PSP which will utilize the Wi-Fi capabilities for ad hoc battles against a formidable Player 2, Tekken Dojo is the games practice mode, Attack Mode is a refangled Survival mode which combines the flavors of time attack and survival for an all out fight to the finish, and finally there is Theater Mode which will allow you view all of the games various movies. There is also talk of adding previous mini-games found in the console versions of Tekken. Above and beyond that, Namco is even tossing in the ability to upload ghost data of your coolest fights.

Control has always been one of Tekken's finest points - along with its usual benchmark setting visuals - and we're confident the PSP will do an impressive job in this department. Heck, Tekken Advance on the GBA was actually pretty decent, so we're not too worried.

Visually the game is jaw-droppingly impressive - we were under the impression when we first received the screens that the game was on the PS2. Nope. This is the PSP working overtime to bring you arcade-quality graphics. Of course the arcade version is obviously superior but nevertheless, what we're seeing is definitely the next gen in terms of PSP graphics.

We'll play with this little bundle of fists and feet at E3. So stay tuned for an update during the show!

By Vaughn Smith
CCC Site Director