Darkstalkers 3 / Vampire Savior
 

 
STORY:  Jedah, one of the high nobles of Makai, is resurrected after a premature death long ago. Seeing the state of the demon world, he decides that the only way to save the world is to recreate it. To this end, he conjures a dimension known as Majigen, to which he summons worthy souls to feed his new world. As luck would have it, those souls belong to the characters from the first two games, in addition to three newcomers.
 

 
REVIEW:  The third installment of the Darkstalkers series, Darkstalkers 3 (known as Vampire Savior in Japan) presents the biggest and most colorful cast yet. Four brand new characters join the roster: Jedah, Q-Bee, B.B. Hood, & Lilith. Unfortunately, Pyron, Donovan & Huitzil were cut from the original arcade version of the game (but do make an appearance in the console versions of the game). There were actually two simultaneously released "updated versions" of Vampire Savior that debuted in Japanese arcades only a few months after the original release: Vampire Hunter 2 - Darkstalkers' Revenge and Vampire Savior 2 - The Lord of Vampire.


The key difference between the two upgrades and the original Vampire Savior is the character roster. Vampire Hunter 2 features the same character roster and soundtrack as Night Warriors (known as Vampire Hunter in Japan), omitting the characters introduced in Vampire Savior, while Vampire Savior 2 features the Vampire Savior cast along with Donovan, Huitzil & Pyron, omitting J. Talbain (as well as Dark Talbain), Rikuo & Sasquatch. But thankfully, all characters appeared in the console ports of Darkstalkers 3 / Vampire Savior.
 

 
Darkstalkers 3 introduces the "Damage Gauge System". Battles take place during a period of one round, with each fighter having two "Life Markers" (by default) which diminish after one character runs out of vitality. Basically, this enables faster bouts than the typical "best 2 out of 3" round system previously used. The player can also regain a portion of their life during battle if they manage to avoid taking further hits. Darkstalkers 3 also introduces the "Dark Force System" which allows players to perform special abilities unique to each character for a limited time period.
 

 
Following suit with previous installments, the music, artwork, and character animation of Darkstalkers all stand out as 100% original. The new stages are intricately designed, creepy, and are really effective at getting you into the unique setting of Darkstalkers. Following suit with past installments, the interesting new Darkstalkers character designs offer diversity and present some awesome new play styles. No doubt a 2D fighting game player of any level can find a character in Darkstalkers 3 that they enjoy using (if they take the time to properly learn the character, that is). Even if the gameplay doesn't suit your fancy, any artwork enthusiast can appreciate the amazing art direction of Darkstalkers (thanks to Capcom's team of master artists).


Darkstalkers 3 was visual and artistic masterpiece when it released in arcades and on consoles. It looked like to other fighting game that came before it! The console version of Darkstalkers 3 was the definitive version of Darkstalkers to play (until Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower released on PSP at least). The PlayStation version of Darkstalkers 3 also includes a cool Color Edit Mode where you can customize each character's color scheme to your liking. I believe this was the first Color Edit Mode to ever appear in a console fighting game, and for the time was a fun and innovative fighting game bonus mode.

 

Page Updated: September 10th, 2020 Developer(s): Capcom Publisher(s): Capcom Artwork by: Bengus, Edayan, Daigo Ikeno, Dai-Chan Platform(s): Arcade, PlayStation, PSN, Sega Saturn Release Date(s): 1997                                      Arcade Apr. 16th, 1998             Sega Saturn Nov. 5th, 1998                 PS1 Nov. 18th, 1998              PS1 Nov. 30th, 1998              PS1 Apr. 24th, 2012             PlayStation Network Characters:  Demitri Maximoff, Jon Talbain, Victor, Zabel, Morrigan Aensland, Anakaris, Felicia, Bishamon, Rikuo, Sasquatch, Hsien-Ko, B. B. Hood, Q-Bee, Lilith, Jedah, Huitzil (console), Pyron (console), Donovan (console), Anita, Dee ( Darkstalkers Collection) Featured Video: Related Games: Darkstalkers, Darkstalkers 2, Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower, Darkstalkers: Resurrection, Warzard, Bloody Roar, Mace: The Dark Age, Pocket Fighter, Street Fighter III: New Generation, Capcom VS SNK, Capcom VS SNK 2, Capcom Fighting Evolution, SNK VS Capcom: Match of the Millennium, SNK VS Capcom Chaos, Marvel VS Capcom, Marvel VS Capcom 2, Marvel VS Capcom 3    Gameplay Engine  8.0 / 10 Story / Theme  8.5 / 10 Overall Graphics  8.5 / 10 Animation  8.5 / 10 Music / Sound Effects  8.5 / 10 Innovation  8.5 / 10 Art Direction  10 / 10 Customization  8.5 / 10 Options / Extras  8.0 / 10 Intro / Presentation  9.5 / 10 Replayability / Fun  7.5 / 10 "Ouch" Factor  7.5 / 10 Characters  9.0 / 10 BOTTOM LINE  8.7 / 10  Review based on Arcade / PS1 version       Final Words: Darkstalkers 3 is a stylish fighting game all around. What a presentation! The intro movie is still one of my all time favorites, right along with the character select screen (and the catchy BGM). Darkstalkers 3 debuted two of my favorite characters in the entire franchise, B.B. Hood & Jedah! These incredible character designs are instant classics, pure Capcom 90's brilliance, and are even charismatic enough to star in their own spin-off games (if Capcom ever took the opportunity to do such a thing).  The gameplay of the series also shows its full maturity in Darkstalkers 3, with impressive evolution and perhaps the best balance to date. Considering the time period in which Darkstalkers 3 was released, the gameplay system was starting to show its age in some areas. However, Darkstalkers 3 is definitely the fastest and most frantic installment of the series to date. It's definitely worth playing and enjoyable for all levels of 2D fighting game players! Darkstalkers 3 made an impactful statement with its vivid art style, insane animation quality, and loveable character designs. Over the years, it was amazing seeing many Darkstalkers characters cross over to other fighting game series, including: Capcom VS SNK, SNK VS Capcom Chaos, Capcom Fighting Evolution, Match of the Millennium, and Marvel VS Capcom. I only wish more characters from Darkstalkers made guest appearances in other Capcom games. ~TFG Webmaster | @FIGHTERS_GEN    All posters / box art / movelists!