Among the onslaught of gift cards and cash this Christmas I received an unexpected surprise.  I guess the constant nagging to play Vampire Chronicle with me on my Dreamcast overtime led one of my close friends to gift me the new Darkstalkers Tribute art book.  As someone who is not into manga and comics I am actually surprised how much I am enjoying the art book.  Which I guess only makes sense since video games have so much to do with visual presentation.  The book is thick, having over 300 pages, displaying various artists renditions of characters from the Darkstalkers franchise.  Whats really interesting about the book is the creative style of each piece.  You have art ranging from cute, and fun  

to downright gritty and dark.  

Each piece is printed in outstanding color on high quality matte paper which internet images do no justice to.  The other cool thing is that each piece is accompanied by the artist's name and website, opening up new creative avenues for you to venture, if you so chose. 

As someone who has loved the Darkstalkers series since I first saw it in arcades at around eleven, it is a real treat to see the series through the eyes of so many amazing artists.  But even if your not into Darkstalkers at all, I still highly recommend the book based solely on the art inside it.  If you like monsters, sexy temptresses cool character designs and looking at amazing visuals with your eyeballs then check out the Darkstalkers Tribute book, it won't disappoint 

Among the onslaught of gift cards and cash this Christmas I received an unexpected surprise.  I guess the constant nagging to play Vampire Chronicle with me on my Dreamcast overtime led one of my close friends to gift me the new Darkstalkers Tribute art book.  As someone who is not into manga and comics I am actually surprised how much I am enjoying the art book.  Which I guess only makes sense since video games have so much to do with visual presentation.  The book is thick, having over 300 pages, displaying various artists renditions of characters from the Darkstalkers franchise.  Whats really interesting about the book is the creative style of each piece.  You have art ranging from cute, and fun  

to downright gritty and dark.  

Each piece is printed in outstanding color on high quality matte paper which internet images do no justice to.  The other cool thing is that each piece is accompanied by the artist's name and website, opening up new creative avenues for you to venture, if you so chose. 

As someone who has loved the Darkstalkers series since I first saw it in arcades at around eleven, it is a real treat to see the series through the eyes of so many amazing artists.  But even if your not into Darkstalkers at all, I still highly recommend the book based solely on the art inside it.  If you like monsters, sexy temptresses cool character designs and looking at amazing visuals with your eyeballs then check out the Darkstalkers Tribute book, it won't disappoint 

 
  @MikeFightNight:
 
 
Nice review Mike. I got myself a copy a little while back.  I also like some of those pics you've posted above, especially the Morrigan in the style of Michelangelo the great Renaissance painter, and the one with Felicia playing chess. There's also the pic with Sasquatch eating an ice cream cone which I love.
 
 
I would recommend the Darkstalkers Graphic File: 
 

" @Linkyshinks:  Yup, I actually ordered it off Amazon shortly after I got the Tribute book.  Helped me write the wiki for the Darkstalkers Franchise and Hsien-ko Character pages.  My only compliant is the binding for it, just terrible.  Maybe I just got a bad copy. 
 
@TinaWood:  Yeah Amazon has them for 26 bucks, they use to go for 40 at one point I guess,  Can't go wrong for that kind of quality. "

" @MikeFightNight:   You could have of got a hardback version from the official Udon shop, I imagine the qualirty of it's binding is significantly better. The binding on both mine are fine, I guess you were unlucky. If it was in bad condition to start with, you should really return it.  "

  
 
@MikeFightNight:   

O'right, well perhaps some good strong glue will help pretty it up a little. Anyway, if your not already a member, please sign up to Capcom Unity and show your support via a post on the first thread: 
  
http://www.capcom-unity.com/ask_capcom/go/thread/view/7371/18569387/Any_Chance_Of_A_DarkStalkers_HD_Remix_Capcom

 http://www.capcom-unity.com/darkstalkers    
 
  

That is some awesome Darkstalkers Art and the Wu-Tang shaped controller is pretty damn cool.

As for my history with the series I first played a Darkstalkers game when I was around ten in my local arcade (ha! remember those?)  It was Night Warriors Darkstalkers Revenge and the style of it was like nothing I had ever seen before.  I remember going home that same night and trying to draw the characters I had seen from the the side of the arcade cabinet;) 

Ever since then I have always had an appreciation for the series.  It resurfaced in my life around 2002 when I started to read about the existence of Vampire Chronicle for the Dreamcast, and well let's say that importing the game was an issue for a 15 year old so I resorted to other not so legal methods of getting the game for my Dreamcast, yes I know I am an awful person;)  I played it all throughout high-school and then when moving from my hometown for school and stuff I forgot about it.  

Then when I first heard that Street Fighter IV was coming out it re excited that fighting game love in me that had been lost and I remembered my good old friend the Dreamcast.  Have been playing it on and off ever since.

I still think they should release an HD version of Vampire Chronicle for Live and PSN to test the waters. I sure as hell would buy it, especially for online play, since most of my friends are not that into fighting games:(