When it comes to 2D fighters, Capcom's best known for Street Fighter II, the glorious brawler that revolutionized fighting games and changed arcades forever. Darkstalkers, Capcom's "other" major fighting franchise, has thus been relegated to the shadows, where it's been doing its own quirky thing since it debuted in 1994. Now, over 10 years later, Darkstalkers is finally getting the chance to shine by itself for once, as it's Capcom's inaugural fighting game for the PSP. And shine it does ... at least when the shortcomings of the PSP don't get in the way.

Much like Hyper Street Fighter II, Darkstalkers Chronicle is not a port of any one Darkstalkers game. Instead, it's a mishmash of all three (or four, or five, depending on how you count) games in the series. All of the backgrounds are drawn from Vampire Savior, the third game, but you can choose to play by the rules (and music) of Darkstalkers, Night Warriors, or Vampire Savior. In addition, you then have to choose from which version you want your character to be drawn, which results in some pretty major changes, character depending. Sound confusing? It really kind of is, even for this 2D veteran. That said, it sure is nice to have so many options!

Monster Mashed

Darkstalkers has a much faster pace than your average Street Fighter game, and the characters are much stranger and wackier. This is where it gets its quirky appeal, though fans of more conventional fare might be turned off a bit by the relative lack of more "normal" fighter archetypes. The game also has a large reliance on canned chain combos (rapid strings of attacks), which rubs some people the wrong way. Take this in stride, though, and you'll find the fighting action to be quite enjoyable and just as solid as that of any Capcom fighter.


The only major problem, and I'm afraid it's a big one, is the control. The PSP D-pad is not so hot, and it's particularly poor for inputting the fast, precise commands required by a 2D fighting game. (Note that I have no problem with the original PlayStation's D-pad -- I used to rock Street Fighter Alpha on eight stars with that.) As a result, I found it very annoying to pull off special moves with the regularity I expected, which went a long way toward dampening my enjoyment. There is a "simple" control mode, but it's strictly for newbies; among other things, it removes the medium attack buttons. It also (of course) still relies on those problematic D-pad motions. No thanks!