Darkstalkers
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| Darkstalkers franchise | |
|---|---|
 North American logo of the series |
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| Genres | Fighting |
| Developers | Capcom |
| Publishers | Capcom |
| Platforms | Arcade, various |
| First release | Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors 1994 |
| Latest release | Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection 2005 |
Darkstalkers, known in Japan and Asia as Vampire (Japanese: ヴァンパイア Hepburn: Vanpaia), is a series of 2D fighting games by Capcom. The franchise also is also an animated series, an anime miniseries, and comic books.
Darkstalkers introduced many of the concepts used in later Capcom fighting games, including the use of 16-bit color animation sprites later employed in the Street Fighter Alpha and Marvel vs. Capcom series. While Darkstalkers games did not see continuation past the third title in the series, several individual characters (usually Morrigan and often Felicia) appear in later Capcom games.
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[edit] Video games
| Western Title | Japanese Title | First Release | Arcade | Home versions | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors | Vampire: The Night Warriors | 1994 | CPS II | PS (1996); PS2 (2005) | included in Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection |
| Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge | Vampire Hunter: Darkstalkers' Revenge | 1995 | CPS II | Saturn (1996); PS2 (2005) | included in Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection |
| Darkstalkers 3 | Vampire Savior: The Lord of Vampire | 1997 | CPS II | Saturn, PS (1998); PS2 (2005) | included in Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection |
| N/A | Vampire Hunter 2: Darkstalkers' Revenge | 1997 | CPS II | PS2 (2005) | included in Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection |
| N/A | Vampire Savior 2: The Lord of Vampire | 1997 | CPS II | PS2 (2005) | included in Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection |
| Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower | Vampire Chronicle: The Chaos Tower | 2004 | N/A | PlayStation Portable |
[edit] Arcade games
[edit] Vampire/Darkstalkers
[edit] Vampire Hunter/Night Warriors
[edit] Vampire Savior/Darkstalkers 3
[edit] Home-exclusive versions
[edit] Vampire Chronicle/Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower
[edit] Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection
Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection is a compilation of all five Darkstalkers arcade games that were released in Japan only for the PlayStation 2 in 2005. This compilation features the original arcade versions of the games, as well as hidden arranged versions of the three Vampire Savior games, which introduce an alternative version of Donovan, Dee, as a secret character with his own storyline.
[edit] Characters
| Character | appears in | Voiced by | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darkstalkers | Night Warriors | Vampire Savior | Vampire Savior 2 | Vampire Hunter 2 | ||
| Anakaris | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Kan Tokumaru |
| B.B. Hood/Bulleta | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Miyuki Matsushita |
| Bishamon | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Kan Tokumaru |
| Demitri Maximoff | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Nobuyuki Hiyama |
| Donovan Baine | No | Yes | Console ports only | Yes | Yes | Nobuyuki Hiyama |
| Felicia | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Kae Araki |
| Hsien-Ko | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Michiko Neya |
| Huitzil/Phobos | CPU only | Yes | Console ports only | Yes | Yes | Juurouta Kosugi |
| Jedah Dohma | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Isshin Chiba |
| Jon Talbain/Gallon | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yuji Ueda |
| Lilith | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Hiroko Konishi |
| Lord Raptor/Zabel Zarock | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yuji Ueda |
| Marionette | No | No | Console ports only | Yes | Yes | N/A |
| Morrigan Aensland | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yayoi Jinguji |
| Pyron | CPU only | Yes | Console ports only | Yes | Yes | Nobuyuki Hiyama |
| Q-Bee | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Miyuki Matsushita |
| Rikuo/Aulbath | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yuji Ueda |
| Sasquatch | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Kan Tokumaru |
| Shadow | No | No | Console ports only | Yes | Yes | N/A |
| Victor von Gerdenheim | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Kan Tokumaru |
[edit] Related media
[edit] Animated series
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This section requires expansion. |
Am American animated series Darkstalkers was produced in 1997. It stars a young boy named Harry Grimoire, who was created for the cartoon. Since the series was not drawn in the same anime style used to draw the game sprites, the Darkstalkers characters look noticeably different.[1]
[edit] Anime OVA series
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This section requires expansion. |
A four-episode OVA anime series directed by Masashi Ikeda[2] was released as Vampire Hunter: The Animated Series in 1997. Viz produced an English adaptation that was released in North America under the title Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge.
[edit] Manga and comic book series
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This section requires expansion. |
A manga adaptation was authored by Run Ishida and published in Japan by Ascii in 1996. This manga was later adapted by Viz Comics under the title of Night Warriors: The Comic Series and published as a six-issue comic book (which were later collected in a single trade paperback volume).
A five-volume manga series surrounding Vampire Savior was created by Japanese manga artist Mayumi Azuma and published by Gangan Comics. It stars Lilith and an original character, John Stutely.
UDON Comics published a Darkstalkers comic series, consisting of six issues (upon which they stopped production abruptly). They were later collected in a TPB collection, which omitted the backup stories presented at the end of each issue, and included a special Morrigan background story previously only seen in a summer Capcom special. In 2010, UDON revived the series in a three-issue miniseries entitled Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors, with the first installment released in late February 2010.
[edit] Other media
In 2008, UDON released the Darkstalkers Graphic File, a collection of screenshots, storyboards and concept art from the series.
In 2009, UDON and Capcom released a 15th anniversary art book Darkstalkers Tribute. It consists of submitted artwork from fans of the series, along with artwork from some of Udon and Capcom's own artists and several famous manga artists such as Yasuhiro Nightow. The book was first available in August 2009 at several large anime conventions before being widely released the following September.
[edit] Reception
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This section requires expansion. |
In 2010, UGO.com ranked Darkstalkers at number 19 on the list of the games that need sequels.[3] In 2011, Complex ranked Darkstalkers as first on the list of the ten most missed fighting franchises.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ "Darkstalkers / Vampire". Hardcore Gaming 101. http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/darkstalkers/darkstalkers3.htm. Retrieved 2011-04-11.
- ^ Interview with Darkstalkers director Masashi Ikeda
- ^ 25 Games That Need Sequels, UGO.com, November 23, 2010
- ^ The 10 Most Missed Fighting Franchises| Complex
[edit] External links
- Darkstalkers at the Killer List of Videogames
- Darkstalkers guide at StrategyWiki
- Darkstalkers at the Internet Movie Database
- Darkstalkers series at MobyGames
- Hardcore Gaming 101 retrospective
- Comprehensive list of Darkstalkers games and characters
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- Anime OVAs
- Anime series
- Anime of 1997
- Fighting games used at the Evolution Championship Series tournament
- Anime-influenced animation
- Arcade games
- Cancelled Sega 32X games
- Comics based on video games
- Darkstalkers
- Fighting games used at the Super Battle Opera tournament
- Kemono
- Manga of 1995
- OVAs based on video games
- PlayStation 2 games
- Vampires in film
- Versus fighting games
- Video game franchises
- Viz Media anime
- Viz Media manga
- Werewolves in film
