1. First entries came out the same year
This might come as a surprise for those that doesn't know. The original Darkstalkers came out in Arcades a few months before the original Killer Instinct did. Although Killer Instinct on SNES came out in 1995 before Darkstalkers PS1 port the following year.
2. Technically speaking two Arcade games are the original canon main series
Killer Instinct had 2 games making it very straight forward. In vice versa, oh man this will quickly get confusing. The original Darkstalkers ended up getting the boot then replaced with Night Warriors. Which became the newer, improved canon Darkstalkers 1 game. Oh wait there's more of this madness. Darkstalkers 3 would be the second entry in the timeline. The last two Darkstalkers games are both updated versions of Darkstalkers 3 with most stories removed.
3. Some interesting ports
We'll start with Killer Instinct 2 with Killer Instinct Gold. The only console port around that time on Nintendo 64. Most endings got removed with people being rather mixed on how parts of the stages were done. More recently in 2014, the first two Killer Instinct games got ported on Xbox One & PC. The following year through Rare Replay among the thirty games was Killer Instinct Gold. Keep in mind, only the original Killer Instinct game got ported to Game Boy. Now we got a more confusing comparison to do with Darkstalkers series. Vampire Chronicle on Sega Dreamcast was technically the first Darkstalkers game to allow online play predating the 2013 Killer Instinct game. Then in 2005 came Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection which also got repackaged with Hyper Street Fighter II. This also included three exclusive variations to all versions of Darkstalkers 3 with every character. In 2013, we got Darkstalkers: Resurrection including Night Warriors & Darkstalkers 3 respectively.
4. Interesting one team connection
Darkstalkers: Resurrection was handled by Iron Galaxy Studios. Who also responsible for Street Fighter III Online Edition as well as Marvel vs. Capcom: Origins. Originally Double Helix was making content for the 2013 Killer Instinct game. Then they ended up getting removed due to unrelated problems. Iron Galaxy Studios ended up staying for the remainder of the game from Season 2.
5. Currently both franchises are playable on a few platforms
Killer Instinct (2013 game) was on Xbox One and PC. Which also includes ports of the first games as well as Killer Instinct Gold through Rare Replay. I also believe all the games are compatible with Xbox Series S/Series X. More recently through Capcom Fighting Collection, all five Darkstalkers Arcade games are on Xbox One, Xbox Series S/Series X, PS4, PS5, Switch and PC. Although three of these games are going through the cycle again through Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium coming later this month.
6. A lot of similar character concepts
Majority of both rosters are similar to each other in many ways. Parts of this could possibly get confusing. Regardless I did promise a bigger comparison this time so here we go.
Anakaris & Kan-Ra
Both are mummies with major differences in their back stories. Like Anakaris was the phaorah while Kan-Ra got caught by the king for betraying him that led to a terrible curse of decay. Both mummies has a move where they wrap their opponents just enough to slam em afterwards.
Demitri, Hsien-Ko, Donovan & Mira
Demitri is a vampire noble that once challenged one of the rulers to end up being defeat. Hsien-Ko is a Chinese Hopping Vampire that often gets mistaken for ghosts. Donovan is a Dhampir whose half human, half vampire. Mira was the twin sister of Maya while Hsien-Ko also had a twin sister named Mei-Ling. Although she must take the form of a talisman on Hsien-Ko at times.
Jon Talbain & Sabrewulf
Both are werewolves that's against humanity to a degree. However Jon through help learned how to control his werewolf side while Sabrewulf never had that. Although the possibility of Jon losing control known as Dark Talbain could still happen.
Victor, Huitzil & Aganos
Technically speaking parts of inspiration for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein does connect with the concept of golems. Huitzil is among an army of similar machines built by Pyron that's very old. Aganos sorta connects to both these characters in weird ways. Aganos is actually a golem with a good heart. Victor in one story ended up sacrificing his life to bring the little girl back to life. Huitzil in Vampire Savior 2 has a kid named Cecil accompanying during matches.
Lord Raptor & Spinal
Lord Raptor depending on regions is either labeled as a ghoul or a zombie. There's a particular decease warrior we know as Spinal. Whom are living skeleton warriors. Both are known for having a similar smile as well as maniacal laughter. Not to mention, some of Lord Raptor's moves does include his bones. They're both servant to a villain whose in control of the world. Lord Raptor serves Ozom who stolen Jedah's position among those whose ruling over the demon world. Spinal serves Aria thus Ultratech itself.
Pyron, Glacius & Cinder
Pyron is an old, powerful alien who came to another planet to challenge the dark stalkers in a fight. He is a being mostly made out of fire. This will be a little confusing to explain since I have to temporary mention the alien Glacius. Ultratech stolen some of his DNA to originally transform a criminal later in another time line a soldier with modified Glacius' DNA. Which resulted in him becoming a hybrid being made out of fire that wasn't stable.
Sasquatch, Rikuo & Glacius
Essentially the ice fighters of both franchises. Considering Glacius also manipulates water. Rikuo whose a merman also manipulates water himself. However he does not manipulate temperature of water. Another thing all three of them has in common is neither of them are humans.
Baby Bonnie Hood, Donovan, Q-Bee & Sadira
Q-Bee is the leader of her soul bees from the lands of Jedah's family. Sadira is the leader of the Red Eye of Rylai assassins with traits of a spider. There's hunters that hunts the dark stalkers like Donovan & Baby Bonnie Hood. Although Donovan is still figuring out who he's suppose to be while Baby enjoys a good hunt. She isn't afraid of playing dirty to get what she wants.
Shadow, Marionette & Omen
Shadow is a mysterious being that starts Arcade Mode as a randomly selected character. Among defeating his opponents, Shadow posses who just got defeated for the next match. Marionette controls a similar character to her opponents like a puppet. Omen whose virtually Shadow Jago while inside Jago does a similar thing. Omen also has a similar face to Shadow as well as their default colors is mostly purple as well.
Bishamon & Hisako
Both are widely known wielding a sword. Although Bishamon was a monk who got overwhelmed by a possessed armor & a cursed sword. They also have a further variation that's displaying their full potential. Shin Bishamon & Shin Hisako respectively. Both of them are also from Japan.
Jedah, Gargos & ARIA
Both are central antagonists in their respective franchises. Jedah had a hand in a lot of character's stories. Like giving Lilith whose the missing portion of Morrigan's soul, her own body to allow her to co exist. ARIA is the one behind Ultratech that controls the world. Jedah used to be one of the rulers of the demon world at one point. Gargos became the ruler of another plane of existence. Like Jedah, he had a similar plan involving altering worlds in order to rule over everyone. All three of them have some form of form as well as a God concept.
Huitzil, Kilgore & Fulgore
Kilgore was a prototype that had some similarities to Huizil. Fulgore became the preferred machine army model. Also in most Killer Instinct games, Fulgore acts as a sub boss. Although in Season 1 of the 2013 Killer Instinct game, he does have as the final boss. Huitzil in most Darkstalkers games acts as a sub boss.
7. Some stages are similar as well
There's a lot of stages in both franchises. Mostly I'm going to compare Victor's stage from the first two Darkstalkers games to Sabrewulf's stages. Also Astral Plane from the 2013 Killer Instinct would be similar to Darkstalkers 3's Fetus of God stage. Kan-Ra's stage has some similarities with those of Anakaris' stages. Fury's Core would be similar to Pyron's Hellstorm stage. Village of Whispers has graves like the first Lord Raptor stage.
No comments:
Post a Comment