Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower (PSP)

I had previously never played a game in the darkstalkers series, but am a fan of fighting games, so when i saw this cheap i had to pick it up. It features a good (if sometimes a bit cartoony,) and abundant cast of characters and an enjoyable fighting system. The graphics are pleasing to the eye, and the animation is great. The only issue is the controls which, in their original form, are pretty much unusuable. However it includes a dumbed down PSP control set, which remaps the medium attacks to a double tap of the light attack button, changes the input required for special moves to a simpler more PSP friendly form, and adds a blank button, which can be mapped (at any time on the pause menu) to a specific special move for easy use. While it may feel like it's holding your hand a little on this, it makes the game much more playable and enjoyable with the control limitations. Overall a reccommended purchase, unless you are too much of a purist to be put off by the control simplification.

This is one of two best fighting games I ever played on a game system (not going to say what's the other one, or the review will be banned, but I think I can tell you it has the name of a city from the US of A in the title).It has the funniest moves I've ever seen, the brightest and colourfull charecters (and many of them), a well balanced difficulty level. The game's also quite long as it has plenty of game modes, and many rewards to be gained for the matches won.One of the best looking graphics I've seen on the PSP. People complain at the controls design, but worry not, you'll get used to it, they are not that hard (to throw fire-ball, just press =>, <=, then kick or puch).An outstanding title for the PSP.

Darkstalkers originally came out in 1994, since then its seen a few revisions and its animation has greatly improved. Having graced the arcade, Sega Saturn, Playstation and Dreamcast, its now made its way onto the PSP.The graphics and sound are near arcade perfect and look beautiful on the PSP (which gives the option of 4:3 or 16:9 screen size), pulling off dark force attacks leave the player with amazing animations that can take up the whole screen.All the Darkstalkers characters (18 and 2 hidden) are included in the game, and Capcom have included the option of switching character types, so you can play as Original Darkstalkers (with limited moves) or Darkstalkers 3 (with more moves). Also included is the options for Auto and Turbo, which allows you to speed up your character and allow for the PSP to auto guard attacks for you.Modes of play include Arcade (pick 1 fighter and take on 6 others), Tower (pick 3 fighters and fight round after round, unlocking new gallery pics), Wireless (one on one with a friend) and Chronicle (allowing the player to view pics, movies and listen to sounds from the game).Being a big fan of Capcom 2D fighters I really looked forward to this title, sadly there is one thing that lets it down.Controls - 3 buttons for kicks, 3 for punches - works great. D-Pad controls movement, and this is where it falls apart. Moving forward/back is okay but jumping forward/back is nigh impossible to pull off. This really complicates pulling of fireball attacks and combos, which can get frustrating.Fans of the Darkstalker series (or Capcom fighters in general) should get some fun out of seeing a true portable Capcom fighter, but the controls may put a few people off.

I have been a devoted Capcom Beat 'em up fan for too many years now and after being brought up in the Street Fighter II era I was excited to see this title hit the PSP. I was very impressed by the graphics and overall conversion quality, barring, I am afraid to say, the important factor of the controls. The diagonal is far too hard to obtain on the PSP, leaving a whole host of moves incredibly difficult to execute. You can spend four to five tries before executing a simple fireball (rolling down to diag-down to forward) which ultimately ruins the game. There is no option to use the analogue stick which may have proved an improvement (though who knows) so you are just left with a potentailly brilliant game that you can't control. Shame.

It makes a great time waster and has matches you can just jump right into. The gameplay is fun and sometimes challenging. The art is great but it is let down by the strange interface and controls (having the option to use the thumbstick would be nice).

Ok

All the characters, lots of games modes, great graphics and sound.I loved Capcom's 2 player beat em' ups, and I love mythical monsters so this is likely to be a hit! This is a great version, with a really polished feel and it translates well to the handheld. The only thing I found lacking was the in-game move lists, having to resort to the manual to learn moves was mildly annoying. The variety of play though, the excellent characters and everything else about this game more than make up for it. All in all, great fun!Martyn StanleyAuthor of:-The Last Dragon Slayer (Deathsworn Arc Book 1) (Free to download)The Verkreath Horror (Deathsworn Arc Book 2)The Blood Queen (Deathsworn Arc Book 3)Rise of the Archmage (Deathsworn Arc Book 4) (Due late 2015)The Lambton Worm (The Lambton Worm Re-telling Book 1) (Short story. A modern re-telling of old english folklore)

This was the first game I bought for my PSP, and is probably my most frequently played. It has a stylish feel to it and is enjoyable... it is one of those games you can just pick up anytime you want and play. It is easy going, has many different modes that keep you playing a long time. It has a feel of Street Fighter to it.. with a strong storyline and sleek graphics.Highly recommended!!!