Freebie Feelers… Darkstalkers Resurrection

Freebie Feelers is a series where we download the free monthly console-specific or newly released free-to-play games to test their worth.This series will contain some useful information as well as plenty of personal opinion. While these articles may not be reviews, we hope that you will be able to use them to help decide whether that free download is worth it.

What is it?

Developed by Iron Galaxy Studios, Darkstalkers Resurrection is the re-release of the second and third games in the Darkstalkers franchise. Still the most recent entry in the 2D fighting series, it was released in 2013, 13 years after the last one -- the PSP title Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower.

You can play either Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge or Darkstalkers 3, depending on what you’re in the mood for, and you can freely switch between them from the main screen. You have access to the usual single player modes as well as a couple of online modes to test your skills against others. As you play, you get XP from the other modes to unlock things in the Vault, which is basically a gallery full of artwork and stuff.

What did you think?

It’s currently available on PlayStation Plus for PS3, and I’m glad it was free. You might think that being a port of a PlayStation and a Saturn game, the pixels would look alright upscaled. You would be wrong, as Iron Galaxy have “smoothed” them for “High Resolution” mode. It was perhaps an attempt to make the characters look more animated, but instead it removes most of the shading and all of the detail. Thankfully, you can disable it if you want the original graphics, which I honestly prefer.

I’m not very good at fighting games, but I did enjoy Darkstalkers Resurrection. I’m still curious why these two particular 20 year old games were “remastered”, but then I’m not too savvy with Darkstalkers. It’s a good introduction to the characters, at least.

Is it worth downloading?

As a package, the game has a lot going for it, for fans of the franchise or fighting games in general. Just don’t get it hoping that it looks as good as the original versions. It’s better to get it for free now, than pay £12.99 for it, as even with online play it’s really only got a limited scope.