The 1994 classic fighter was a companion to the Street Fighter games, using the same 16-bit graphic technology and combo attacks. The game also featured such unique mechanics as Air Blocking, Crouch Walking and Chain Combos. The game also featured a Special meter similar to the “Super Combo” gauge from Super Street Fighter II Turbo, which the player could fill up to perform a super powered special attack. (However, the Special in Darkstalkers gradually drained, preventing players from preserving their super moves for later use.)
Darkstalkers is coming primarily due to fan demand. According to Capcom fighting game producer Yoshinori Ono, the publisher had received over 100,000 requests from fans for a new Darkstalkers game, which doubled the number of fan requests from August 2010. Ono remarked at the time, ”One day, if it goes half a million, Capcom may raise its eyebrow a little bit and I could do what I did in London in 2007 when I announced the comeback of Street Fighter. In the near future, with your help, it may become true. It’s on its way, because we’re pretty much where we were with Street Fighter a few years back. So keep it up.”
While it’s doubtful Darkstalkers received a million fan requests, a hundred thousand was probably enough to motivate the publisher into porting it to the PlayStation 3.