Darkstalkers, known in Japan and Asia as Vampire (ヴァンパイア, Vanpaia?), is a series of 2D fighting games produced by Capcom during the late 1990s for the CPS II hardware. The series is notable for its cast of characters based on well-known fictional monsters (hence its Japanese title, Vampire) and introduced many of the concepts used in later Capcom fighting games, including the use of sixteen-bit color animation sprites later employed in Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams and the Marvel vs. Capcom series. There have been five arcade games in the series with a few console ports produced as well.