Darkstalkers: The Chaos Tower for PSP Review

The Gameplay

Have you played Street Fighter or any of its incarnations? The gameplay progresses in similar fashion. You have 3 different punches (upper, middle, lower) and 3 different kicks (upper, middle, lower) and a number of special moves. Also, since the fighters are monsters, there are final moves you can unleash as a last-ditch effort to cause damage.

Darkstalkers: The Chaos Tower is a basic fighting game with nothing extraordinary to offer those veterans of the series. Chaos Tower mode lets you pick three different characters to control as you battle through the Chaos Tower (hmm, so that’s why they called it Chaos Tower). You don’t just beat an opponent until the death. Sometimes you get special parameters you have to follow in order to succeed.

The characters are unique though. You can play all kinds of supernatural beings like vampires and silly ghosts to secrets of the modern world like the abominable snowman and zombie rock stars, and I don’t mean Keith Richards.

Of course, the best mode is multiplayer. Since computer A.I. in fighting games is never up to standards as playing a real human, using the Wi-Fi can net you some hardcore Darkstalkers fans with a knack for being better than you.

The Controls

With smooth animation, you’d expect the controls to be instantaneous, right? Well, that is the case, so don’t worry. The punches and kicks come off immediately, so you better have your next 3-4 moves planned out so you won’t sit there as vulnerable as a naked man in a snowstorm.

The Graphics

The 2D style of this game is at home on the PSP. Chaos Tower doesn’t need a lot of processing power to push the vibrant colors and super-fast animation. What would have been interesting is if they made the game 2.5D. Make the backgrounds 3D as 2D fighters brawl on screen.

Thompson’s Two Cents

If you own (or owned) a Dreamcast, you may realize that this PSP version is pretty much the same game as the DC version in respect to characters, moves, etc. Darkstalkers tends to be a cult-like game so if you’re not a hardcore fan, then you’ll probably won’t like the PSP version. However, fans of 2d fighting games, or even Capcom fighters will adore this game. That’s right, adore. Now how many games in your collection can you say you adore?