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Review: Darkstalkers 3 |
I clearly remember Darkstalkers 3 as one of my first PSX games. Back in 1998, I was formally introduced to the fighting game scene. DS3 was one of the first games that I owned for this genre. It was also one of the first games I bought due to the LOL BOOBS factor. Recently I dusted it off to see if this Halloween-themed, freak-populated effort still has the magic the captivated me in all those years long past.
And I’m proud to announce that it does. :D
Darkstalkers 3 as a port, is a sunny Hawaii compared to the stormy sea to Capcom’s other butchered, clumsy ports for the PSX (*cough* MSH *cough* vs. games). It is essentially a compilation and refinement of the Vampire Savior1 and 2 arcade games. Three characters not in the arcade version (Pyron, Huitzil, and Donovan) missing from the first VS1 join the original VS cast in 2, and in this instalment.
And that’s what immediately grabs your attention- the character design. In the pre- Guilty Gear XX era, the DS series was the perennial winner of the El Weirdo Designs Award. It’s a mishmash of the usual monster suspects and some more interesting ones. About every monster movie and cartoon cliché has been covered. There’s your vampire noble (Demitri), demonic temptress (Morrigan, and I would’ve put Lilith here too but bah, no boobs :p), alien, werewolf and so on. While the premise may sound too B-movie and stupid to be of any good, it’s actually well executed. It is presented in a way that the characters don’t come off as corny. Save for a few exceptions, the cast is alive and oozing with appeal and personality.
Among the unusual characters is Jedah. As the title is the preceding game implies, he is the Vampire Savior who wants to destroy the human world, and re-mold the monster world in his image. He has quickly become one of my favorites, as I think there has never been a more badass villain in a videogame! *pre-emptively bitchslaps Sephiroth fans- Ergheiz doesn’t count* He’s not your grandfather’s Bela Lugosi vampire- he laughs maniacally, has blades for wings, and fights using these blades and blood-themed attacks. And he has a counter move where he lops off HIS OWN HEAD, and SPROUTS another one! Did I mention that he’s an end boss for quite a few of the characters? And in his “boss” intro he descends from a pillar of light while Gregorian voices chant in the background. Lordy! He’s quite impressive audio-visually.
Another one of my favorites is Q-Bee, the soul-eating insect queen. Though many find her boring, her speed, grapples and cheaps kinda sorta remind me of my most favorite character, on the SNK side of the world. ;D And just so to please someone on the boards, honorable mention goes out to Baby Bonnie Hood, the young bounty hunter who chucks out landmines from between her legs. :B
Felicia, Q-Bee, Sasquatch - oh God, re-playing this game has made me *this* close to becoming a furry.
The gameplay is a mishmash of original features, and some borrowed ones. As I see it, it uses an engine that can be best described as the lovechild of Street Fighter Alpha and a Marvel crossover game. Fights are not round based, but rather one long match such as that of vs. games. A character plays with two lifebars, each one represented by a bat icon. Once a lifebar has been depleted, the fallen character loses a bat icon and the match briefly stops as he or she switches to the next lifebar. Obviously, once a character loses both bat icons, it’s a K.O. Damage is indicated by a flame icon underneath the timer. When a character takes damage, the flame points towards that character’s lifebar. Damage may be either red or white. White damage is life you slowly regain, while red damage is life points lost for good.
The famous Hunter chain of stringing normal attacks (jab to short to strong to forward to fierce to roundhouse) remains. Game elements include countering, as shown in Reversals (powered up special moves) and Guard Cancels (moves performed as you block and are solely for counter use). Rolling, tech. hits, and advancing guard (pressing a normal attack button while blocking- it’s similar to push-blocking) are some of the perks of the gameplay.
Super usage makes this game unique. Theoretically, the super bar can go up all the way to Level 99 (though experience suggests Aside from supers called EX moves, there are a few gimmicks. Most special attacks can be upgraded. This is known as the “Enhanced Special”, or ES, done by performing the special with two punch or kick buttons. Your character will glow blue and performed a souped-up version of the special. This is especially valuable since specials and ES’s tend to be more combo friendly that EX’s. Another feature that can be upsized to ES is the Pursuit. Basically, it is a universal otg attack that you can tack on whenever you knock down your opponent. Just press up + punch or kick, or up+ two kick buttons, during the said instance, and your character will attack the fallen opponent. I must say, it makes for some pretty nifty combos, and the look on the victim’s face when he or she is stomped/drilled/whatever on during a Pursuit is priceless.
Other uses of the super bar are the DF Change and the DF Power. After selecting your character, the game will prompt you to select one of these options. A DFC or DFP is performed by pressing a punch and kick of the same strength (e.g. fierce+roundhouse). At first glance, one is inclined to think, “so yeah purty background small power up waste of super wut”. Turns out that it’s more than that. The DFC is the power up of from Vampire Savior, costing only one super stock. During this state, the character receives a gimmicky power up so a limited period of time. For instance, Jedah and QBee enter flight mode, and Morrigan and Lilith create clones of themselves (ooh err) to up the combo and damage possibilities. DFP, on the other hand, is the what I like to call the ‘max mode’ from Vampire Savior 2. It’s pricier at two power stocks, but useful nonetheless. During this state, your character deals all-red, non-recoverable damage, and gets a power boost in his or her attacks, such as specials. The special power up of the DFC may also be accessible through the DFP, now as a motion/command (e.g. Pyron has to motion d,f,df PP to do his DFC power up). Unlike the DFC itself, the boost gained in DFP lasts for a brief time after the timer has expired, or at least until your character gets hit.
Whew! Explaining the gameplay sure was a chore. How is the game itself, you ask? I say it’s satisfactory. The matches are fast-paced and fun. It really takes some getting used to though. The AI, though honest-to-goodness for most part, shows its cheap side every now and then. I remember the first few times I played this game in my early teens- I got through the first few opponents without difficulty. And then I ran into speed bumps such as Hsien-Ko, who throws everything and the kitchen sink at you. Or Felicia, who waits for an opening, and when she does find one, combos you to hell and back. I wasted quite a few continues on them, back in the day.
Load times are average for a PSX game I guess, and certainly a tad shorter than the Marvel games or KoF PSX ports that I have played. Very pleasing.
One player arcade mode grants you seven fights. They are all of the same degree of difficulty, more or less, even the final ‘boss’ character (which, as aforementioned, is usually Jedah, but often varies). It’s quite fun brawling with those monsters, doing all those neat attacks the first few tries, and breaking some of the tougher character’s patterns. It can get boring from there, though. To perk up the game, a few options can are bundled in. There’s an Original character mode, which is a shortcut and survival mode of sorts (one option allows you to fight with only one lifebar). You can also access color edit in this mode, and even rename a character and save his or her data for this mode.
Another noteworthy thing is the presence of two hidden characters, Shadow and Marionette. Shadow is accessed by highlighting the “?” roulette button at the select screen, pressing Select 5 times (holding Select after the 5th press) and choosing “?”. It is basically a Soul Steal mode. You start off with a random fighter, and as you progress, you assume the identity of the character you last defeated. Marionette, on the other hand, is accessed in a method similar to Shadow’s; just substitute “5″ with “7″. This hidden character turns all of your fights into mirror matches, as you assume the identity of whichever character you are up against. A pretty cool feature once you’ve mastered majority of the characters of the cast.
The graphics are exceptional, from a 2d fighter/PSX port point of view. The backgrounds are varied give the game life. Examples include a garden full of geisha, a dungeon, a haunted train, and a fucking giant alien womb that houses the ugliest baby in existence. The backgrounds alone are almost worth the price of admission. The sprites do not disappoint either. There a are alot of special effects- ice, burn, lightning, curses, and the famous Midnight Bliss- it’ll make you have to keep your eyes peeled. There is ugliness in this game, but it is quite intentional. ;D haven’t seen any frame cutting, slowdown or move butchering. There is an issue regarding the censorship though. As with other games of the time, most of the blood effects have been bleached to a jizz-white color. Now, it probably makes sense for ho’s like Morrigan and Felicia to leak white fluid from their necks. But what really ticks me off is that Jedah has all of his blood effects in their messy, scarlet glory, while the other characters have to live in bukkake land. Wate wut. Either edit all of the bloody stuff, or none at all, Capcom.
The soundtrack! It is awesome. A good mix of techno, jazz, and catchy tunes overall. It sets the creepy yet campy atmosphere that is perfect for the game. Most of the characters have their own themes, and the individual tunes suit them quite well. For instance, Sasquatch has a “cutesy” tune that reminds me of Spekkio’s theme in Chrono Trigger, while Raptor has a “totally rocking it out” track. The voices aren’t bad either. The VA for the most part is average. What really caught my attention is the announcer. He sounds, not surprisingly, like some villain’s voice from a horror film of the old black-and-white era (”EH-red-EE, fight”). The auxiliary background voices add spice to the game too- there’s a shriek that resonates everytime a combo has finished, and there’s a monster laugh every time a tech hit, counter, or a defensive move of that sort has been performed.
A great cast, great presentation, and a mishmash of intriguing gameplay features- I guess that’s the best summary for Darkstalkers 3. Frustrating and a tad confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s all fun from there. Shallow premise? Maybe. Good fighting game? Yes! If you’ve any interest in Capcom, monsters, and big boob or no boob soul-stealing succubus, then by all means this is a must-own. That leaves only four more words to be said to conclude this review. And these words are:
LOL MORRIGAN SPRITE OLD!
