I don't think there have have been sprites in the series as detailed as Alucard, ever. They really stripped everything down and made it more formulaic in later entries. Alucard's sprites were amazingly fluid, each frame breathed so well, and it showed.
On the subject of Shanoa, it would be cool to see her turn up in this new canon, I really liked her.
OSM, that is exactly why I will never agree with anyone who says any of the other IGA games are better.
Minus the balance issues with difficulty, SOTN was just soooo wonderfully crafted.
I mean stuff like getting hit by a powerful enemy sends you across the screen and Alucard puts his feet up against the wall and flips back to the ground. I mean come on! whoever came up with these animation ideas should be doing more 2d games!
Everything about that game was just amazing, from the shields that had certain effects ( dark shield with the lightning going on within it)....Shield rod/shield combinations... It blows my mind, Aria of sorrow was great too but it always hit me how less creative and interesting the things you got in the newer games were. How less detailed things were too....
Animation and sprite detail have gone really downhill and I really dislike the new effects in the games. I miss the crazy fire sound effects in sotn.