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[img width=300 height=300]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/0/198820_43003_front.jpg[/img]
So I've sort of gotten into this habit lately of updating my blog everytime I beat a game. And that sort of overlaps the fact that I've been using this blog to chronicle my budding Dreamcast collection over the past two months (over 20 games now!). And THAT overlaps the fact that as I'm collecting DC games, I'm also trying very hard to spend time playing them and attempting to actually beat games instead of just building up a huge backlog of untouched games. So as such, I bring you Street Fighter Alpha 3.
[img width=581 height=448]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/screenshots/0/198820/sfa3_screen014.jpg[/img]
Now let me first say that although I'm a huge fan of Street Fighter II, I really had limited experience with the Alpha series. I had played a bit of the first game's Game Boy Color port, as well as the third game's Game Boy Advance port. And although the GBA game is certainly impressive, it didn't really prepare me for the near-perfect arcade experiene I got out of the Dreamcast. The graphics in Alpha 3 are incredible, with bright colors popping off the screen. And the animations are fluid as hell, even at breakneck speeds.
[img width=581 height=448]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/screenshots/0/198820/sfa3_screen017.jpg[/img]
Now first off I encountered nothing but frustration. I picked my usual Street Fighter, Chun-Li only to find that none of her moves worked. It's a strange feeling to control Chun-Li and tap away at a kick button furiously to find that she does do the expected move. But after a bit of reading, it turns out this has to do with the Isms, or play-styles. Changing Chun-Li's style to X-Ism brought her move set far closer to that of Street Fighter II (except I had no projectile attack). Once I figured this out, I was able to make my way through arcade mode pretty quickly. It was a blast taking on all these unfamiliar characters, having to fight Juni and Juli at the same time, and eventually ending up in a showdown with M. Bison once again.
But perhaps the craziest thing is that I beat the game using a standard Dreamcast controller. Not by choice, I tell you. I just can't find a fightpad I can afford. Sure I have an Agetec stick, but I'm no good at fighting games with a stick -- those are purely for shmups. So in the end I guess I'm just slowly getting used to this stupid controller. Something I never thought would happen!
[img width=300 height=350]http://i.imgur.com/k825wl.jpg[/img]
The picture above is my personal Darkstalkers collection. It's a series that I have in the past several months become completely addicted to. My first introduction to the world of Darkstalkers was through Capcom Vs. SNK 2 where I started using Morrigan and realized that her move-set was so intuitive to me that I was just as good with her (or better) than I was with Chun-Li, who had been my standard fighter since Street Fighter II was released all those many years ago. After doing a bit of research (namely on http://HardCoreGaming101.net) I learned that Darkstalkers was essentially the coolest thing ever: a combination of Street Fighter style fighting and a horror movie theme. I was sold.
When I started collection PlayStation games again this year one of the first games I picked up was Darkstalkers 3 due to a deal I couldn't pass up. The game seemed totally brilliant to me. Using Morrigan, I zipped right through it -- continuing only once. I was now officially hooked. I picked up a copy of Darkstalkers Chronicles on PSP soon thereafter, and same thing. One sitting, one continue. Yes, this was definitely a series that I could connect to in a big way. I quickly started collecting all the releases for Sony consoles. As such, let's take a look at them all.
[img width=250 height=400]http://i.imgur.com/jxUoql.jpg[/img]
[img width=300 height=250]http://i.imgur.com/3YTvol.jpg[/img] [img width=300 height=250]http://i.imgur.com/Numdel.jpg[/img]
Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors was released for the original PlayStation pretty early in the console's lifetime. Note the longbox. Although there's some frustrating load times, the game is a pretty great arcade conversion. It looks fantastic with its huge 2D sprites, especially considering Sony's early plan to hype 3D as much as they could with their new system. Of note however is the insane difficulty of this one. The AI is incredibly brutal -- something that separates it from the other Darkstalkers releases. It's also worth noting that the Japanese version (titled Vampire) is worth considering as it features bonus music videos not present in the US release.
[img width=300 height=400]http://i.imgur.com/d5rrpl.jpg[/img]
Sadly the second Darkstalkers game wasn't released on the PlayStation. Though in 2005 Japan received a PS2 collection of all five of the Darkstalkers arcade games. Unfortunately for we import collectors, this game has a strange glitch that causes it to freeze up whenever a game is selected at the title screen. So unless you've got a Japanese console, the disc is entirely unplayable via normal import-loading methods.
[img width=300 height=300]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/6/197056_50240_front.jpg[/img]
[img width=300 height=250]http://i.imgur.com/gQQ24l.jpg[/img] [img width=300 height=250]http://i.imgur.com/Gk8Snl.jpg[/img]
Darkstalkers 3 is pretty much the finest example of the Darkstalkers experience on a home console. Though loading times are present, they're not game-killing. The graphics are gorgeous. The controls are flawless. Since first playing this one, it has become one of my all time favorite 2D fighting games ever. So certainly I've got a level of bias. But considering the fact that it can be had at a reasonable price on the aftermarket (as opposed to even the inferior first game) there's no reason that fans of the genre should overlook this one.
[img width=200 height=350]http://i.imgur.com/UjdoIl.jpg[/img]
[img width=300 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/I89hWl.jpg[/img] [img width=300 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/LLCWol.jpg[/img]
Darkstalkers Chronicles: The Chaos Tower was actually a launch-title for the PSP. Odd considering the lack of mainstream popularity for the series. The game is basically a mega-mix of the first three games. It incorporates all of the characters, moves and styles of each game into one big collection. Though the PSP interface isn't exactly meant for fighting games, this is actually a pretty great release for fans of the series. It looks great, and is certainly playable. An online option would have been a welcome addition though, and sadly the game wasn't exactly a big seller so a PSP sequel is unlikely.
[img width=200 height=350]http://i.imgur.com/dCD55.jpg[/img] [img width=200 height=350]http://i.imgur.com/6ArmN.jpg[/img]
Capcom released two UMD Videos exclusively through GameStop known as Night Warriors Darkstalkers Alpha and Omega. These are actually collections of the anime series that had originally been released on VHS. They look great, and add a bit of background to the characters. And considering their exclusivity through GameStop, they are actually a bit tricky to find these days. Definitely a cool collectible.
Although the Darkstalkers series seems slightly forgotten these days, many of the characters live on in other Capcom fighting games. The Capcom Vs. series has featured many of them (and this blog may touch upon that in the nearish future as well). But Darkstalkers still maintains a cult audience as well. There's a bounty of comic books, cartoons, soundtracks and figurines out there for collectors to delve into. Further proof of what a unique series it really was.
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