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3 /5

Darkstalkers 3's combat system differs from previous installments in the series. It is no longer a question of rounds, but of the Damage Gauge System. Each character has two life gauges. The goal is to empty those of the adversary. For this, the player has 6 buttons available: 3 for kicks, and 3 for punches. Each time one of the players sees his life bar emptied, the two fighters resume their positions as if they were starting a new fight. The character who did not lose retains his life gauge, and the other character is assigned another gauge. As the blows land, the players fill up the Dark Force System, which, once filled, makes it possible to perform special blows more powerful than those offered as standard. Once the player is attacked, he sees part of his lost life points displayed in white. He can recover them without taking any damage. Darkstalkers 3 includes two new game modes compared to the arcade versions, the "Dark Force Change" and "Dark Force Power" modes. Both require the player to select a character and then chain fights in order to increase the character's abilities.