I don't think I know anyone who pines for the days of fighting games with digitized actors like the early Mortal Kombat titles and Pit Fighter, but independent developer Galloping Ghost believes there's an audience for that type of arcade experience, and is bringing back that style with Dark Presence.

Originally slated to release last year, this 2D fighter will feature eight playable characters with over 15,000 frames of animation per character (filmed in high definition and running in 1080p).

The studio says that it has implemented "unique finishing moves based on how the characters relate to each other", resulting in a total of 437 finishing moves. Not counting the finishing moves, Dark Presence has over 150,000 frames of animation.

Galloping Ghost spent almost two years on the greenscreening process alone, admitting it's "easy to see why other companies just go with 3D characters". The company plans to show video for the game soon and also tour arcades around the U.S. to show off Dark Presence once it's later this year.

You can see a couple of recently released screenshots from Dark Presence and a photo of its cabinet after the break, and find more information at Galloping Ghost's official site for the game.

[Via Arcade Heroes]