The $30 million toe in the water

Capcom's Darkstalkers series has been a staple of the fighting game community for decades, but a new game has been elusive for nearly three decades. The series was created by Capcom, but has only been brought back in recent years through ports and collections, such as the Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection.

The collection has been praised for its robust netcode and new modes for old classics, but some fans still want to see full remakes, revivals, or sequels to other beloved Capcom titles.

One of the most iconic games in the series is Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors, released in arcades for Japan in May 1997. The game is a masterwork of pixel-perfect graphics, blending horror themes and cartoonish characters together for something truly unique.

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The game is still played by a large audience, with some even hosting tournaments at competitive levels across various regions. The game is a masterwork of pixel-perfect graphics, blending horror themes and cartoonish characters together for something truly unqiue.

The highly detailed animations of every character evoke a number of horror tropes, but with a level of personality that other fighting games rarely have. The gameplay systems of Darkstalkers are also incredibly accessible to new players, with easy attack links allowing anyone to jump in and start performing combos.

To this day, the game remains an experience. The colorful cast of characters includes many instant classics, such as the kung-fu fighting werewolf John Talbain or the succubus Morrigan.

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Characters from the series have shown up in other Capcom games, either as Easter Egg references or fully fledged fighters in other fighting games. Multiple titles, with figures like Morrigan, Hisen-Ko, and Jedah appearing in the more recent entries of that crossover franchise.

This type of epxosure has helped the series remain relevant, but Capcom has no plans to revive the series. The lack of a new game has led to speculation about what a potential revival would look like.

Some fans have expressed concerns that a fully 3D game would not live up to the unique art style of the original,which was praised for its 2D srpite-based visuals. the design for Morrigan in that game is infamous for being ugly in fans' eyes, a risk that could repeat itself with a fully 3D game.

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At the same time, other fighting games praised for their visuals have made the leap into 3D well, albeit after multiple attempts.. The way the series' insanely detailed 2D graphics is hardly comparable, but fans typically agree that both games are impressive in different ways.

Any attempt to introduce a sequel to Darkstalkers will require great effort to meet the higher standards that series represents. After nearly three decades of simple references, cameos, and Easter Eggs, it's long past time for Capcom to consider reviving the series or introducing a new game .