20 years ago, after years of updates to Street Fighter II, Capcom finally released a brand new fighting game.
A game that instead of presenting us with yet another cast of martial artists as was the standard at the time, gave us a cast filled entirely with inhuman monsters. Monsters who fought in all sorts of bizarre, over the top ways. A Yeti who spits snowmen. A Frankenstein monster who smacks with his giant electrified behind. A zombie who sprouts chainsaws from his legs. A succubus who performs jetpack-powered piledrivers.
All of this zany action rendered in sprite animation the likes of which had never been seen before. Not only in terms of frame count (which was double that of Street Fighter II), but in terms of effective use of traditional animation principles. Even standard punches and kicks had more life to them, let alone the crazy shapeshifting attacks.
But it wasn't just eye candy. It also took the gameplay to a new level with mechanics like chain combos, guard cancels, air blocking, ES specials, and all sorts of dashes with wildly varying properties. Mechanics that would become staples of the genre, many of them even finding their way back into Street Fighter.
Let's celebrate Darkstalkers' 20th anniversary. Although it seems as though the teases of a new game were empty, we can still play and remember the classics.