Dark Stalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower PSP

Supernatural 2D Beat -'em-up Darkstalkers, is less well known than a certain other Capcom beat-'em-up. Known in Japan as Vampire Saviour, we haven't seen a major console release in the series for some time - its heyday was the mid- to late nineties when it appeared on the Saturn and PlayStation. And what a fabulous, over-the-top, spectacular fighter it was. Morrigan the saucy succubus has since appeared in the Capcom vs. SNK games and Felicia the Catwoman remains an iconic Capcom character. We'd happily accept any excuse for a return to the fore for this monster mash-up, let alone an updated and redesigned version for the spanking new PSP. That's exactly what Capcom are offering us though, as once again the motley collection of things that go bump in the night are recalled for a reunion rumpus. And they're all here, too, from the enormous Egyptian golem Anakaris and terrifying tooth-bellied samurai demon Bishamon to Morrigan's succubus sister Lilith and the Little Red Riding-alike B.B. Hood; there are 18 characters in all. It looks more colourful and cartoony than ever before on the PSP's ample screen, and you can even choose from two screen sizes, too. Newcomers to the series are given a helping hand with a two-tiered systems of hard and easy command inputs. Not quite as simplified as the 'Easy Operation' system in CVS2, this gives clumsy thumbed newbies a break, substituting half circles for quarter circles, for example. There are no less than five game modes (including the new eponymous Tower mode), and naturally one of these is a wireless mode that allows you to demonstrate to your friends who really is the King of the Monsters. An absolute must for 2d fighting fans who've managed to snaffle themselves a PlayStation Portable.