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Vampire Savior is Capcom's latest game and being a Capcom game was a must buy for me.( I bought my saturn for X-men vs. Street Fighter.) I imported it from an importer and after waiting 3 days for it on back order it arrived. Popping it into my Saturn I waited for it to start. First thing, a VERY short load followed by a cool little opening sequence. Pressing start I came to the character select screen and found that the game had three characters missing from the arcade version. Picking my favorite character, Morrigan I entered the first match. Now for the review.

Graphics: 10/10
Yes 10 out of 10. This game has the best 2d I have ever seen even making X-men vs. Street Fighter look dated, firstly the backgrounds are all creative ans all well animated, these backgrounds are much better than the flat and lifeless ones in X-men vs. Street Fighter secondly every background is in an odd or demonic location (Fitting for the dark art style of this game.) with such cool places as the side of a skyscraper and a demon train. The characters are all well designed and although some are based on cliches (Werewolf, Vampire, Frankenstine.) Many characters are refreshingly odd, the purple clothed soul stealing Jedah and the evil pyschopath Red riding hood are two of my favorites. Aside from being well designed all the characters animate with a fluidity and grace that shames every other 2d fighter save Street Fighter 3. For instance the character Pyron whose every move causes his firey body to change shape. Other characters who animate more sedately tend to have helper characters in the background who follow their moves.(Phobos's is particularily cute.)

Sound: 9/10
The sound in this game like X-men vs. Sf is clear and appropriate however the average thuds and hit sounds are wearing a bit thin. The characters voices are well done and fit the characters well. The music is better than other Capcom games but it isn't incredibly memorible, but it does fit the games dark and brooding mood.

Gameplay: 10/10
Anyone who has played a Capcom fighter (And if you haven't you are really out of touch.) knows that their games always feature precise control and strategic game- play. Now although some people have said Capcom sold out to button-mashing with the X-men series that same remark cannot apply to this game which features some of the most balanced gameplay with equal force on both offense and defense. Although turtles still exist the new energy bar system punishes people who do not take the offensive and the Killer Instinct style round system makes for a faster mov- ing game. I also like the Dark Force move which exchanges one level of the super bar for powers such as armor, speed, flying or a duplicate. Secondly the game also provides a fair challenge with computer AI that (On the higher levels.) is nearly un- beatable. Still like all Capcom fighters this game is best as a two player challenge.

Overall: 10/10
This game is Capcom's best yet and gives a fighting fanatic another reason to love the 4 meg ram cart. (By the way the cart is required to play and I've heard this game dosen't work with datel's converter.) This is a must buy if you are a fighting fan and is easily importable. Secondly nearly everthing is in english and rumors say there is a code for all english so playing is not a problem. If you never liked Street fighter this won't change your mind but for the Sf fan it is the best reason to own a saturn.