Many beat ‘em up enthusiasts will find Dark Stalkers 3’s decidedly ‘odd’ characters a tad outlandish for their tastes

Sometimes you can sum up how something makes you feel in a snap, one-word judgement. In the case of Dark Stalkers 3, read ‘desensitised’…
James Price

To say that this game desensitises is not to criticise Capcom’s particular brand of 2D beat ‘em up. It’s not a general purpose backlash at cartoonish, sprite-based pugilism, either. The problem with Dark Stalkers 3 is that, lying in the shadow of the forthcoming Street Fighter Alpha 3, it looks a tad small and frail.

It’s not a huge progression from the second Stalkers game, the PAL conversion is dismal and, above all else, it evokes a feeling of ‘Oh,’ rather than ‘Ooooooh’ – leaving you feeling detached and decidedly nonplussed.

Dark Stalkers, as a franchise, has never really set the UK market alight. As appreciably well designed as its characters are, they don’t adhere to the traditional beat ‘em up blueprint. Most fighting games, as you’ll no doubt know, make at very least a passing nod to real life. Thus, while Ryu can chuck a fireball across the screen, he’ll never sprout bewildering appendages at the touch of a button. That’s not the case with Dark Stalkers 3. With most of its participants, basic punches and kicks are replaced by outlandish animations where they morph into a variety of poses.

Although with time and practice, it’s possible to learn how to anticipate each fighter’s repertoire, you come to understand how Dark Stalkers 3 lacks the ‘balance’ that so characterises Capcom’s 2D fighting games. It’s almost too anarchic and off-beat. You find yourself hankering for the ‘paper-scissors-stone’-style rules and relative simplicity of any Street Fighter counterpart.