Tekken: Dark Resurrection [PSP]

When the original PlayStation launched all those years ago, Tekken was one of the must-have titles. The series made a great showing on the PS2 as well. And now, with Dark Resurrection, Tekken nabs the triple crown. Three systems, and an essential game for each. Tekken on the PSP features simply fantastic graphics, excellent play in a variety of modes, and suffers only minor setbacks from cramped controls. The verdict? A win!

This release is very much an offshoot from Tekken 5, building on that game's character roster and mode collection. (In fact, only a few differences allow this to stand as a unique title, rather than a port of Tekken 5... which would still be fine with us.) The straight-up arcade mode is complemented by practice and team attack options and an ad hoc versus challenge. In every mode, the gameplay feels as balanced as the series at its best, with little of the lopsided matchmaking that plagued games like Dead or Alive 4.

As in Tekken 5, there's also the option to play against and create your own ghost AI. Sure, there's a standard fighting AI, but advanced players won't have much trouble with it. The ghost AI sets included with the game offer slightly different challenges, and you can record your own to play against. Additionally, your ghost AI can be shared online. It's an indirect form of online play, but it works well, so we'll take it.

The 30-character roster looks incredible from one to the next, and you'll be able to check out each character model right off the bat, since they're all unlocked from moment one. The degree of detail Namco has crammed into this game is tremendous; this is one of the best looking PSP titles we've seen. Only the slightly less impressive backgrounds prove that this is not a pure miniaturized PS2 game.

The controls do suffer slightly from the PSP hardware. The size and positioning of the d-pad makes it less than ideal for inputting combos, especially when the time comes to nail a diagonal or perfect quarter-circle sweep. That aside, the performance and response are excellent.

We're willing to suffer through the dodgy d-pad issues to get to the gameplay. There's no fighter on the system that even vaguely competes. Sure, Street Fighter was nice to have, but this feels like it belongs on the PSP, while Capcom's game never escaped the feeling of "port." Tekken: Dark Resurrection is the first fighter that feels like it belongs on the PSP, and we hope there are more to come.