Vampire Savior from PowerUp 2011

I finally got around to watching these matches from a few weeks ago, only to realize that I've made a terrible mistake: I've neglected Vampire Savior for too long. It's a hopeless realization, because now is definitely not the time to be picking up an obsolete fighting game. However, watching the game played at a high level (e.g. Kajoq's Lei Lei) makes me realize how exciting and offense-oriented the game is. It seems to be fairly comparable to Third Strike, which may be my favorite fighting game of all time. How did I let this game pass me by?

Long ago, I decided that the Vampire games were not for me. I played very little Darkstalkers and even less Nightwarriors. Within a few games, I came to dislike what I thought was an emphasis on animation over gameplay. It seemed to me that too many moves in the game caused some sort of protracted knockdown accompanied by flames, smoke, or electricity. The pacing of the game was somehow off. When Vampire Savior came around, I barely noticed its existence. The game doesn't have the issues that bothered me in the earlier games, yet I never paid it any mind. As far as fighting games go, I'll now think about Vampire Savior as the one that got away.

MvC3 Leaks Flow Like Wine

According to SRK, a Twitter account has been leaking a bunch of MvC3 info. Click here to read in its entirety. The Twitter account has since been suspended. Highlights include:

• Phoenix and Hsien-Ko to be unveiled at Jump Festa this weekend.
• Phoenix plays like a fire-based Trish.
• Phoenix resurrects as Dark Phoenix if KO'd with 5 bars.
• A huge phoenix appears on-screen when she rises.
• Human Torch was completed, but his constant flaming caused slowdown.
• Phoenix essentially replaced Human Torch.
• Frank West was completed but got cut due to slowdown issues involving zombies.
• A Marvel character had to be pulled to even out the roster: Shuma got yanked.
• Shuma is complete. Jill is not.
• Yet to be revealed: Sentinel, Taskmaster, Akuma, Haggar
• Last stage to be revealed (for 8 total): Metro City
• Galactus is the final boss.
• M.Bison was considered as a Capcom villain, but Akuma won out.
• Akuma has some interesting graphical touches.
• There will be DLC stages and outfits, in addition to characters.
• Juggernaut was canned in favor of Sentinel.
• "I Wanna Take You for a Ride" plays during the end credits.
• Mega Man was rejected early on. "Offers nothing unique."
• S-Kill fought to have Storm and Sentinel included.
• Elektra was nearly in the game.
• Taskmaster has "borrowed moves" [ala Seth?] and a bow and arrow.
• Haggar is very Gief-like, but has Final Fight touches, like weapons.
• DLC will be coming throughout 2011.
• Who the DLC characters will be is a well-guarded secret at this time.
• Tests of online play were "equally smooth" from San Mateo to Japan as within San Mateo.
• Capcom wanted Cyclops, but Marvel didn't.