This game, next to Castlevania, was the reason I bought a Saturn. It is the epitomy of 2D fighting game perfection, and nothing before it on a console was as arcade perfect. This game was released Stateside. However, it only came out on the Playstation which can't even begin to compare to the Saturn version. Obviously this is a Japanese only game; you will need a converter. This game also requires the 4MB Ram Expansion Cartridge to run, so make sure you get one of those 4-in-1 converters :). Language-wise you will have very few problems. All the character names and menu screens are in English, as are some of the voices. Japanese only appears in the cut scenes when a fight ends and in each characters ending. There is a way, however, to put everything into English in this game (besides the voices). Beat the game with any character without using any continues. On the title screen highlight Option and hold L+R and press Start. This will bring you to an EX Option screen, which allows you to view endings, and many other features. It also lets you choose between English and Japanese text!! Obviously you will have no problems with this game if you import it.

The game itself is a standard 2D fighting game for the most part. If you played either of the first two Darkstalkers games you'll feel right at home. For those of you who have never played the series I will explain this game briefly. Every character is based on some kind of demon, monster, or other whacked-out person (Vampires, Succubi, Frankenstein, etc.). The fights themselves involve two of the characters going at it with bizarre move, combos, and specials that fit their personalities. There is also a meter which fills up as you get hit and hit the enemy, which allows you to do charged up versions of regular moves or (if you wait long enough) a devastating special move. Basically, that's all there is to it. It's like most other fighting games on the market, except for the fact that it features strange characters, which is why I was personally attracted to it.

Graphics: The visuals in this game are as good as they can get. The graphics are rich and colorful. All the characters are sharp, and are animated to perfection. This game has absolutely no slowdown that I've ever seen. I only have two small problems in this department. Transparency effects are no where near as good as on most PSX games...however, this is the fault of the Saturn's architecture, not the game. Second, some of the backgrounds are rather lacking compared to the ones in its predecessor: Vampire Savior.

Sound: The sounds is the same fare as other Capcom fighting games. It's good and fits the game well, but it's just midi after all. I like it for the most part, but it can't even begin to compare to like the music of Soul Calibur. The sound effects, however, are great. The voices and other sounds are loud and clear, and fit the moves and characters well.

Control: The control in the game, like every Capcom fight game, is dead on. Characters respond to your button presses quickly. Although some moves can be hard to pull off, it isn't the fault of the game, it's just that you cant do it :) (or you have a crap controller).

Theme & Fun: I still have yet to tire of this game, and still prefer it over 90% of the new fighters that come out. There are so many characters to play as, and when you couple this with a 2 player Vs. game, you will have fun with this game for quite a while. Replay Value: The replay value for me is high, but others may tire of it. There are actually quite a few secrets to unlock in this game, although most involve some sort of code, so I suggest going to a cheat site to find them.

Challenge: This honestly depends on what you set it to. There are several difficulty levels, so you should have no problem finding one that suits you. I didn't find the game very difficult on the default setting, and have since beaten it with every character. I'm not good enough to pump the challenge up to the top though.

Overall: In my opinion this is the best fighting game to come out of the 32-bit era. If you see this game I strongly suggest picking it up... you will probably wind up shelling out around 50 bucks for it new(more if you want the RAM cart packed with it)... However, unless you have a Japanese Saturn, buy it without the RAM cart. You need a combination converter and RAM cart to play the game on a US system. The RAM cart alone will be useless.