"Great for what it is."

Well, this was my first PSP game and I still play it to this day (Albeit in small bursts)

Graphics: 8.5

What can I say? They're great for a 2D fighting game. Sprites, as could be expected of Capcom, some are slightly pixelated, which is disappointing. BUT, the wonderful character design more than makes up for this. Each character looks unique and different. The animation also looks quite smooth and the attacks look strange, but I'm pretty sure that's the intended affect.

Sound: 7.5

Not really a whole lot to say here, I liked some of the songs but others were just 'meh'. The sound affects were pretty much unspectacular.

Gameplay: 9

Here's where the game shines. The gameplay is extremely good, there is plenty of replay value and the learning curve isn't way to steep. It has the "Chaos Tower" which is basically 100+ floors of battles many of which unlock art and such. For the Tower mode you choose your 3 favourite dark stalkers and before each floor you choose which one you'll use for the impending battle and fight. But if you lose health in that battle you only regenerate a little for each floor which is what makes this mode harder, attempting to balance the damage between your 3 dark stalkers. There are also heal pads on some floors for a little relief, which is nice. But if one of your characters dies, they're gone for good in that Tower game.

There is also arcade mode. In arcade mode you choose your character and which game you wish to play through (Ie: Darkstalkers 1 arcade, Vampire Saviour arcade, etc. the characters are slightly different in each mode). And after completing arcade mode with a character you unlock their ending video and learn a little more about their character and such.

Over all: 8

I'd say the sound department was what hurt this game the most, they could defiently have improved the music and sound effects in my opinion. Other than that I think this is a wonderful little game you'll find your self playing from time to time for years.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/30/06