Truly a rare gem, this game is a instant classic which all Capcom and Fighting fans alike should pick up ASAP~
Genre: Fighting
Developer: Capcom
System: Playstation Portable (PSP)
Total Score: 83/100
Value Score: 8.3 /10
• Story: 8/10
o Usually fighting games don't have good storylines especially to a fighting game which was mostly released in the 1990s. This particular version consists all 3-4 versions of the game whether it was the Console or Arcade version. It includes the storylines of each of the games, along with their specific endings. Each character's storyline though at first might be a mystery, but once you get to the ending of each character, each character's ending brings a whole new level of storyline to a genre not known for its storyline bases. Whether the storylines you will see are comedic, dramatic or full of action, Darkstalkers Chronicle Chaos Tower delivers all the great storylines of the series.
• Characters: 10/10
o The character roster altogether consists of 18 characters along with 3 hidden characters, though the secret characters aren't that much of a big deal as you would expect in any other fighting game, the roster is full of characters based on famous horror stories and legends. Each character has a peculiar personality and each one has their own special non-generic storyline. The Storylines and goals of each character are different and one of the best aspects of the game, especially since the storylines of other fighting games specifically Street Fighter are usually generic. Each character is built differently unlike other fighters where they may have 2-3 clones of one character. There are a lot of memorable characters like Morrigan, Lilith, Jedah, Felicia, etc.
• GamePlay: 10/10
o Playing this game as it is, it really is good, fast paced, with multiple combos, swift action, and the frame rate is good, however, using the d-pad of the PSP might be difficult, but you get used to it, the fighting system is similiar to Street Fighter but with mostly speed greater, and a whole lot of combos able to do.
You have a choice of choosing Arcade, Network, Training, or the tower mode in which you can play in, in Arcade mode, you can choose to play as either of these modes(each mode is different for each character) the modes are: Darkstalkers (part1), NightWarriors(Part2), and Darkstalkers 3 (Part3), when you choose a character, you choose one of these gameplay modes, you can do different specials and different attacks, choose normal speed or turbo mode, whether to have auto guard or not, and other things, also you can choose whether to have the automatic round(as soon as character is Ko'd, character gets back up with full health, fights like these can last for more than 3 minutes which some fighting games dont take that much or the regular round match similiar to Street Fighter.
• Graphics: 9/10
o Well, this game is 2D just like Street Fighter, but with the swift like framerate that capcom put in this game, this game plays with crystal clear graphics, the special effects from attacks and specials are nicely done, you hardly notice a mistake, the backgrounds are good looking except for some bland ones, since the game has a dark storyline, this is normal. The Character sprites are all well done, and in my opinion are fluid than what you would see in a Street fighter game.
• Sound: 8/10
o Sound effects in the game were really well done, they added a couple of scratching, snarling, growling sound effects, pretty much what you would expect from a horror game or storyline. The grunts, blows, and punches all sound like what a capcom fighter should be like. The voice overs are mostly dominant in Japanese but there are some instances where there are some English words used. Though the entire storyline is not told by voice of narration but by text like most fighters are.
• Music: 7/10
o The music in this game has a dark tone to it, mixed with techno and orchestra. Much of the music is generic, but there are few memorable ones in the OST. I recommend listening to Jedah stage music and the opening.
• Length: 5/10
o Well since this is a fighting game, of course it would be short, after playing and unlocking the character endings for each game play you choose, the tower is the only other thing you could actually have something new happen.
• Replay Value: 7/10
o The arcade mode will last you out for a while since you'll be unlocking many endings, etc. Afterwards the tower which has 100+ floors is the only thing left, each floor you fight a certain character, there are three parts to each floor, each giving you a unlockable art for the gallery when you win, along with that there are stipulations on the matches such as no punching, no kicking, or no jumping, etc. There are a total of 100+ floors and it gets harder especially every 0 number floor. The highest I made it to is 96th floor. Other than the actual gameplay modes, you also have wifi mode which is a plus, network mode in other words, up to 4 people can play, 1 vs 1 though, kind of like a mini tournament. Three options, regular one on one, limited battle(Stipulations), and coliseum(4 people).
• Player Value: 9/10
o If your looking for a solid fighting game, than this game is worth it. It might not be as famous as Street Fighter, but this game series can hold on its own, containing memorable characters whom have appeared in other games such as Marvel VS Capcom series and other RPG games. Storyline is top notch compared to other fighters, roster is average with only 18 unique characters, gameplay is solid and better than Street Fighter games which were released at its time, graphics are clean and crisp. The sound effects and music are average, length is what you would expect in a fighting game, and considering this to be a fighting game, it does have somewhat of a decent replay value mostly because it's a compilation of all 4 darkstalkers video game versions. It was one of the first PSP games to be released in the US, also this game is a instant classic and a rare gem, I recommend any die-hard fighting game fan and Capcom fan to pick this up ASAP.