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.
DarkstalkersThe first in the series, fully titled Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors 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 - Pyron, the powerful Supreme lord of fire, decides to hold a tournament to see which of the world's greatest monsters is worthy of the title "Lord of the Night". Night WarriorsThe second game in the series, fully titled Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge or Vampire Hunter (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. Vampire SaviorThe third and final proper installment in the series, Vampire Savior: Lord of Vampire (ヴァンパイア セイヴァー Vanpaia Seivā?), 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 and to the Sony PlayStation (as Darkstalkers 3: Jedah's Damnation). 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. Special releasesVampire Hunter 2 / Vampire Savior 2Vampire Hunter 2 and Vampire Savior 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. 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. 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. 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. He is Donovan after his ending in Night Warriors, now a full-fledged vampire. Characters
Cameos in other gamesWhile 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] Merchandising
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