Vampire Chronicle

"A dream for Vampire fans"

This is a review for the amazing Vampire Chronicle from Capcom. I went through great pains to get this game, also a great amount of money, and it was worth it!!!

GRAPHICS-- 9.5

I LOVE 2-D Fighters. The graphics in this game do not disappoint. The characters are large and colorful and animate wonderfully. The amount of animation compared to the PSX Darkstalkers 3 is 10-fold. Watch Jedah stand there and drip blood, or drool as electricity surges through Victor's body. It is really a sight to behold. I really believe that this is one of the most animated games that Capcom did on the CPS2 board. The backgrounds are all drastically different than one another and fit the theme extremely well. The super moves range from Hilarious, Sasquatch, to morbid, Demitri or Jedah. The only reason that I didn't give it a perfect 10 for graphics is that newer 2-D games have really bumped the animation up with the help of polygons, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and Capcom vs. SNK.

GAMEPLAY-- 9

The is pure blissful Capcom Fighting. 6-buttons, air blocking, reversals, supers, buffers....... you know the drill. While it doesn't play exactly like Street Fighter, it is close enough that you will catch on easily.

What makes this game special is that you can play as different versions of the characters. you can play as 4 versions of all the characters, each with their own strengths and downfalls. This is VERY apparent with Felicia as she changed the most throughout the series. Even the characters that were introduced in Vampire Savior have been re-tooled to have different versions in the other styles.

You can also pick the fighting engine that you want to use. For example, you can have the rounds separate and not be able to stock special moves, Vampire engine; or you can have the rounds continuous, a la Killer Instinct, and stock specials, Savior engine. There is just so many ways to play. I play in the Hunter engine. That way I have separate rounds and can stock specials. This allows me the best of both engines.

SOUND-- 8

Good music, although not up to their standards. Sound effects come out extremely well. Voices are clear. Nothing special, but nothing wrong in this department.

CONTROL-- 7

Hard to play with the standard pad, just like all fighting games. Bump the control up to a 9 if you have an arcade stick or the ASCII fighting pad. However, no method of control is going to make Anakaris' specials easier :(

DISAPPOINTMENTS--

Yes although this is a great game there are some things that I would have liked included. First of all, and this is a big one, THERE ARE NO CHARACTER ENDINGS!!! I like fighting games for the competition, but I also like endings! Someone at Capcom must have really been hitting the bottle hard to omit something as simple as these. Also, all the backgrounds are from Vampire Savior. I really think that they should have included the backgrounds from the other games.

OVERALL-- 9

This is a FANTASTIC game for those that like the Vampire/Darkstalker games. It is even easier and cheaper to get now that www.ncsx.com has a shipment in. Easily one of the best imports in my collection. If you are looking for a way to get into the series, here it is. Get all the installments on one disc.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/13/00, Updated 12/13/00