Back in the ’90s, several classic fighting games got their own official animated series, including Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. One of the most surprising adaptations was Capcom’s cult-classic brawler Darkstalkers. While the Darkstalkers animated series has been hard to come by for decades, distributor Discotek recently revealed that it’ss bringing the entire series to Blu-ray on October 28. If you’re looking to add an overlooked piece of Darkstalkers history to your collection, you can preorder Darkstalkers: The Complete Series on Blu-ray now for $32 (was $40) at Amazon. Preorders are also in stock at Crunchyroll for $40.
$32 (was $40) | Releases October 28
This Blu-ray includes all 13 episodes from the show, presented in 480i standard definition and with an overall run time of 325 minutes. There’s not too much included here in terms of bonus materials, but you can check out on-disc extras like a series trailer, the original promotional bumpers and a credits, select commentary tracks, and a video compiling several memes from the show. The cover artwork is also a nod to the video game source material, as it’s inspired by the original artwork of the game releases on consoles like Sega Saturn.
Darkstalkers: The Complete Series Special Features
- Series trailer
- Commentary tracks
- Meme compilation video
- Promotional bumpers and credits
Loosely based on the video games, Darkstalkers revolved around the eternal battle between monsters. On the side of evil, the lord of vampires Dimitri, led his forces on a campaign of terror at the behest of his master, the cosmic menace Pyron. Opposing him were various Night Warriors–and their human ally–who were the last line of defense against Pyron and his minions.
$24 (was $30) | Now available
This isn’t the only time that Darkstalkers has received an animated adaptation, as a four-episode original video animation series ran from 1997-1998. Animated by Madhouse Studios–who had been on a roll in the ’90s with Trigun, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Yu Yu Hakusho–this was a far more faithful adaptation of the games and it was well-received thanks to its high-quality animation.
This Blu-ray was released in 2022, and it it features the OVAs remastered in 1080p and in the original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full frame. The audio quality is also impressive, as you can watch the anime in Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. There’s even a music-only DTS-HD Master Audio option if you want to focus purely on the visuals and soundtrack. For the extras, there’s a selection of promotional materials, sequences without the credits text, and art galleries.
Darkstalkers: The Complete OVA Collection Special Features extras
- Original and remastered trailers and TV spots
- Promotional videos for various Dark Stalkers video games
- Epilogue without title text
- Ending without text
- Alternate Japanese ending credits sequence
- Vintage English opening and ending sequences
- “The Trouble Man” music video
- Art galleries
If you’re looking to grab more Blu-rays of classic animated shows, then you can check out everything else that Discotek has to offer currently. One of the big releases on the way is Mega Man: The Complete Series, as all 27 episodes from the show’s two-season run (1994-96) are coming to Blu-ray. The new Blu-ray edition is available to preorder for $50 at Amazon or $40 at Crunchyroll ahead of its October 28 release, and it comes with a selection of archival content, TV commercials, and new commentary tracks from Mega Man’s US voice actor, Ian James Corlett.
You can also pick Street Fighter: The Animated Series for a cheesy adaptation of the Capcom fighting game series from the ’90s. The new Blu-ray release also includes commentary tracks featuring popular Fighting Game Community streamers and competitors, including Matt McMuscles and Maximillian Dood. The Street Fighter 2: The Animated Movie is also available on 4K Blu-ray that includes clean credit sequences, archival promotional materials, production art, an isolated score, and various cuts of the movie in English and Japanese as extras.
Sega fans can also grab all 78 episodes of Sonic X on Blu-ray–available in both its original Japanese format or the English version–and Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva before the new game in the series arrives next year. We’re rounded up even more animated video game adaptations available on Blu-ray in the list below.
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