Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection
  

    
STORY: 

The explosion however, revives Heihachi's father Jinpachi Mishima from his 50 year slumber chained up beneath the Temple, and proceeds to reclaim the Mishima Zaibatsu. Two months later, the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5 is announced. It turns out that Heihachi in fact survived the explosion, and now pledges to find out and "break the neck of the one who started this ridiculous tournament!".

Dark Resurrection follows exactly the same storyline as Tekken 5, only with the additions of two new characters and one returning character; Emilie "Lili" De Rochefort (who seeks to destroy the Mishima Zaibatsu and end her father's financial problem), Sergei Dragunov (a member of Spetsnaz who has been sent to capture Jin) and Armor King (who was thought to have been killed before the events of Tekken 4 and whose identity and goals remain a mystery to the player).
  

  
REVIEW:  Namco's welcomed update to the fan-approved Tekken 5 brings along 3 new playable characters: Lili Rochefort, Sergei Dragunov and (the epic return of) Armor King! Presentation-wise, Dark Resurrection shows off a huge variety of new and remixed stages, badass new BGMs (some of the best in Tekken history), new character customizations, improved graphics and more balanced gameplay. Tekken 5's bugs and character balance issues have been taken care of, and a variety of new combos and moves are available for every returning character. Even though Tekken 5 seemed like a polished and complete game (especially on PS2), Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection is a massive improvement over the prequel.


The Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection arcade machine kept the innovations seen on the original Tekken 5 cabinet, notably the PS2 controller ports and player card system. As a frequent player of the T5: DR at my local arcades, I found it particularly satisfying that nearly every day at the arcade, a few "new" arcade-goers would be in awe that us Tekken people were using our PS2 controllers on the arcade machine. It was a great innovation if you think about it, since your day wouldn't be ruined if the arcade machine's buttons or stick were suddenly broken... you could always have that pristine PS2 controller ready to go (which is a favorite controller among many Tekken players). Once again, Tekken 5 was the first major arcade game in North America (and some other regions) to use the physical player card system, which kept track of players' win/loss ratios, character aliases, and character customizations. 
 
 

 

The already deep characters from Tekken 5 have returned with a variety of cool new techniques and hard-hitting attacks, all of which are nothing short of teeth-cringing (as expected).... The fighters of Tekken never fail to have that "oomph" when they connect their attacks. Several classic fighters like Baek, Lei and Jack-5 have also been given complete "animation overhauls," featuring a ton of visibly smoother animations for some of their classic attacks, yet still retaining the same frame count as the old ones. (This is perhaps how these characters really should've looked in Tekken 5, but I suppose Namco just couldn't get to it in time). Nearly all characters also show off new intro animations before the fight, new taunts between rounds, and even a few new win poses. Awesome details that don't go unnoticed, Namco!

Dark Resurrection's new stages are epic, even the altered "remixed" backgrounds from Tekken 5... Namco answered my prayers for "more stages in Tekken 5," which I thought the game could really use. All of the new backgrounds add a certain visual eye candy, each in their own way. Namco also did a superb job on remixing most of the background music from Tekken 5, and thankfully, all of the stages from Tekken 5 are back along with their original BGMS! Thanks Namco. They also switched up the announcer's voice, although the new announcer seems to lack motivation or something... but for some reason, I think he's more suiting for the game. 

 

 

The gameplay itself is as flashy as ever, especially while watching two skilled fighters duke it out. And by the way, I don't mean skilled as in "using cheap tactics and strategies to win"... I mean skilled as in "making the game look pretty AND using useful tactics and strategies to win." Being good at Tekken isn't only about knowing combos and having good defensive skills. It's also about knowing how to adapt against different players and play-styles, as the deep characters in T5DR can be used in such a wide variety of ways... there's simply no "one way" to play each character (unlike other fighting games out there). 


With even more moves than before, the "mix-up" game of Tekken is ever more prominent. Watching a skilled player take down a reckless player who "mindlessly attacks" is a beautiful (and sometimes hilarious) sight to see. If you one of  the many who constantly get their ass kicked in Tekken, I'd recommend Tekken: Dark Resurrection for the PSP. It comes with an in game tutorial before it even lets you start fighting. Great idea Namco, let's clean up those button mashers already! Heh.

 

 

Flaws of Tekken 5: DR? Not many... but I will admit that the hit detection can sometimes be a bit funky and unrealistic at times. If you know the in's and out's of the game, you'll know that certain mid and seemingly high attacks can actually connect with a grounded opponent, and may "pick them up" allowing for even longer combos. This "flaw of physics" rewards hardcore players with longer juggles, and may cause more casual players to say something to the effect of "what the hell?!" or "put me down already!"  In any case, it's not necessarily a gameplay flaw, since all characters have these types of moves and combos. On that note, T5: DR is a pretty balanced game. Every character in the game can pull off incredibly long and damaging combos and can be used effectively (with practice). Overall, T5: DR is one of the most balanced, responsive, rewarding and most fun 3D fighting games I've ever played.
   

Page Updated: January 21st, 2024 Developer(s): Namco Publisher(s): Namco Designer(s): Katsuhiro Harada  Director Platform(s): Arcade, PS3, PSN, PSP  as Tekken: Dark Resurrection Release Date(s): December 2005               Arcade February 2006                  Arcade July 6th, 2006                   PSP July 25th, 2006                 PSP Sept. 14th, 2006              PSP Sept. 15th, 2006              PSP Dec. 12th, 2006               PSN Mar. 1st, 2007                  PSN Mar. 23rd, 2007             /   PSN Aug. 1st, 2007                   PSN - Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection HD Online Aug. 30th, 2007               PSN - Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection HD Online Nov. 8th, 2007                  PSN - Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection HD Online Characters:  Sergei Dragunov, Lili Rochefort, Armor King, Asuka Kazama, Feng Wei, Raven, King, Kazuya Mishima, Heihachi Mishima, Jin Kazama, Bruce Irvin, Anna Williams, Nina Williams, Lee Chaolan, Ling Xiaoyu, Bryan Fury, Paul Phoenix, Yoshimitsu, Steve Fox, Craig Marduk, Christie Monteiro, Eddy Gordo, Hwoarang, Marshall Law, Julia Chang, Jack-5, Lei Wulong, Roger Jr., Wang, Baek, Ganryu, Devil Jin, Mokujin, Kuma, Panda, Jinpachi Featured Video: Related Games: TEKKEN 5: Dark Resurrection Online, TEKKEN: Dark Resurrection, TEKKEN 5, TEKKEN, TEKKEN 2, TEKKEN 3, TEKKEN Tag Tournament, TEKKEN 4, TEKKEN 6, TEKKEN 6: Bloodline Rebellion, TEKKEN Tag Tournament 2, TEKKEN 7, TEKKEN 8, TEKKEN Hybrid, TEKKEN 3D: Prime Edition, TEKKEN Advance, TEKKEN Revolution, Street Fighter X TEKKEN, Urban Reign    Gameplay Engine  9.5 / 10 Story / Theme  8.5 / 10 Overall Graphics  9.0 / 10 Animation  9.5 / 10 Music / Sound Effects  10 / 10 Innovation  9.0 / 10 Art Direction  8.5 / 10 Customization  9.5 / 10 Options / Extras  8.0 / 10 Intro / Presentation  9.5 / 10 Replayability / Fun  10 / 10 "Ouch" Factor  10 / 10 Characters  10 / 10 BOTTOM LINE  9.7 / 10  Review based on Arcade version       Final Words: TEKKEN 5: DR is a very special game to me. It was the last true fighting game that I played regularly at the arcades. We had a great local Tekken community spread across a few different arcades (ever since TEKKEN 5 vanilla, mind you)... and I have some truly fond memories of that time period. "Dark period of fighting games," they say? Either you were too young to remember or you, very unfortunately, missed out on a great scene. To conclude my story... TEKKEN 6 did not appear at any of my local arcades. Only a few arcades across the country (USA) received T6 machines due to the fact they were so expensive. So for most of us in North America, our "arcade" TEKKEN days were over with T5:DR. Old school TEKKEN play? Nice to meet'cha. Hit me up on Twitter or something. I can fondly the excitement that built online when T5:DR was announced. The good old days of Tekken Zaibatsu. Shoutouts to a great site and community (R.I.P.). I was there. Those of us who love our Tekken were ecstatic when we first heard about T5: DR, and were even more ecstatic when we played it, which was clearly Namco's goal (and they nailed it). T5: DR brought already-happy TEKKEN 5 players back to the arcade and gave everyone the more-balanced game we deserved... the best Tekken to date? Absolutely. Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection's later console release on PlayStation 3 brought the beloved game into crispy, ultra-wide full HD. My '05 1080p HDTV never saw anything better. Furthermore... for the first time ever, the downloadable Online update brought TEKKEN players together online for the first time (officially). Also see my full review of TEKKEN 5: DR Online. I played this game so much that I hit TOP 10 in the online rankings. It might seem like "bragging" at first... but it's more to make the point that playing a fighting game for 3+ years at arcades and at tournaments, then jumping online, has its advantages. Hard work pays off in TEKKEN and transitions into the next game? Imagine that. ~TFG Webmaster | @Fighters_Gen    Click here for all Customization Scans! Click here for all Posters / Artwork!                                               Click here for all Character Artwork! Click here for all Screenshots! FOLLOW    ON:                             TFG NEWS CHARACTERS GAMES