Sometimes it's tough being a Tekken fan. In late 2004, Namco unleashed Tekken 5 in US and Japanese arcades. Tekken fans were quite pleased with the new installment to the series, and even more please when Namco announced a PlayStation 2 port releasing in February of 2005. However, the PS2 port of Tekken 5 seemed a bit rush, making the highly publicized character customization, money system and ranking features almost useless in the transition to the home port. Several months later a slightly modified version of Tekken 5 dubbed 5.1 was released in arcades, meaning Tekken loyalists had to head back to the 'cade to get their play the proper version of Tekken 5.

Not long after the release of Tekken 5.1, Namco released Tekken: Dark Resurrection in arcades. The second upgrade to Tekken 5 featured two completely new characters and one returning character from previous Tekken titles. It also featured several new stages, and double the amount of items for character customization. Again, the Tekken loyalists had to head back to the arcade to play the "real" version of Tekken 5.

Now Namco Bandai has announced plans to bring Tekken: Dark Resurrection to the PlayStation Portable this summer. The game will feature everything from the arcade version, as well as a new opening movie introducing the three new characters, new game play modes, AD-HOC multiplayer and a new mini-game that has yet to be disclosed. We haven't yet gotten our hands on the PlayStation Portable version of the title, but so far the game looks nearly spot on with its arcade older brother, which runs on an overclocked PlayStation 2 arcade board.

The three new characters in Tekken: DR are Lili, Dragunov and Armor King. Lili is the 16 year old daughter of an oil tycoon from Monaco who is fighting in the tournament with hopes to grant control of the Mishima Zaibatsu to her father. Dragunov is a 26 year old member of the Russian Special Forces, dubbed the White God of Death. He has been ordered by his government to head to Japan on an investigation of grave importance. Armor King, a returning character that was last seen in Tekken 2 and Tekken Tag Tournament is a crowd favorite for many of the top Tekken players in the US. He supposedly died at the hands of Craig Marduk, but has since returned.

In addition to the three new characters in Dark Resurrection, Namco has pumped double the amount of items into the game for character customization. One of the slight downfalls of Tekken 5 was the simple fact that despite the character customization ability, most characters tended to look the same since only a few of the items were popular among fans. With double the amount of items in DR, this should provide a bit more variety in the character customizations. Namco has even gone a step further by holding a contest in Japan that will put the custom characters of several Japanese players in the PSP port of Dark Resurrection. The customization will include all of that character's items, as well as their custom name.

Several new stages and game modes will be included in the PSP version of the game, with an exclusive PSP mini-game as well. Very little information is available on the mini-game, and there's no word yet if the Devil Within mode from the PS2 port of Tekken 5 will be included. However, if the new mini-game is anything like Tekken Ball (volleyball) from Tekken 3 or Tekken Bowl from Tekken Tag Tournament, fans are in for a treat.

Unfortunately, online play has once again evaded Tekken fans across the globe as Namco Bandai has chosen to limit the PSP title to AD-HOC multiplayer only. This means that two PSP units can link together using the built-in wireless features of the handheld. However, AD-HOC multiplayer on the PlayStation Portable does not allow for online connectivity. It looks like Tekken fans hoping that Namco will join Midway, Capcom, Tecmo and SNK by taking Tekken online will have to wait until the PlayStation 3 to be satisfied.

Scheduled to ship this summer, Tekken: Dark Resurrection looks to be a must have PlayStation Portable title for fans of the series. Until we uncover what Namco has in store for the PlayStation 3 (E3 anyone?), it will also be the only way to play Tekken: DR away from the arcade. Although it's not hard to imagine a group of Tekken players waiting in line at the arcade while playing the game on the PSP. We'll have more on Tekken: Dark Resurrection at E3 2006 in May.