I am a big fan of Capcom. Some of my favorite characters, series, and games have come out of their work. I have always liked what they have done and I have always appreciated all the stuff they have done for their fans. Hell, this year has been one surprise after another what with MVC2, Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom coming to America with extra characters and the announcement of Super Street Fighter 4 makes this a good year to be a fan of Capcoms games but there is one thing that has bothered me about this year.
15 years ago Capcom started a series that has become my favorite fighting game series. That series is the Darkstalkers series. Alot of people like Street Fighter, King of Fighters, and Guilty Gear but I have always considered Darkstalkers the best of the best. The characters in it I consider some of the best designed and balanced fighting characters in the genre but I am getting ahead of myself. This year, as I have stated earlier, marks Darkstalkers 15th anniversary and what with Capcom having a habit of doing something for the anniversaries of their most popular franchises I was expecting them to do something special. But now the majority of 09 is behind us and Capcom hasn't done a thing. They haven't released an arcade stick, a gamepad, or even a measly T-shirt. Hell, I probably wouldn't have even know that this year was Darkstalker's 15th anniversary if Udon hadn't done the Darkstalkers tribute. But what dissapoints me the most is that they didn't announce a new game in the series.
Now, you are probably thinking this is just me being a bitter fanboy but I really think there is alot that Capcom could have taken advantage of to bring more people into the series. The Darkstalkers series has always been sort of a cult classic and probably doesn't have anywhere near the following Street Fighter or King of Fighters has but with all the fighting games coming out this year they could have introduced a lot of fighting fans to the franchise.
If there is one thing I know about crossovers it is that it can easily introduce people to new franchises. Back when the original Super Smash Brothers came out I knew nothing about alot of the Nintendo characters. In particular Kirby, I had never heard about Kirby until SSB and I really liked him in SSB so I wanted to know where he came from. Not long after Kirby and the Crystal Shards came out and I have been a fan ever since. Now, i'm not an analyst nor will I ever pretend to be, but it doesn't take a genius to grasp that crossovers are a good way to introduce people to something new. And with two games coming out this year containing Darkstalkers characters and this being its anniversary I figured Capcom would take advantage of this, but they haven't. I'm positive if they did announce something it would garner alot of interest as people recognize Felicia from MVC2 and Morrigan from TVC so why isn't capcom doing this?
a rerelease of this on XBLA would be so awesome
I've always wanted another Darkstalker's game but I never felt Capcom would dig it out and do something with it. I figured however that after Street Fighter got a revival and all the other stuff that they did in the fighting genre this year that if they ever were going to announce making this game it would have been this year's TGS, but instead they announce Super Street Fighter 4. Don't get me wrong, I am really excited for SSF4 and I can't wait until they announce the new characters, but I can't help but feel dissapointed that they didn't do something else.
Of course, the year isn't over yet and I can still hold out hope that they will announce something around Halloween but it just seems unlikely. I guess just more then anything I just wish that Capcom would do something to celebrate the release of one of my favorite series. So far the only thing that has been done was Udon releasing the Darkstalkers Tribute book. Some may argue that that is Capcom's contribution but last I checked Udon wasn't Capcom and them giving Udon permission to do something they wanted to do isn't much of a celebration. I just wish Capcom would do something and I thought the best way to have celebrated its anniversary was announcing something to bring people to the series and all I have to say is that it is a shame that Capcom hasn't done something for Darkstalkers.
/rant
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Ono, one of the SF4 producers said he'd like to take the SF4 engine and make a darkstalkers game with it.
All hope is not lost.
"15 years ago Capcom started a series that has become my favorite fighting game series. That series is the Darkstalkers series."
Series series, series series. SERIES.
oh Quiet you.
I agree 100%
At the very least they could have done a XBLA/PSN port this year. But like you said, Halloween is just around the corner, and who knows what will happen...
I only got the PSP version, in the rare moments that I got to control what I was doing, it was 100% awesome.
I love the scream that happens after you finish a combo.
My god, I wish I could add 1000 faps to this. Vampire Savior/DS 3 is one of my favorite fighters EVER, and I would love a new game or a rerelease of VS. Seriously, the game's already one of Capcom's best balanced fighters. I'm not sure the SFIV engine would be my choice for the Darkstalkers series though, I'd hope Capcom would do a 2D DS4, but that doesn't seem to be their focus right now. Anything new would be great though! The capcom-unity forums have drummed up some strong support for the series, check them out!
You're such a little biatch.
I am now imagining a Darkstalkers game that looks like BlazBlue. My expectations are now quite high, and whatever Capcom makes short of that, I will be disappointed.
I think that Capcom has it all wrong, actually.
They stated that they didn't want to keep remaking/re-releasing/making fighting games and their associated sequels.
This is a ludicrous plan.
They've got the most potentially-lucrative back catalog of titles to hit, and with fighting game fans practically starving for fresh material, now would be the time to strike, so to speak. They haven't touched Rival Schools in almost a decade. They haven't hit up Darkstalkers at all. Shit, I'd even take another Cyberbots/Tech Romancer. Even Warzard/Red Earth had a fairly revolutionary system of leveling up to receive new moves and attacks, never mind weapons and other upgrades - this could be used to great effect online. Speaking of online, a game meant for that lofty pursuit would be a little gem I like to call Mother-Power-Fucking-Stone-Bitch. It's meant for that kind of "around-the-world" gameplay, just look at the international cast and locations, as well as the universal gameplay mechanic that unites every character.
They're really fooling themselves if they think that this shouldn't happen.
I agree with everything everyone has said here.
This. Capcom has a lot of awesome stuff in their history that aside from cross over references they seem to want to forget ever existed. Why you gotta be like that Capcom? :(
I understand your pain good sir this is one title that needs some serious love.