Vampire Savior: The Lord of Vampire

"Bloody lovely, and I don't just mean Lilith!"

Ah, Vampire Savior...Such a gorgeous game…If you own a Saturn and even REMOTELY enjoy fighting games, get it right now. Now, I say! NOW!! Vampire Savior is the third in the line of Vampire/Darkstalkers games. We’ve got Street Fighter style gameplay pumped up with much more flash, and an equal amount of substance, to boot. Instead of basic martial artists like Ryu and Ken, we’ve got a large cast of classic monsters represented in Capcom’s incredible anime style. Demitri, the vampire. Morrigan, the Succubus. Anakaris, the Mummy. Felicia, the Cat-Woman. Bishamon, the Cursed Samurai Armor. Victor, the Frankenstein’s Monster (make that Gerdenheim’s monster). Gallon/Jon Talbain, the Werewolf. Sasquatch, the, um, Sasquatch. Aulbath/Rikou, the Merman. Zabel Zarock/Lord Raptor, the Zombie. Lei Lei/Hsien-ko, the Chinese Ghost. Donovan, the Darkstalker Hunter. Phobos/Huitzil, the Aztec Robot. Pyron, the Living Fire Alien Entity. These twelve original characters are joined by Jedah, a demon looking to collect all the souls in the world, Q-Bee, the queen of a race of Soul Bees, Bulleta/Baby Bonnie Hood, a not-so-sweet version of Little Red Riding Hood, and Lilith, the other half of Morrigan’s Succubus soul. The four new characters fit into the cast like peanut butter with jelly. They are all very fun to play, just like all of the other cast members, and their moves are just as impressive. This is one of the few fighters where I enjoy playing every single character-I can't even say that about any of the Street Fighter games (all 4,000 of 'em). You couldn't pay me to use Dhalsim. This game just oozes personality and playability. Capcom put a lot of heart and soul into this beauty and it definitely shows. I have a few small gripes about the game, but those will come later...

Graphics: Just like Darkstalkers and NightWarriors did before it, Vampire Savior brings beautiful graphics and resplendent animation to the monster brawl. You'll be pausing the game quite often to catch all of the little details the animators tossed in allllll over the place (check out the faces in Zabel/Raptor’s bone sword swooshes, Morrigan’s priceless facefault when knocked down, all the mini versions and female versions Anakaris turns them into, etc.). My only minor gripe with the graphics is that the characters don't have their own specific backgrounds, but then again, after seeing some of the lame ones Capcom threw together for Street Fighter Alpha 3, maybe it's a good thing. Don't get me wrong-I love SFA3-but you gotta admit, none of the BG's are as cool as Eliza's birthday party was in SF Alpha 2. Demitri and Morrigan’s classic backgrounds are the only two to return to the game, actually. Capcom just poured the love into this game.

Sound: Mostly techno-ish music in here, but it all seems to fit the stage it is coupled with. A dreary tune for the torture chamber, a fast track for the side of the building…A vast change from the Darkstalkers and NightWarriors soundtrack, though, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good. All of the character voices are, of course, crystal-4meg RAM cart-clear, and there are lots of them to hear. The sound effects, from the skewer of Bishamon’s sword to the slash of Felicia’s claws are spot-on.

Control: Two words-it's Capcom. Flawless. Six attack buttons (three punches, three kicks), standard (and not-so-standard) controller motions, chain combos, easy supers, great game flow…all this comes together to create an incredible game. Gameplay-wise, this is based on the first version of Vampire Savior, and not Vampire Hunter 2 or Vampire Savior 2, but Phobos/Huitzil, Pyron, and Donovan were still added in just because Capcom loves us. VH2 and VS2 never appeared in U.S. arcades, but it had additions beyond the new characters, such as the expanded Dark Force system. I have a blast with this game. The CPU can sometimes be cheap, but hey, fighters aren't made for 1P-vs.-CPU fights. As I stated earlier, I like the entire cast, but if I had to pick a least favorite, it's Donovan again, just like it was in NightWarriors. Sorry, Don...maybe the next game will do you justice? Oh yeah...another little gripe is the lack of a Training Mode, but seeing as Capcom threw in the English language option, I'll more than forgive them (you have to earn the English mode, but you can find how to do it elsewhere in GameFAQS).

Replayability? Yesireebob. If you were a fan of Darkstalkers and NightWariors, you will adore this game. It’s that simple. Vampire Savior is one of my favorite, if not my most favorite Capcom fighter. It’s got the looks, it’s got the sounds, it’s got the gameplay, it’s got the characters…it pretty much has it all. The Bottom Line: this is a dang good game. Dang good. GlucoseJoe

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/28/00, Updated 05/28/00