PSX kinda got a bad rap back in the day. While it was not exactly a 2D powerhouse, the majority of 2D titles released on it were done nicely considering the hardware. Mainly it was the animation heavy marvel fighters that came up short(but even the saturn had trouble with those).
Edit: Oh and SNK titles being the exception. So many horrendous, inexcusable half assed ports! Was clear the programmers couldn’t be bothered to work a little overtime to get around the limitations. SSIV for example.
Yeah it seems odd, particularly considering that Savior has already been released on the Japanese PSN.
Anyway, for those of you curious about what high level Darkstalkers 1 play is like (if there is such a a thing?), there’s a Japanese event coming up in December that’s going to have tournaments for pretty much every game in the series, including this one. It’s been streamed the past couple years, so I assume it will be this year, too.
Control: shitty and overly complicated compared to later games. eg: 3 buttons used to do es moves*, es moves having inputs so precise it was a matter of luck pulling some off at all, let alone in a combo, game FORCES (by design, they meant for it to be that way…but I hate it so I brought it up) you to waste your super when the meter is full and you do a special. It automatically is an ex, unlike the current 2 button for ex attacks setups.
Graphics: good
Animation: Okay for the arcade version’s time. I guess. Still, unforgivable how Gallon grew an extra tail during his howling winpose.
Overall: pretend it never happened.
*there was no option to map 3 punches or kicks to one button, in case you were wondering why it was such big deal. If I remember right, Capcom didn’t do the home port themselves. I believe they foisted it off on another company (like they did for psx x-men cota)…which would explain a lot.
Of all the games to put on PSN, why Darkstalkers 1. Why not Vampire Savior/Darkstalkers 3? This is just going to turn more people off from the franchise.
When I first heard about this, I was thinking it would be a good way to get into the series, since I barely have any Darkstalkers experience. I’d rather wait now.
Not the best move by Capcom. Very, very casual observers/people who haven’t played it at all usually think, “So, it’s Street Fighter with monsters.” That’s not what the series is. Then again, Capcom’s recent efforts to promote the series are pretty quarter-assed, so I’m not surprised.
Not to mention the gameplay. Wasn’t it just made as a platform to test new hardware?
While it is a technically impressive and perfectly playable port, there really isn’t any reason to play it today. Far superior versions exist on the Dreamcast, Saturn and PS2. I mean, if the PSX version is all you’ve got, it’s all you’ve got. And I pity anyone in that situation.