With the holidays over and the cold weather upon us, going season is in full swing. So curl up on the couch with your favorite handheld and get your fight on with some of our favorites.
Tekken Dark Revolution:
Why We Love It: Tekken Dark Resurrection for the PSP is not only the best fighting game on the PSP, it’s chock full of all the extra modes that Tekken fans love. Some may even say that Tekken Dark Resurrection is a step above the PS2 classic Tekken 5.
The reason for that is simple: Tekken Dark Resurrection not only features all of your favorite characters and modes from the previous games, it also sports two new characters exclusive to the game, Lili and Dragunov and marks the return of both Armor King and the Tekken Bowling game mode, a cult hit amongst Tekken fans, to the series. In doing so, Namco has managed to bring its stalwart fighting franchise to the PSP with absolutely no bumps along the way.
Street Fighter Alpha 3 (GBA):
Why We Love It: Anyone that has a gameboy advance and has long yearned for a great 2d fighter needs to look no further, Street Fighter Alpha 3 delivers a fantastic gameplay experience, without any draw backs from having to less buttons to work with on the GBA. Forget about wasting all those quarters, and bring the arcade with you whenever and wherever you want.
Being a port of the Dreamcast classic, the first thing that will strike most gamers is that this game is as close to its original as humanely possible. The sprites move crisply and the animation is top notch, The backgrounds are clean and full of color, and even still manage to hold their beauty on the GBA player.
Super Smash Brothers 3DS:
Why We Love It: For years, gamers have clamored, complained and practically begged for a version of “Super Smash Bros.” on the Nintendo 3DS. While there’ son doubt it could have used a fully-fleshed out story mode, there’s more than enough content to ensure that those same rabid fans are left happy and satisfied.
Powered by awesome cel-shaded graphics, new characters, mii integration and a nifty challenge mode, “Super Smash Bros” on the Nintendo 3DS is the best fighting game on the handheld period.
Unlike other popular fighting game series that have made their way to the 3DS and have dumbed down their controls and used the touch screen to simply the game even further, “Super Smash Bros” plays exactly the way you’d expect. Despite the fact that it’s on the Nintendo 3DS, at its core, it is a superb fighting game.
TNA Impact: Cross the Line:
Why We Love It: With essentially the same roster and gameplay modes as the original game on PS3, PS2 and Xbox 360, TNA Impact: Cross the Line on PSP doesn’t bring anything new to the table, but those who loved the first game, will still enjoy this one, doing everything from performing the signature moves of their favorite wrestlers like AJ Styles, Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe and playing through the zany story mode featuring Suicide. The same thing goes for the controls, which aren’t perfect, but get the job done on the handheld.
Urban Champion (3DS)
Why We Love It: An NES classic fist-fight simulator, gamers have must punch their opponent in face and gut on order to get to the next block/stage. Sorry, you dirty scrappers, no Ric Flair chops or low blows in this title. Luckily, the gameplay gets spiced up as the people on the second floors of the buildings you brawl in front of find it necessary to throw flower pots down in the middle of the fight. Talk about concerned citizens.
Patrick Hickey, Jr., is the founder and editor-in-chief of ReviewFix.com and a lecturer of English and journalism at Kingsborough Community College, in Brooklyn, New York. Over the past decade, his video game coverage has been featured in national ad campaigns by top publishers the likes of Nintendo, Deep Silver, Disney and EA Sports. His book series, "The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult and Classic Game Developers," from McFarland and Company, has earned praise from Forbes, Huffington Post, The New York Daily News and MSG Networks. He is also a former editor at NBC and National Video Games Writer at the late-Examiner.com
