Darkstalkers 3

"A vastly under appreciated 2D fighting experience"

The Playstation has never exactly been much of a 2D system, so when a game is released that was originally a 2D arcade game and seems to actually do that game justice, it’s cause for celebration. Darkstalkers 3 was, until the release of Street Fighter Alpha 3, Capcom’s most polished and accurate port of such a title. Building off the expanded version of this game, Capcom not only gives us a wonderful fighting game experience, but tries a couple new things out as well here to varying effects.

Your host for this cursed evening is Jedah, a stylish grim reaper in what can only be described as an evil zoot suit. It is his believed destiny to unite all “dispirited souls” into his domain. To this end, he’s recruited the aid of Q-Bee, the queen of a race of humanoid insects that feed on the sweet honey of souls, and thus summons those who possess what he considers valuable souls to be collected and give him power. This means that all the Darkstalkers of games past, including Demitri, Morrigan, Donovan, Jon Talbain, Felicia, Hsien-Ko, Pyron and all the rest, are brought to his domain filled with twisted reflections of the real world. They’re joined by two other new faces, both touched by looks of youth and perverse souls. One is Lilith, a part of Morrigan’s soul ripped from her 300 years ago to keep her power in check. Now it’s been given life and shape, and she wants to reunite with the sultry demon. The other is Baby Bonnie Hood, a bounty hunter with the soul of a Darkstalker and the looks of a fairy tale child. Her sweet smile and charming demeanor quickly change to twisted rage as she busts loose with her uzi and other modern weapons.

So now, the Darkstalkers fight again to escape from Jedah’s designs on their souls and possibly advance their own agendas in the process. Naturally, you're the one calling the shots. This game plays in a fashion that was at first unique to it in the 2D fighting genre. The standard energy meters, Special Stock gauge, and controller motions with quarter circles, charging, z-motions and the like are all present, as is the classic 6 button control scheme with three punches and three kicks, all of varying levels of strength. There are also two principal types of super moves in this game at your disposal. ES moves are souped-up versions of regular special moves, and they all require one charge of Special Stock (built up by attacking your opponent). Not all special moves have an ES version, though. EX moves are the really powerful moves in a characters arsenal, and can cost anywhere from 1 to 3 charges of Special Stock to use. None of the various moves are too hard to memorize though some are a challenge to execute, and it is possible to win without knowing everything about the fighting system. And though some characters are pretty effective against others, from what I can tell no one of them really dominates.

The first thing that makes Darkstalkers 3 unique is that defeating your opponent does not quite occur in straight-up rounds. Instead, each character has a certain number of bats under their energy meter. Deplete the energy meter of your opponent, and one bat flies away. Then your opponent gets back up with full health, so long as he or she has at least one bat left. If not, you win. Characters don’t quite go down that easily though. Some damage is represented in a white bar pressed flush against the green of the energy meter. If a character is allowed to move and attack without taking damage or having to block, that white damage is slowly replaced by green health. Through the use of effective stalling tactics or longer throws and special attacks, this can be a quick way to recoup damages and mount a comeback.

Another new wrinkle to the series seen here is the Dark Force attack. By executing the designated controller command, your character opens the way to a dimension where they have expanded powers. This trip only lasts a short while, but the effects can be worth it. There are two types of these attacks that have their own benefits in addition to those individual to each character, and you chose which one you’ll use when you select your character. DF Change requires only one charge of the Special Stock gauge, and allows you to perform air combos at any time. DF Power needs two charges, and all damage you deal while this is active cannot be regenerated. It grants expanded powers to one of your EX moves. You can opt to have a shortcut button to the DF moves in the options menu under the key configuration subsection in case you want to have it ready on the fly.

Finally, one feature that has always been unique to Darkstalkers remains here as well. The majority of the projectile attacks in the game have a set speed and power. If they collide, instead of canceling each other out, they push against each other. So for example, if Demitri and Morrigan each use their regular projectile attack at the same time, perhaps Demitri’s attack will be the only one to go forward, but it would be slowed down as Morrigan’s attack resists it. Add to all that I just mentioned features like pursuit attacks to hurt your opponent after knocking him or her down, defensive falls that reduce damage after you’re knocked down, and a mode that allows for automatic blocking (but every blocked attack deals chip damage) and the result is a fairly deep game.

The one other really fascinating aspect to this game is that Capcom put in a mode called “original character.” It’s a misleading title, but what it actually does is fairly interesting. You select a character from the game, and then create your own custom color pallet and give him or her a name. Then you can either go in and do battle with computer controlled characters to gain experience, or fight against a friend’s created character. As you gain experience, your characters attack power, maximum Special Stock charges and number of times you can take a KO all increase. I found this mode to be pretty challenging, since you always start with just one chance at knocking your opponents out twice, and it takes a good 500 experience to even the playing field in that regard. While this could have been more fully realized, it’s a neat little precursor to what would be found in Street Fighter Alpha 3’s World Tour mode.

Graphically, this game is a real treat to watch. Though some win poses have been cut, like Hsien-Ko’s juggling pose, missing animation isn’t really that noticeable. This is probably in part because the characters themselves aren’t the size of, say, Juggernaut from X-Men vs. Street Fighter, but another part would have to be Capcom learning how to make best use of the limited 2D capabilities of the Playstation. As a result, the characters move around pretty fluidly. The real treat is what exactly they do, as there is a lot of very imaginative attacks, from the ghoulish Lord Rapter pulling out his ribs to stab you, to Lilith using her wings as a bow and arrow to send you flying. Perhaps the wildest is Baby Bonnie Hood, with he flailing arms and wild, sudden motions. Amidst all this reasonably wild animation, there is not very much in the way of slowdown when all this is going on, another sign that Capcom has come a long way since they translated Street Fighter Alpha for this system. The backgrounds don’t have too much animation, but they are well imagined and enhance the dark goings on nicely. The one exception to this is the ghost train, which actually has a very well animated mouth chomping away.

The music is spot on, as well. Each song heightens the right mood for the stages, from Asian elegance in Hsien-Ko’s stage, to a dreary minor key drudge in B.B. Hood’s western-style abandoned town. Adding further variety and flavor, each character has his or her own short theme which plays alongside their victory quote. There really isn’t a loser in the bunch. Character voices don’t quite come off as well, though. Lord Rapter’s voice is barely audible, and Lilith’s can be obnoxiously loud. The rest are more or less intact, though. The remaining sounds are all fairly decent, and considering the scope and variety of the characters involved, are reasonably varied as well.

Darkstalkers is a sadly under appreciated flavor of fighting game here in the states. It’s a real shame since Capcom went to town designing these characters, taking old horror movie, mythological and storybook standards and giving them a distinct anime flair and lots of personality. Add to that their usual right-on-target gameplay and a well-crafted setting to bring it all together, and Darkstalkers 3 is easily one of the Top 3 2D fighting games released in the United States for the Playstation.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/12/03, Updated 05/12/03