Tekken: Dark Resurrection

Let’s get this out of the way, first: I have owned a PSP since the day it was released, and I am not a big fan of it. Verily, you could say that I think it “sucks”. Regardless of what the insane executives at Sony have to say about its immaculate design, the machine is ill-conceived and feature-incomplete, which is par for the course for Sony. I don’t get much use out of mine.

That said, Tekken: Dark Resurrection (released this past Wednesday) is absolutely fantastic. It’s so good, in fact, that I simply cannot comprehend why the hell Namco chose to release it on a portable instead of a proper console. Your level of dissatisfaction with the PSP’s craptastic directional pad will vary based on how devoted a player of fighting games you are (for the record, I buy my game consoles with two arcade sticks, minimum, because I can’t stand playing fighting games on game pads). For me, it is an affront to the human thumb. This problem is mitigated greatly by the free d-pad cover that EB threw in with the game, and has made the experience much more tolerable. There is still the problem of the tiny, cramped buttons (a fault of game pads in general, and not the PSP), but that one is easier to overcome.

Despite the inadequacies of the PSP platform, the port of Dark Resurrection is brilliantly executed. The gameplay is spot on, and no concessions have been made as in past portable Tekkens. It is extremely enjoyable, and I dare say the best PSP game I’ve experienced to date.  If you have a PSP already (I’m not about to recommend buying one) and are any kind of fighting game fan, then you are doing yourself a disservice by not buying this game.