Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection is easily the PSP's crowning jewel and also the perfect reason for getting a PSP!!
Now THIS is a review where I can finally live up to my namesake as Tekkenfb368 because I'am a huge, huge Tekken fan! So Dark Resurrection is essentially an upgrade of Tekken 5 bringing in some new characters, new customizable content and new stages. So now the Arcade game is ported to the PSP, so now is it worth keeping? Yes it is! Now let me tell you why..
The controls don't suffer the lack the buttons unlike Street Fighter II for the GBA. You use the directional pad for moving, the triangle button for left punch, the square button for right punch, the circle button for right kicking and the X button for left kicking. The controls are relatively fine but the PSP's lack of intrusion makes pulling off diagonal moves very difficult. So if you played the PS2 Tekken games, you might wanna take an hour to get used to the PSP's control pad. Overall, good but flawed controls.
The Graphics look absolutely stunning! Everything from the character models to the backgrounds look incredible! However I will say that some of the pixels can look a bit ugly especially when you look at them close up. However, the graphics look like something of the PS2 version or maybe the Arcade version to some extent and that's a good thing.
The gameplay however is where Tekken truly shines and Dark Resurrection is no exception! You have 4 buttons each corresponding to a limb unlike the typical strength system set up in Capcom or SNK fighting games. Unlike those games, Tekken goes for a more realistic approach with slower gameplay than the otherwise crazy versus games from Capcom. The 4 button setup in Tekken make it simple to anyone first playing. BUT, if you mix in a truckload of throws, sidesteps, interrupts, counters, combos and launchers and you'll why Tekken has a ridiculous amount of depth. There are two new characters to the roster and they are: Armour King (not really a newcomer but he returns after his apparent demise in Tekken 4), Lili Rochefort (a rich girl from Monaco with a passion for fighting) and the Russian powerhouse Sergei Dragunov. All of these fighters make sense to the Tekken universe and seem to fit in with the rest of the cast. Another thing is that the stages have changed so drastically so it's like a re-invented version of Tekken 5's stages. The music has also been revamped but I'll get to that later. The Arcade mode and Dojo modes are there if you wanna increase your rank and be the best (personally I think it's a cool idea and I want it to be a staple of the Tekken series from now on). The short lived story mode is there and present and you can upload your ghost battles anywhere around the Globe! If you get tired from the constant fights, there are always some bonus content to prevent you from getting bored. There is the Tekken bowling mode (my fav) in which you go bowling with the Tekken characters. And there the command attack mode which I don't like much simply because I can't pull off the 10 hit combo strings. So if you Tekken experts want to call me a N00B, that's fine. There is also some custom character option in which you can mess around with your character's outfits and put new accessories on them. Ever want to see Asuka have bookworm glasses or would you want Xiaoyu to look like Chun Li from Street Fighter? Overall, fantastic gameplay and the transition to the PSP is amazing!
The soundtrack has been replaced here with less memorable music than it's PS2 counterpart (with the exception of Devil Jin's new home stage theme: Snow Castle) but it's good enough to keep you pumped while you put the hours in crushing your opponents bones with your bare hands. The SFX are largely unchanged as a little bit of a nostalgia treat. As always since Tekken 4, the voice acting is excellent with known seiyu's such as Gori Daisuke (he passed away sadly), Chiba Ishin , Morikawa Toshiyuki etc. Overall the sound like in past Tekken games is very well done!
The Downsides I found were: the PSP's d-pad is a bit stiff and that means expert Tekken players who are new to the PSP's control scheme will find themeselves a wee bit displeased because of the difficulty of pulling of the dratted diagonals. Also the Devil Within mode from Tekken 5 is missing! I mean come on Namco! Devil Within would've been an awesome addition to a piece of handheld hardware that can handle a lot more than the PS2 can!! Ahh well, strategy guide and then verdict time!
For those into Tekken for the first time, I'd recommended a Mishima style character because they are offensive juggernauts and their moves are easy to do. Jin is the easiest to learn because his simple to execute moves tend to leave for some good juggle strings. Heihachi is also a beginner type character due to his powerful moves and ridiculous juggles with the Wind god fist move. Paul is also easy to learn due his high damage and his Ryu and Ken esique quarter circle movements. Here's a tip on how to defeat Jinpachi (game's final boss). Jinpachi is susceptible to juggle strings and high damage moves. He's also vulnerable to Okizeme (keeping the opponent on the ground and never letting up) tactics. With practice, Jinpachi is not hard to beat at all; at least compared to king cheap (Azazel).
Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection is simply awesome! It's the best PSP game money can buy and I highly recommend this game. If you are a fighting fanatic, this is worth getting along with the portable version of Tekken 6 (which I haven't owned yet)! Let's review the facts shall we?
The Good: 35 characters from the get go, easy to get to grips with, nostalgic SFX, voice acting is solid, music is nice, the stages look nicely made, the graphics look awesome, great challenge, lots of depth, wealth of modes, Tekken bowling is a nice feature since Tekken TAG, new characters fit in the Tekken universe, very balanced brawler overall!
The Bad: The Control pad can be a little tricky to deal with at first, no devil within mode? Really?!
The Ugly: No ugly points here!
Title: This game is destined to be supremely perfect!!