Darkstalkers 3

Overview

Vampire Savior: The Lord of Vampire (also known as Darkstalkers 3 and Vampire Savior: World of Darkness) is a 2D horror-themed fighting game developed and released by Capcom for arcades (using the CPS-2 hardware) on May 1997.

The third installment of the Darkstalkers franchise (and the sequel to Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge), Vampire Savior further modifies the roster (replacing Donovan Baine, Huitzil, and Pyron with four new characters: young succubus Lilith, bee/human hybrid Q-Bee, schizophrenic psychopath B.B. Hood, and dark vampire savior Jedah Dohma). The story's main antagonist is Jedah, who is displeased with the state of the Demon World after being resurrected and decides to recreate it himself in his own dimension, feeding it with souls he deems worthy (which happen to include the Darkstalkers).

The gameplay itself sees two major enhancements: the "Damage Gauge System" (which replaces the traditional round-based system, in which both player's lifebars are restored between rounds, with a lives-based system, and allows players to slowly regain a portion of their lifebar by avoiding further damage) and the "Dark Force System" (a manuever, activated by pressing a Punch and Kick button of the same strength simultaneously, that temporarily grants the player character special properties unique to that character).

Updates, Ports, and Re-releases

Two separate arrangements of Vampire Savior were released to Japanese arcades simultaneously on September 1997: Vampire Hunter 2: Darkstalkers Revenge and Vampire Savior 2: The Lord of Vampire. Both games feature minor gameplay adjustments (such as updated movelists, retweaking the power of the Dark Force mechanic, removing character-specific boss fights and endings, and recoloring stages and CPU opponents), and only differ from each other by their character roster. Both updates also add another secret character (Marionette), who takes control of a "copy" of the current opponent (creating mirror matches).

Alongside these updates, the original game received three major ports:

• The first port was released, in Japan only, for the Saturn on April 16, 1998. This version adds the three removed characters back into the roster.

• An enhanced port was released for the PlayStation (titled Darkstalkers 3 in the U.S. and Vampire Savior: EX Edition in Japan) on November 30, 1998, adding all characters and gameplay mechanics from all three versions (each character now has two modes: "Dark Force Change" for the original version and "Dark Force Power" for the updated versions) while adding new secrets (including new secret character variations and custom gameplay changes) and a custom character option (allowing players to re-color any character and build up their stats by earning experience points). This version was re-released for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita (both via PlayStation Network) on February 9, 2011 (in Japan) and April 24, 2012 (in North America).

• The last enhanced port was released as a mail-order game (in Japan only) for the Dreamcast (titled Vampire Chronicle For Matching Service) on 2000. This version adds online multiplayer while allowing players to pick any version of their chosen character (based on the games they were in, from the original Darkstalkers to the updated version of Vampire Savior). This version was later ported to the PlayStation Portable worldwide in 2004/2005 as Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower, adding a new single-player mode (called "Chaos Tower").

The original version was also re-released in two compilations: the Japan-exclusive Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection (released for the PlayStation 2 on May 19, 2005) and the online-enabled Darkstalkers Resurrection (released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on March 12, 2013). It was later digitally re-released for arcades in December 4, 2014 via the NESiCAxLive platform for the PC-based Taito Type X² system. Released exclusively in Japan, this system allowed players to keep track of their Versus Mode stats via a special card and included online leaderboards.

Characters

The original arcade version of the game includes 15 playable characters, four of which are new. Three characters from the previous game were removed, only to be added back in with both the Vampire Hunter 2 and Vampire Savior 2 updates (replacing other characters based on the version) and most of the console ports (bringing the total roster to 18).

While most characters fight antagonist Jedah as the boss battle, some characters have their own separate character-specific boss battles (which was later removed in the VH2/VS2 updates). Similar to Akuma in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, the game includes a powerful hidden boss ("Oboro" Bishamon) that can only be faced if certain conditions are met (not selecting "Auto" mode, not losing a single round, and defeating two opponents with a specific EX move).

Both the original and updated versions each introduced hidden characters who are not playable as themselves: Shadow is a supernatural being who takes control of the last defeated opponent (leaving the victor "dead"), while Marionette is a literal marionette that takes control of a "copy" of the current opponent (creating a series of mirror matches).

New Characters

• B.B. Hood (Bulleta in the Japanese version, removed in VH2)
• Jedah (removed in VH2)
• Lilith (removed in VH2)
• Q-Bee (removed in VH2)
• Shadow (hidden character)
• Marionette (hidden character added in VH2/VS2)

Returning Characters

• Anakaris
• Bishamon (has a special "Oboro" version as a hidden boss)
• Demitri
• Donovan (added in VH2/VS2, has a special "Dee" version in the arranged version in the PS2 compilation)
• Felicia
• Hsien-Ko (Lei-Lei in the Japanese version)
• Huitzil (Phobos in the Japanese version, added in VH2/VS2)
• J. Talbain (Gallon in the Japanese version, removed in VS2, has a special "dark" version as an unplayable boss in the original)
• Lord Raptor (Zabel in the Japanese version)
• Morrigan
• Pyron (added in VH2/VS2)
• Rikuo (Aulbath in the Japanese version, removed in VS2)
• Sasquatch (removed in VS2)
• Victor

Game Modes (PS1)

Darkstalkers 3 has most of the standard fighting game modes that one would expect. Arcade, Versus, Training and Options are all present. Darkstalkers 3 also throws in an Original Character mode were the play can edit the name and colors of any Darkstalker. There is a Collection mode of game art and extra options that can be unlocked by playing and leveling up in the Original Character mode.

Arcade

Fight through eight CPU controlled opponents with a player chosen difficulty between one and eight. When certain conditions are met the player may also fight against Oboro Bishamon or a special mid-boss.

Versus

Two human controlled players can fight head to head. Players may also choose their handicap and stage they wish to play.

Training

The Training mode in Darkstalkers 3 gives several options to players when they pause the game and press select.

Original Character

Original character allows players to rename and recolor any Darkstalker and battle with them to level up and unlock game art and extra options. The player must win battles, perform special moves in order to collect enough experience. Three parts of the character can be leveled up, Health Stock (the number of bats a player has), Damage caused by attacks and how full the players Super Meter (SS Guage) is at the start of the battle.

When certain levels are reached the player receives a small reward.

• Level 1: Page 2 of art in Collections is unlocked .
• Level 2: EX Options are unlocked.
• Level 3: Page 3 of art in Collections is unlocked.
• Level 4: Page 4 of art in Collections is unlocked.
• Level 5: DX Options are unlocked in the Options Menu.

Collection

Collection is a basic art gallery. Page 1 is unlocked at the start of the game and the rest of the pages must be unlocked in the Original Character mode by leveling up a character.

Options

Some options directly effect gameplay, such as the difficulty level, which can be changed from 1 to 8; 8 being the hardest. Players may also choose what speed the game is in turbo mode, how many health stocks will be given during the match as well as how much damage the characters deal. Things like the timer, shortcut and dual shock vibrations can be toggled on or off. Other things can be adjusted such as screen position and controller layout.

EX Options

Ex Options must be unlocked by playing an original character and leveling them up to level 2. Once unlocked, EX Options can be found in the options menu by press L2.

DX Options

DX Options must be unlocked by playing an original character and leveling them up to level 5. Once unlocked, DX Options can be found in the options menu by pressing L1.

Cheats (PS1)

• Shadow

To play Shadow Mode, highlight the "?" on the character selection screen and press Select five times and any punch or kick button. To select a character you'd like to play as first, select them and press select on them three times before pressing select five times on the "?."

• Marionette

To play Marionette mode, highlight the "?" on the character selection screen and press select seven times.

• Lilith with Morrigan's Voice

To play as Lilith with Morrigan's voice you must first go into options and set "short cut" to on. Then go into the game and highlight Lilith then hold down the select button and press any punch or kick. Remember you must have "short cut" on.

• Play as Oboro Bishamon

To play as Oboro Bishamon, highlight Bishamon on the character select screen. Hold down the select button and press any two punch or kick buttons at the same time (i.e. light punch and medium punch or medium kick and hard kick). It should be noted Oboro has slightly different animations and transformations along with moves.

• Play as "Image" Jon Talbain

To play as "Image" Jon Talbain, highlight Talbain on the character selection screen. Hold select and press all three punches at the same time.

• Alternate Version of Rikuo

To play a different version of Rikuo, highlight Rikuo on the character selection screen. Then hold the select and press any attack button.

• Alternate Version of Donovan

To play as a different version of Donovan, highlight Donovan on the character selection screen then press and hold select then press any attack button

• Alternate Version of Victor

Highlight Victor on the character selection screen. Hold down select and press any attack button.

• Alternate Version of Jon Talbain

Highlight Jon Talbain on the character selection screen. Hold down select and press any attack button.

Sound Track

Vampire Savior Official Sound Track

Vampire Another Selection: The Unreleased Takes

This disc contains some of the addition tracks added to Vampire Savior when it was ported as Darkstalkers 3.