Darkstalkers: Rise of the Night Warriors

Darkstalkers is an incredibly interesting franchise. Starting as an arcade game in 1994, it has produced Anime, dolls, statues, books and so on and so forth. What it hasn’t produced is an actual new game since 1997. Even the 2013 Darkstalkers game was an HD upgrade of a previous game. I played Darkstalkers back when it was originally released in arcades, so I was pretty thrilled when Capcom released their Fighting Collection including all five arcade games. I decided I would really get into the whole Darkstalkers experience with the oversized Udon books because I’ve really enjoyed what they did with Street Fighter.I don’t really know where the stories come from here whether it’s from in game information or supplemental material written by Capcom. There is a LOT of similarities in the storyline here and the 1997 Darkstalkers OVA but also some differences that make them incompatible. As in the OVA, the main villain is Pyron, but the events play out a bit differently. The OVA spend a lot more time building up Pyron but in both the OVA and the book he was taken down very quickly by a classic Deus Ex Machina. In both stories, Donovan Baine (along with Anita) is the main protagonist with Morrigan and Demitri playing a secondary role. Felicia and Jon Talbain have significant appearances but don’t really play into the main story.One character that gets way more time here than in the OVA is Victor along with his “sister” Emily. This is probably the most emotional section in the book as the two are baffled as to what the death of their father and creator Professor Gerdenheim even means. We also get a much deeper look into Donovan’s past then I remember the OVA featuring and the motivation for his actions and pain are starkly laid out. He committed a truly unspeakable act that was a bit bold for an Udon story.I have 18 Street Fighter hardcover books from Udon so I have a LOT of experience with what they produce. The books generally have a main plot and then all sorts of intermissions just so they can include as many characters as possible. The reason for this is that they are a compilation of comics that didn’t necessarily have any kind of continuous story. I’m fine with all of this or I wouldn’t have collected so many of these books. The art is by a variety of artists of differing qualities but it’s rarely subpar and often excellent. There is an obvious lead in to a Darkstalkers/Street Fighter crossover book which I also own and enjoyed. I don’t think a Darkstalkers fan will be disappointed, and I had a great time getting reintroduced to the characters.

Arrived as advertised

Big fan of the Darkstalkers series and I am glad I got the comic which expands the storyline beyond the games. Amazing artwork and compelling story go hand in hand perfectly. Such a great read when I have nothing else to do.

As a big tan of Darkstalkers, I loved this.

Huge fan of Darkstalkers since it debuted on PSX when I was like 12. Have Morrigan everywhere in my house, even as a mannequin. This author didn't know the source material very well. Changed Morrigan's origin slightly and personality drastically. Jedah Dohma's last name is missing the H. Several characters are only glanced over such as Rikuo who only appears in a single frame just to name one. Meanwhile, other characters have huge backstories. I don't even recall seeing Zabel aka Lord Raptor in a single panel outside of the spoof chibi comics at the end.

Fantastic read.

A pesar de que no soy seguidor de esta saga de juegos de lucha, las historias son interesantes y entretenidas. Eso sí, en inglés!

Material de alta qualidade, a essência de darkstalkers está aqui. O começo de tudo e o desenvolvimento de cada personagem, simplesmente fantástico.

Muy buena calidad en el libro. Por eso y por las ilustraciones ya vale la pena.De todas formas la historia es bastante interesante si te gustan ese tipo de juegos. No es la panacea de los cómics pero sí es una buena lectura para pasar el rato.El arte extra que trae es bastante bueno. Así que no duden en adquirir este libro si son fans de la franquicia.

La presentación en pasta dura es muy bonita, el contenido es grandioso, las historias, los pin ups y las portadas variantes. Llegó en muy buen estado y bien protegido.