FutureFive New Zealand - Consumer technology news & reviews from the future
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Thu, 1st Oct 2009
FYI, this story is more than a year old

TEKKEN: Dark Resurrection has been a favourite for PSP fight fans for a long time now. This year PSP  owners are spoilt for choice with Dissida: Final Fantasy and Tekken 6 soon to be released on the handheld. Oh, did I forget to mention Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny?

The Soul Calibur series makes its much-anticipated debut on the PSP with none other than Kratos from the  very popular God of War series making an appearance for this PSP-exclusive title. Unfortunately, I did not get  the opportunity to play as Kratos, nor did I get the chance to face him during my play-through. But I  expect his fiery whip will be very effective compared to the other combatants’ weapons.

Although it may lack the visual power of Soul Calibur IV on PS3 and Xbox 360, this is still a very pretty game.  It is arguably better looking than Tekken: Dark Resurrection, which is almost universally accepted to have the best graphics on PSP.

The arenas are beautiful, as are the character models. However, I thought the stages were a little on the small  side. Hopefully, much larger stages will be included or at least added later on.

The one thing that has been a staple for the series from the very beginning is the inclusion of ring-outs. Say  what you will about them, but playing this game with its small areas, there are bound to be many cheap  ring-out victories. Personally, I think they should give players the option to turn them on or off. There’s nothing more frustrating than leading in a fight, only  to lose at the last minute by mistiming a side-step.

Apart from that, this port is just as playable as any other Soul Calibur game. The gameplay has been left intact, so veteran Soul Calibur players will immediately feel right at home playing this new iteration. They  will  also like the fact that many of their favourite characters will be returning, as well as a few other surprises in store.

This is yet another PSP exclusive that promises to be a hit. It’s the first time the Soul Calibur series has gone portable, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. There’s no doubt this will satisfy any fan of the beat-em-up genre