Breaking into new VG playing territory!

[bargora]

Being a teenager in the latter half of the 80s, I had watched the arcades shift from shooters and abstract games as the scene was swamped with side-scrolling brawlers and one-on-one fighting games. I played a few games of Double Dragon and then wrote off the whole mess as a bunch of "stupid jump-punch-kick games". A couple rounds of Street Fighter (and later Virtua Fighter) didn't change my mind. I didn't realize it, but I was already a crotchety retro-gamer in 1987.

I suspect that a good part of it was that I didn't have the quarters to invest in getting the skills so I wouldn't be beat by (a) the second computer opponent (you can always beat the first one by button mashing, I guess) or (b) any 6-year-old. Plus, at the time I thought that the whole secret special move thing was elitist or something (no, my buddies didn't know them either).

Well, now that I'm older and collecting, I decided it was time to see what I missed, if only for "historical perspective" (i.e., to reaffirm my historical biases). So I broke out an arcade stick a few nights ago and threw Darkstalkers into the playstation. (Yeah, it's not that old, but it's a neat take on the ancient Street Fighter formula.) In my third session last night I managed to get through the thing using Morrigan with the difficulty set all the way down. Basically, a training mode. I had a friggin' blast! (Even though for some reason I can not execute the "Demon Blade" attack. WTF?) There's a whole lot more to the gameplay than I had originally thought. I feel the seeds of a potential obsession taking root.

Anybody else break into playing a whole new genre recently?

[buttasuperb]

Is the demon blade attack LP, LP, forward, LK, HP? If so, you have to do that real quick for it to work.

Enjoy the realm of 2D fighters, there are plenty of great ones out there. Your wallet might not like it too much though.

[Alex Kidd]

Not really, myself, I've always liked a little bit of everything, and the types of games I don't like I probably never will like...
Sports games: Not much of a sports fan, and I don't know the rules to most games... I did enjoy the old Hockey games, but they are so indepth now, you REALLY have to know the rules.. tho I do also enjoy Tennis games, and no, NOT because of Mario Tennis if that's what your thinking... I refuse to even TRY that game.
And Puzzle games ala Tetris, Columns, Bust a Move, Wario's Woods, etc... tho I do play them now and then to kill time, I just can't get into them and truely can't see what they mean by "simple yet addictive gameplay"... sure doesn't hook me...

However there is ONE style I've gotten back into after abandoning for a while...

The classic console RPG styles of Final Fantasy, Shining Force, Ys, etc...
RPGs that got me hooked on them in the first place and that I cut my teeth on. Games with rpg elements, maybe not TRUE rpgs to form, but close enough... (what DOES constitute an RPG? it's like saying what constitutes a sandwich really...)
the reason I got out of them was cause I got into AD&D and a set rule base that I could follow and skills and such... cause I never did get (and still don't get) the rules set to say, Shining Force...
But then I noticed that enventually, AD&D gets boring (plus wizards of the coast is massacering the poor thing.. a shame too.. AD&D is household word even among people who don't know the rules... they do know it exists)... really everygame is the same... without good personality, they tend to suck...
where as most Console RPGs with the (what I call) "Chaos Rule System", almost always have a good personailty and charm that hook you... so what if I'm not sure how much minimum/maximum damage I can inflict, or just WHO'S going to get their turn first if it's turnbased... the games are more fun!

Alex Kidd

But then there's Baldur's Gate II: Shadows Of Amn... a game with the AD&D rules set (before WotC butchered them too badly) AND a real charm and personality to the game world and characters within it.

[bargora]

Is the demon blade attack LP, LP, forward, LK, HP? If so, you have to do that real quick for it to work.
You know, I just looked in gamefaqs, and what the manual calls the demon blade is what the faq refers to as the shell kick. Joystick down, down-back, back, then any kick. Maybe it only looks different when you execute it against an opponent (as opposed to whiffing in the air?) I wouldn't be surprised, though, if there was an error in the manual. It tells me it takes two memory card blocks, but the game seemingly does not save anything at all.


Enjoy the realm of 2D fighters, there are plenty of great ones out there. Your wallet might not like it too much though.
Yeah, there's about a million of them, aren't there? And I'm dooming myself to eventually getting a Neo Geo? Well, just from package deals, Christmas gifts, and football pool prize winnings (!) I've accumulated Ultimate MK 3, Darkstalkers, Darkstalkers 3, Fighting Vipers, Virtua Fighter 2, Soul Calibur, and Virtua Fighter 4. So I guess I've got enough to pick up the basics of both 2D and 3D fighters. Once I beat Galactic Attack, of course. :-D

And A.Kidd, I also haven't cared for post-crash sports games (too complicated--don't care enough--brain too small!!), and I've never been into RPGs. Instead of "stupid jump-punch-kick games", I've traditionally viewed them as "stupid random-encounter-pointless-leveling-up-exercise-lame-plot games". Maybe I'll always feel that way. Maybe it'll just be another genre to mine when I'm retired.

And another genre--now that Resident Evil style games (survival horror) are dropping the Resident Evil style control (yes, I walk like a tank drives), I'm finding I'm liking them better. Case in point, Run Like Hell (PS2). But then, I suppose that this game really is heading toward straight action with creepy atmosphere, especially since your gun never runs out bullets. Well, that's fodder for a soon to be added "What IS survival horror? (or what SHOULD it be?)" thread.

[Captain Wrong]

And I'm dooming myself to eventually getting a Neo Geo?

You can play imports on your Saturn, right? That should hold you for a while. The Neo Ports are pretty good on the Saturn (loading times are somewhat bad tho.)

[ManekiNeko]

It's great that you're dipping your toe into the fighting game genre with Darkstalkers, but you owe it to yourself to play the improved sequel, NightWarriors, on the Saturn instead. It's a superior port of a superior game.

JR

[bargora]

You can play imports on your Saturn, right? That should hold you for a while. The Neo Ports are pretty good on the Saturn (loading times are somewhat bad tho.)
That is good to know! They can go on the shelf with the Gradius, Parodius, and Salamander Deluxe packs.


It's great that you're dipping your toe into the fighting game genre with Darkstalkers, but you owe it to yourself to play the improved sequel, NightWarriors, on the Saturn instead. It's a superior port of a superior game.
Thanks, MN. I had heard of the Saturn game, but I wasn't aware of the relative quality of the games. I presume that these were all arcade games at one point (at least in Japan). Is NightWarriors a port of the game that came between Darkstalkers and Darkstalkers 3?

[Kid Fenris]

Is NightWarriors a port of the game that came between Darkstalkers and Darkstalkers 3?

You got it. In Japan, Darkstalkers is called Vampire, Night Warriors is called Vampire Hunter, and Darkstalkers 3 is called Vampire Savior. There's also a Vampire Savior 2 arcade game, but I think it's just an upgrade and that all of its new features were included in the Saturn version of Vampire Savior. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong about that.)

[bargora]

Is NightWarriors a port of the game that came between Darkstalkers and Darkstalkers 3?

You got it. In Japan, Darkstalkers is called Vampire, Night Warriors is called Vampire Hunter, and Darkstalkers 3 is called Vampire Savior. There's also a Vampire Savior 2 arcade game, but I think it's just an upgrade and that all of its new features were included in the Saturn version of Vampire Savior. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong about that.)
So was Vampire / Darkstalkers (1) ever released for the Saturn? Night Warriors / Vampire Hunter came out in U.S. and Japan as far as I can tell, right? And Did Vampire Savior only get a JP Saturn release?

This is almost as bad as Agetec's Strikers 1945 / Strikers 1945 II renaming unpleasantness. Speaking of which, there isn't any U.S. release for the original Strikers 1945, is there?

[Captain Wrong]

Speaking of which, there isn't any U.S. release for the original Strikers 1945, is there?

Nope, but it shouldn't be too hard to score an import copy (if you got the $$$)

[Kid Fenris]

So was Vampire / Darkstalkers (1) ever released for the Saturn? Night Warriors / Vampire Hunter came out in U.S. and Japan as far as I can tell, right? And Did Vampire Savior only get a JP Saturn release?


Vampire/Darkstalkers was never released for the Saturn, though NW/Vampire Hunter contains a code that lets you play with the original Darkstalkers backgrounds and music. NW was indeed released on the U.S. Saturn, but Vampire Savior is exclusive to the Japanese system.

I'm not sure how the PSX version of Darkstalkers 3 compares to the Saturn's Vampire Savior, though, because I never played the Playstation game that much.

[ManekiNeko]

"So was Vampire / Darkstalkers (1) ever released for the Saturn?"

No, but you wouldn't need it anyway. NightWarriors is similar to the first game, but a lot of things have been improved. Does it annoy you that you can only store one special move in Darkstalkers, and your power meter quickly drains away after it's been filled? That doesn't happen in NightWarriors... you can charge your power meter nine times over (possibly more, I don't recall) and the only time it'll reduce is when you use super moves. There are more characters, more attacks, and better win portraits, too. Once you have NightWarriors, you won't miss Darkstalkers at all.
Fenris, what's the code for accessing the Darkstalkers music in NightWarriors? I completely forgot about that.

JR

[Kid Fenris]

Go under the Options menu, then highlight "configuration" and rapidly press B, X, Down, A, and Y in that order. It's tricky because you have to hit A and Y before the game recognizes "Down" and moves your cursor to the top of the menu.

Anyway, it should bring up an Appendix. Set the BGM or Backgrounds to "Classic" and you'll have the Darkstalkers music and stages. I tried this out in my import version, Vampire Hunter, but the code is the same in the American edition.

GameSages (http://codes.ign.com/ob2/068/000/000078.html) has some other tricks for the game, like Morrigan's disco-outfit win pose.

[IntvGene]

If you even moderately like what you are playing now, GO OUT NOW and get Vampire Savior... Its' an excellent game ten times over and honestly one of my favorite fighting games of all time and the new characters are awesome (for the most part), like:


http://pantransit.reptiles.org/images/1998-11-22/art01.png


4Meg cart and Import playability for the Saturn are necessities in fostering a love for 2-d fighters on the home system.

[bargora]

When I bought my ST Key for my Saturn, I thought "why the hell would I need a 4-in-1?" Well, I guess my answer has been delivered. Of course, my official Sega gamesave memory cart just arrived in the mail. Sigh...

@Intvgene--I've got Darkstalkers 3, the U.S. PSX version of Vampire Saviour. Is VS for Saturn a whole lot better? It seems to me that people usually talk about dropped animation frames when fighters get go from Saturn to PSX, but I haven't done any side-by-side comparisons, as this is all new to me.

Also, I looked at a couple of copies of Night Warriors for sale on the bay, and noticed my buddy Donovan on the cover. I'd first run into him in SPFIIT, and was wondering why he wasn't in Darkstalkers!