Why do people from different walks of life somehow intertwine and all fight in the King of the Iron Fist Tournament? That is a very good question but it doesn't really matter because Tekken: Dark Resurrection is just that good.

There are few fighting franchises left these days, post 16-bit system world, but the ones that have remained have always sparked fanboy love from the Guilty Gear crowd all the way to Virtua Fighter crowd. Forums will occasionally light up with flames about how Tekken has lost its shine or that Tekken lost its sense of strategy but Tekken: Dark Resurrection should douse those flames with a heavy dose of a solid gaming experience.

Features

Over 30 fighters to choose from

Multiplayer support

Stunning graphics

Gameplay
Ah, the fighting genre, usually a combination of a fluff story and loads of action. Tekken: DR tries to remedy the problems but it isn't any different than any other fighting game. Basically, you choose one of the myriad of characters with a reason to fight, and go on a series of bouts with other fighters. All of them lead to the same end boss destination to be the tournament winner. After the series of battles, you get a nice movie to tie up the loose ends of your character's story. That is the bread and butter of the Tekken: DR experience.

If that sounds too repetitive for your tastes, there are a slew of other options to keep you coming back for more. For beginners, there is a handy tutorial in the beginning to teach about the basic control mechanics. Even if you are not a beginner, taking the tutorial is recommended because of some of the control issues that will be discussed later on. For more action, there are other modes such as time attack, survival, network battles (where you can “game share” and use only one UMD), and Tekken Dojo, just to name a few.

All these modes are sure to keep fans of the series and anyone who likes a good fighting game to come back for months to come. Bonus games are a nice diversion from the normal beat-em-up gameplay that tends to become redundant no matter how great of a fighting game is. The ability to change the look of your favorite pugilists is also included in Tekken: DR, for a price. After successful fights, your profile accumulates points. These points can be spent on costume options for all your characters; there isn't a benefit for doing this other than vanity.

To keep the competition fierce, players can submit their scores to the online ranking system to see how they stack up with other players from around the world. Namco also added a downloadable content section where in the future, potentially, new characters or stages can be found. Right now, there are a few wallpapers for you PSP to show your Tekken: DR love. Network battle is where you LAN two PSPs for multiplayer fights. Sadly, there is no way to play over the internet.