Namco has always been good to its fans. If you like games in the Tales series, you've got them on pretty much every major gaming platform. If you like Ace Combat or arcade titles, Namco has you covered on all fronts. But Namco has also slipped up a bit in recent years. The company released Soul Calibur II in arcades, and on all three major consoles, with console exclusive characters. Everyone was happy, with very few complaints. Then Namco turns around and releases Soul Calibur III directly to the PlayStation 2 with no arcade counterpart and no love for the Xbox or GameCube. Now the company is preparing to release Tekken: Dark Resurrection on the PlayStation Portable, after a successful arcade run.

So what's wrong with releasing Tekken: DR on the PSP? Well, nothing if you look at it from that perspective. And since this is not a review, we won't spend time debating how effective a fighting game is on the PSP, or how well Tekken translates to the PSP. But you have to wonder why this is the first Tekken ever to skip a home console release. We understand that Tekken: DR is more of an upgrade to Tekken 5 than an all new game, but with three new characters, a ton of new stages, and a rebalanced fighting engine, most Tekken fans would probably like to see the game on the PlayStation 2.

Tekken 5 has seen three different variations in arcades. The first version was released in late 2004, with a remarkably fast home port (when compared to other Tekken arcade titles) to the PlayStation 2. Several months later, Namco released a patch for the arcade version of Tekken 5, dubbed Tekken 5.1, which balanced the characters out a bit more, and made the game more fun for hardcore Tekken players. A few months after the arcade release of 5.1, Namco released Dark Resurrection, with three new characters, new stages and even more character balancing. So while the game remains Tekken 5 at its heart, a lot has changed since the game hit the PlayStation 2 over a year ago.

If you're looking for more specifics on the changes from Tekken 5 to Dark Resurrection, take a look at our first preview for the game. For now, we'll take a deeper look at what Namco showed off at E3 2006 earlier this month. At E3, the game was only playable in Ad Hoc Versus mode, or against the computer. Graphically, the game was extremely impressive for a PlayStation Portable title, and arguably one of the best looking games on the handheld. But Namco has never had an issue with the graphical quality of its titles on any platform.

The main focus on DR is how the game plays on the PSP. Unfortunately, like the Xbox 360 d-pad, the PSP doesn't bode well for fighting games that require very specific d-pad inputs. For average Tekken players who don't get into the serious side of the game, there shouldn't be too much of an issue using the PSP d-pad and getting in a few rounds on the way to work or school. However, for the hardcore Tekken fans who pride themselves on hitting that tough, high damage juggle, or wave dashing up to their opponent with Kazuya or Devil Jin, Tekken: DR on the PSP will not work in its current state.

Namco informed us that the development team is still tweaking the controls a bit, but from what we played on the E3 show floor and behind closed doors, away from the crowds, the controls just don't work for advanced Tekken movements. Wave dashing, light dashing, snake dashing, hyoshida step, every one of these high level Tekken techniques was nearly impossible to pull off at first, and still difficult to execute after spending an extended period of time with the E3 demo. If you don't know what any of these techniques are, then rest assured that your Tekken experience will remain unchanged from the PS2 to the PSP. However, if you know all of these techniques, and use them regularly when playing Tekken, you'll find that the PSP version may lack in some areas.

On the lighter side of things, while the game doesn't feature online multiplayer (maybe Tekken 6 on the PlayStation 3?), it does offer the same abilities that Japanese arcade goers have for Tekken 5. Tekken: DR offers some limited character customization in the form of items, alternate costumes and new hairstyles. You can create a unique version of the character you use, and DR adds even more customizable options than Tekken 5 did. The game will record your custom character, and a bit of your fighting style (combos and juggles) and upload that data to the network. From there, other players can download and fight against your ghost character.

A new single player game has also been added to the title in the form of Tekken Dojo. While we did not get our hands on this new single player mode, think of it as a mini-tournament against the computer. You'll have to work your way up from the bottom of the Dojo ranks, all the way to the top, fighting against the characters in the game. There will also be additional mini-games in the same vein as Tekken Bowl from Tekken Tag Tournament, and Tekken Ball from Tekken 3. Namco has just released info indicating that one of the mini-games will be a new version of Tekken Bowl that will feature Ad Hoc multiplayer, as well as a tournament mode. In addition, all multiplayer functionality in Tekken: DR will be supported with only a single UMD, so you only need one Tekken: DR disc to play against friends.

From what we've played of Tekken: Dark Resurrection, the game will serve its purpose of offering quick fun for fans of the series. However, hardcore Tekken players should look back to Tekken 5 on the PS2, or forward to Tekken 6 on the PS3 if they're looking for a hardcore fix. The controls on the PlayStation Portable limit advanced techniques, but they don't limit the fun if you're not into hardcore Tekken competitions. With an August release in the planning, the control scheme for Tekken: DR could improve, but it's hard to get any better when you're limited by the hardware itself. We'll have more on Tekken: Dark Resurrection in the near future.