Fun. Fun. Fun.

This time,  I really was about to sell my PSP. After I ran through Tekken 5, I just couldn't find anything else that made me happy. I think the PSP is an atrocious convergence device - the wireless is "b," and though the screen is fine video conversion is annoying. Anyone wanting more of an iTunes experience with their PSP should look at Doubletwist (doubletwist.com) which does allow a sort of (slow) syncing between your media library and the PSP. Even so, I have an iPod Touch which does all that stuff better, and fits nicely in my pocket.

But then Tekken 6 for PSP came out. I was curious to see if it held a candle to Tekken 5, which in my mind was worth the price of the PSP. But $40 for a PSP title?

I'm not a huge fighter game guy. I get the combo thing, loved the entire Ninja Gaiden series, but I never had played the Mortal Combat/Street Fighter ilk. I got Tekken 5 based on ratings, and enjoyed it enormously. Truth is, it is more fun on the PSP than it is on the PS3. The PSP is the perfect console for Tekken, since you really only need the D-pad and face buttons to play. It was painful trying to micro-move on Resistance:Retribution for PSP, and while I appreciated the effort the developer put in to accommodating the restraints of the hardware, it just wasn't any fun for me. In my opinion the PS3 version of Tekken 5, while fun, was not as well situated as the PSP version for the game. Some moves benefit from the extreme closeness of the PSP's buttons. It's just easier on the PSP.

I don't know why this isn't a more lauded release - I suppose I don't see Sony doing much to hype anything for the PSP

Tekken 6 has put off for the time being, any thoughts of selliing the PSP. This game is a work of handheld art. Visually, it is stunningly rendered, taking full advantage of the 4.3" screen without overwhelming these aged eyes or crowding the screen. The animation is stellar, almost as good as the cutscenes themselves. The gameplay appears to have been improved considerably. It seems to me that chaining together moves that result in "juggling" is easier and the flow between moves seems more fluid. There seem to be considerably more moves to choose from, which should please the compulsive among us. And I can't get over some of the new characters. I've started with "Bob" who uses his weight to his advantage (and yes, I have heard that Bob is a resurrected character from an earlier Tekken. Whatever).

There are some changes to the layout of the gameplay. Gone is the Dojo mode, which was my preferred way of playing Tekken 5. Looking on the boards, there seem to be some that really miss this ranking area. Instead, you can still play the arcade, ghost, and challenge modes, but I don't appreciate the same sense of ascension that I did iwth the Dojo. Ghost mode seems the most entertaining, offering a constant variety of modded characters that will keep one interested.

For me, the PSP is the best of the portable gaming devices, and though I could have used the extra money from selling mine, I'm awfully glad for the reprieve offered by Tekken 6.