Darkstalkers
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Darkstalkers, known in Asia as Vampire (ヴァンパイア Vanpaia?), is a series of 2D fighting games produced by Capcom during the late 1990s for the CPS-2 hardware. The series is notable for its cast of characters based on well-known fictional monsters (hence its Japanese title, Vampire) and introduced many of the concepts used in later Capcom fighting games, including the use of sixteen color animation sprites later employed in the Street Fighter Alpha and the Marvel vs. Capcom series. There have been five arcade games in the series with a few console ports produced as well.
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[edit] Darkstalkers
| Darkstalkers | |
|---|---|
 PlayStation U.S. box cover |
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| Developer(s) | Capcom |
| Platform(s) | CPS-2, PlayStation |
| Release date | July 5, 1994 |
| Genre(s) | Fighting |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, Two-player |
| Input methods | 8-way Joystick, 6 Buttons |
| Cabinet | Upright |
| Display | Raster, 384 x 224 pixels (Horizontal), 4096 colors |
The first in the series, fully titled Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors or Vampire: The Night Warriors in Japan, features ten playable characters (Demitri Maximoff, Jon Talbain, Victor von Gerdenheim, Lord Raptor, Morrigan Aensland, Anakaris, Felicia, Oboro Bishamon, Rikuo and Sasquatch) and two non-playable boss characters (Huitzil and Pyron). The game features the same gameplay system Capcom developed for the Street Fighter II series, but with several new gameplay features such as Air Blocking, Crouch Walking and Chain Combos. The game featured a Special meter similar to the Super Combo in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, which the player could fill up to perform a super powered special attack. Unlike the Super Combo meter in Super Turbo, the Special meter in Darkstalkers gradually drains until the player performs their super move, preventing players from preserving their super moves for later use.
This game was ported to the Sony PlayStation.
A Sega 32X port was announced for a 1995 release, but it was never published.
Story - Demitri Maximoff, the Vampire lord, decides to hold a tournament to see which of the world's greatest monsters is worthy of the title "Lord of the Night".
[edit] Night Warriors
| Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge | |
|---|---|
 Saturn U.S. box cover |
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| Developer(s) | Capcom |
| Platform(s) | CPS-2, Sega Saturn |
| Release date | SAT NA Feb. 22, 1996 |
| Genre(s) | Fighting game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, Two-player |
The second game in the series, fully titled Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge or Vampire Hunter: Darkstalkers' Revenge (ヴァンパイア ハンター Vanpaia Hantā?) in Japan, was an upgraded version of the original Darkstalkers which introduced several gameplay changes to the game. The game introduced two new playable characters, Donovan Baine and Hsien-Ko, who were out to hunt the other Darkstalkers in the game (hence the Japanese title, Vampire Hunter). The two bosses from the first game, Huitzil and Pyron, were now playable characters as well. The main change in Night Warriors is the ability for the player to stock up on their special bars, allowing them to store more than one special bar and preserve them through the entire match. Two types of Super Moves are featured in the game: ES Specials, which requires a portion of the Special bar, and EX Specials, which require a complete Special bar to perform. Player can choose between a "Normal" gameplay style or one that offers Auto-Blocking.
This game was ported to the Sega Saturn.
Story - Pyron returns to add Earth to his collection. Enter the world's most fearsome monsters; ironically, the last defense of mankind. Meanwhile, two darkstalker hunters make their presence known and join in the fray.
[edit] Vampire Savior
| Vampire Savior (aka Darkstalkers 3) | |
|---|---|
 PlayStation U.S. box cover |
|
| Developer(s) | Capcom |
| Platform(s) | CPS-2, Sega Saturn, PlayStation |
| Release date | SAT JP Apr. 16, 1998 PSX NA Nov. 30, 1998 |
| Genre(s) | Fighting game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, Two-player |
The third and final proper installment in the series was Vampire Savior: The Lord of Vampire (ヴァンパイア セイヴァー Vanpaia Seivā?, also known in promotional materials as Vampire Savior: World of Darkness). It is known as Darkstalkers 3: Jedah's Damnation on game consoles outside Japan. It retained the character roster of Night Warriors, omitting Donovan, Huitzil and Pyron from the lineup. Taking their place were four new characters: Jedah, Lilith, Q-Bee and B. B. Hood. Vampire Savior eschews the traditional round-based system in favour of what is dubbed the Damage Gauge System where battles take place during a period of one round, with each fighter having two "life markers" (by default) which diminish after one's own life bar is completely emptied (similar to Killer Instinct). The player can also regain a portion of their life during battle if they manage to avoid taking further hits. The game also introduces the Dark Force System which allows players to perform special abilities unique to each character for a limited period.
This game was ported to the Sega Saturn (Japan only) and to the Sony PlayStation. Unlike the arcade version, the console versions contain Donovan, Huitzil and Pyron without losing any other characters.
Story - Jedah, one of the high nobles of Makai, is resurrected after a premature death long ago. Seeing the state of the demon world, he decides that the only way to save the world is to recreate it. To this end, he conjures a dimension known as Majigen, to which he summons worthy souls to feed his new world. As luck would have it, those souls belong to the characters from the first two games, in addition to three newcomers.
[edit] Special releases
[edit] Vampire Hunter 2 / Vampire Savior 2 (1997, Japan only)
Vampire Hunter 2: Darkstalkers' Revenge (ヴァンパイア ハンター2 Vanpaia Hantā 2?) and Vampire Savior 2: The Lord of Vampire (ヴァンパイア セイヴァー2 Vanpaia Seivā 2?) were two simultaneously-released upgraded versions of Vampire Savior that were distributed only in Japanese arcades. The main difference between the two upgrades and the original Vampire Savior are in its character roster. Vampire Hunter 2 features the same character roster and soundtrack as Night Warriors, omitting the added characters from Vampire Savior, while Vampire Savior 2 features the new characters with Donovan, Huitzil and Pyron, but does so by omitting J. Talbain, Rikuo and Sasquatch.
The Sega Saturn and Playstation versions of Vampire Hunter also feature the returning characters from Vampire Savior 2, but do not omit any characters and do not have any of the additional moves or features from Vampire Savior 2.
[edit] Vampire Chronicle for Matching Service (2000, Japan only)
Released for Sega Dreamcast by Capcom and published by Sega via SegaDirect. The game is a mix with characters from all prior Vampire / Darkstalkers games, featuring the movesets, play styles, and soundtracks from every game in the series, and allowed players to challenge each other over the Internet.
[edit] Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower (2004)
A port of the Japan-only Sega Dreamcast title Vampire Chronicle for Matching Service to PSP, featuring one new stage and a new "Chaos Tower" single player mode.
[edit] Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection (2005, Japan only)
Released on the PlayStation 2. A compilation of all five arcade Darkstalkers games with secret "Arranged Versions" of Vampire Savior, Savior 2, and Hunter 2 with complete rosters of all the characters. One new character, "Dee," is also available in the secret versions.
[edit] Characters
| Character | appears in | Voiced by | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darkstalkers | Night Warriors | Vampire Savior | Vampire Savior 2 | Vampire Hunter 2 | ||
| Anakaris | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Kan Tokumaru |
| B.B. Hood | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Miyuki Matsushita |
| Bishamon | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Kan Tokumaru |
| Demitri | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Nobuyuki Hiyama |
| Donovan | No | Yes | Console ports only | Yes | Yes | Nobuyuki Hiyama |
| Felicia | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Kae Araki |
| Hsien-Ko | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Michiko Neya |
| Huitzil | Unplayable boss | Yes | Console ports only | Yes | Yes | Juurouta Kosugi |
| Jedah | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Isshin Chiba |
| J. Talbain | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yuji Ueda |
| Lilith | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Hiroko Konishi |
| Lord Raptor | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yuji Ueda |
| Morrigan | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yayoi Jinguji |
| Pyron | Unplayable boss | Yes | Console ports only | Yes | Yes | Nobuyuki Hiyama |
| Q-Bee | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Miyuki Matsushita |
| Rikuo | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yuji Ueda |
| Sasquatch | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Kan Tokumaru |
| Victor | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Kan Tokumaru |
[edit] Minor characters
- Marionette (Puppet - copies its opponent.)--Voiced by NA
- Shadow (Shadow creature. In game, takes the character of the defeated enemy.)--Voiced by NA
- Dee (Vampire Hunter)-- An exclusive hidden character in the secret arranged modes of Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection, Donovan after his NightWarriors ending. He is a combination of Demitri and Donovan in terms of gameplay and sprite.
- Anita - A young little girl who exibits supernatural powers. She is always seen carrying a headless doll while being present during any Donovan's battles. She appears as a matured woman in the Japanese Collection version of Darkstalkers during Dee's ending.
[edit] Cameos in other games
While the Darkstalkers franchise did not see continuation past the third game in the series, several individual characters (usually the females) appeared in later Capcom games. The most well-known of these crossover titles are probably the Marvel vs. Capcom and Capcom vs. SNK series. Cameos were also made in Capcom Fighting Evolution, SVC Chaos, Namco x Capcom and Gunbird 2. Super deformed variations of the Darkstalkers appear in Super Gem Fighter: Mini Mix, SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium and the tongue-in-cheek puzzle game Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo.[1] Morrigan is to appear in the North American version of We Love Golf.[2]
[edit] Merchandising
- A Darkstalkers animated series was produced for United States audiences. It starred a young boy named Harry Grimoire, who was created for the cartoon. Since the series was not drawn in the same anime style used to draw the game sprites, the Darkstalkers characters look noticeably different.[3]
- A four-episode OVA anime series was released, titled Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge (Vampire Hunter: The Animated Series in Japan). Viz published the anime in North America.
- Viz translated and released a set of 6 comics based on the Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge OVA, and later combined them into a single trade paperback.
- UDON Comics created an incomplete 6-issue Darkstalkers series (single volume with 6 short chapters, upon which they stopped production abruptly).
- A five volume manga series surrounding Vampire Savior was created by mangaka Mayumi Azuma and published by Gangan Comics. It stars Lilith and original character, John Stutely.
- The Darkstalkers franchise was added to the Universal Fighting System Collectible Card Game in November 2007.[4]
- Yujin released gashapon figures of most (if not all) of the Darkstalkers characters; including several "Midnight Blissed" figures.
[edit] References
[edit] See also
- Marvel vs. Capcom (series)
- SNK vs. Capcom (series)
- Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
- Super Gem Fighter: Mini Mix
- Capcom Fighting Evolution
- Namco x Capcom
- List of fighting games
[edit] External links
- Darkstalkers at the Killer List of Videogames
- Darkstalkers guide at StrategyWiki
- Voice Credits from IMDB
- Darkstalkers Series at MobyGames
- Gamespy retrospective
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