Vampire Savior (Arcade) Review

 (Originally posted on November, 2017)

(1997, Arcade)

Never quite catching on in North America like it deserved to, Vampire Savior is nonetheless one of those highly stylish and well-polished 2D classics that grow even more impressive with age. Briefly wowed in the late 90s after purchasing the Sega Saturn port, I didn’t stick with this fighter for long, as a cabinet to compete on was tangible as a ghost at my local arcades. Not merely another upgrade, the final game in the Darkstalkers series does everything but redraw the thousands of previous character animations. (Unnecessary, as most of them still stun today.) Taking on a bolder sense of possibility, the stages and music are almost entirely new, less concerned with serving the Hollywood archetypes of that particular monster and much more in being uniquely ambient as they craft pieces of a deliciously hellish world. A few of the central characters from the first two games are chucked to make way for an entirely different plot, replaced by four well received newcomers. Despite introducing many new game play mechanics and running at a higher speed, Vampire Savior is particularly enjoyable for beginners. Playing the entire series is to witness the evolution from a spooky take of the Street Fighter II formula to a unique entity that still stands as one of Capcom’s high points, even after 20 years have passed.

As part of a huge overhaul to the combat system, within the very first round you’ll immediately notice each character’s basic movement has a snappy and satisfying feel which was previously lacking. Chain combos are easier to execute and have a sense of momentum and gravity, making even casual play engaging. The new Dark Force ability allows for each character to temporarily power up in a unique way, be it shadow characters, powered up attacks or flight. Instantly changing the tone of the fight, spending some of your ‘special meter’ on the Dark Force grants an empowered glee to the executor and is sure to provoke panic from the pursued. As part of the swifter, Killer Instinct-like round/match set-up, the “white damage” segment of the life bar can alter each player’s immediate strategy, adding another layer of mind games as one may seek to retreat and buy time to recover life, but possibly become more predictable in the act. Less obvious, but no less important mechanical changes await serious players, such as new offense/defense sub-systems and more intricate movement possibilities. All these new mechanics make for a much more complex, tournament ready game, but don’t necessarily need to be learned before you can enjoy putting your weight into Bishamon’s sword or throwing around the bones of Lord Raptor.

New characters include a Morrigan clone (better worded as her missing ‘part’) Lilith, the rather preposterous but interesting to control Q-Bee, a genius take on ‘Red Riding Hood’ with the charismatic psycho B.B. Hood and a more fleshed out and intertwined main villain in Jedah. A few modified secret characters lurk in the shadows, ready to challenge you under certain conditions. The backgrounds are no longer individualized for every character, but reach a compromise in that most locations are reserved for a few monsters that fit under the same general “personality”. The stealthier, suspicious fighters will frequent a desolate subway entrance. The more savage beast types can be found in an out of control rain forest or atop a hard to reach mountain paradise. Those looking to inflict as much brutality as possible have a whole torture chamber to call home. The entire presentation is completely redone, wrapped between an energizing opening still enveloped by a somber coldness, a gothic style character select screen, pulsating between-fight music, all new individualized victory music/endings and an incredibly relaxing and smooth staff roll to chill one out after a most vivid visit to “Makai World”.

I admit to spending more time just goofing off while enjoying the stages than perfecting my advancing guard technique or combos. Some impressions:

-“Feast of the Damned” revisits Demitri’s classic theme with a reworked, frantic energy that practically turns it into a whole new piece. The background enhances the tension as barely human guests in all forms unnervingly lounge around, dance and stare at you through the screen.

- Within a dense forest dominated by giant carnivorous plants and crawling Nautilidae, “Green Scream” nails that classic, upbeat jazzy sound that Capcom excelled at in the late 90s. The drums and horns lead a joyous production that’s busy, yet tightly organized. Sounding like a perfect fit for the Street Fighter 3 series, the music highly resembles Sean’s festive 2^nd Impact theme, but with a spaced out, woozy sense of detachment.

-  Both “Vanity Paradise” and “Tower of Arrogance” are better remembered for their visuals than sound. The subtle apprehension and illusion lurking in the ethereal mountain paradise of Vanity is a perfect escape from the bolder threats elsewhere. While well composed, the overabundant cheer and purity of its Eastern style music feels incongruent with the rest of the game. Tower’s disorienting skyscraper view will never be forgotten, unfortunately the music’s static noise and general chaos somewhat sours the  dreamy electronic/piano base.

- Exclusive for Bishamon, “Abaraya” makes up for his past comfy village stages by setting the fight in an otherworldly and dilapidated Japanese house. An incredibly tense opening gives way to a heroic and spooky mix of Japanese flutes, drums and bass. Breaking the dread with a huge laugh and moment of relief, “Yosuke” returns with a surprise appearance at the end of the fight. The unforgettable “Souma no furudairi” painting is appropriately displayed in the background.

- Morrigan’s classic “Deserted Chateau” looks and sounds as beautiful as ever, now in a brilliantly lush tone of purple. The music is delicately energizing as the piano gently dances over a high pressured aural lava surge of drum beats, keys and synths of all sorts.

- “Concrete Cave” has music so slick that you may feel up to sneaking around Area 51 at night. After the drums and saxophone build to an unbearable tension, the track seamlessly loops back to its more low key beginning. While overall rather bland, I enjoyed the touch of the stage appearing to take place on Earth, yet a creepy eye on top of the subway entrance makes one wonder just what’s inside.

-“War Agony” is similarly realistic, taking place in a tragic war torn town where fighter planes can occasionally be seen flying in the distance. A heavy drum and bass style decorated by vocals and deranged synths seemingly encourages a spirited fight.

-“Forever Torment” is the most gloomy of locations with its industrial music and tortuous imagery. Gruesome as a Mortal Kombat stage, but not too scary, as the wacky Lord Raptor or lovable Victor is almost guaranteed to make an appearance. What appears to be mold covers not just a guillotine, but a toothed, gargoyle decorated guillotine. Are you kidding me or what? A painful and haunting synthesizer solo kicks in to deepen the squalor.

- Set over a surreal moonlit night smiling upon Giza’s Sphinx, Anakaris’ “Red Thirst” finally sets the earlier games’ “wacky” Egyptian style music right, sounding so good that Horus himself would likely approve. Creating all sorts of brilliant moods, in 1:30 it goes from menacing, relaxing, mysterious, creepy, tranquil…then finally climaxing at powerfully regal before restarting. The music is everywhere…not out of sloppiness, but to intentionally disarm you with wonder, as if you were suddenly stranded in ancient Egypt.

- “Iron Horse, Iron Terror” is one of the most memorable stages of any fighting game. In a brilliant touch still rather uncommon at the time, the stage begins with a cinematic camera pan of the ‘crazy train’. Sucked in by the pulsating beats and playful saxophone, you really feel like you’re speeding through the spirit world as the reanimated corpse of the conductor relaxes inside the living locomotive.

- “Fetus of God,” Jedah’s stage, is better experienced than described. The music is intense and hopeless. The imagery is blatantly disturbing. The perfect finale to everything experienced thus far.

After the Darkstalkers series suffered a rough venture in the states, the final chapter that is Vampire Savior at least earned a strong and deserved word of mouth recommendation among various media for its ‘cool’ factor and underappreciated qualities. For this review, I played only a few hours, barely learning how all the ghouls dance and battle into the night. Much too good to just throw back on the shelf, I would easily be willing to spend more time if only a cabinet was within a few miles, or online gaming had the sort of interaction and camaraderie felt in the arcades. While Vampire Saviour is by far the best in the series, it’s advised to still play the first two games to better appreciate the kind of sorcery that Capcom worked into this one. There’s a frightening amount of techniques to master, but just punching, kicking, clawing and stabbing to the best of your ability still makes for a great time. Even if you’re intimidated or disinterested in fighters with complex mechanics, please don’t let the monster hiding in the code scare you off.