A First Impression With Dark Rift.

Joined Feb 2007
2K Posts | 0+
Kentucky, US
I received this in the mail today.
I got the cart only, so I really have no reference to look at for moves. All of the buttons on the controller are used.

To put things in perspective, really it was what was going through my head as I became familiar with the game.
Considering what Dark Rift was up against. Tekken 2 had been released December 1996, people probably used this to set a standard for console fighters. Virtual Fighter 2 was released for the Saturn in 1997. Along with Fighters Mega Mix, and Last Bronx. Neither of those probably took Saturn owners away for VF 2. Fighters that flooded the market on the PS1 were Street Fighter EX plus Alpha, Street Fighter Collection, X-Men vs. Street Fighter, and King of Fighters 95. And in the middle of all this enters Dark Rift for the N64. It would take a lot for a fighter to impress among a crowd of fighters like these that were in the hands of gamers. Especially well known franchises.

Dark Rift, IMO, really doesn't have interesting Character designs when placed up against the competition. There is a need for more extreme diversity. Nor does it stand out and distinguishes itself. It plays like a mixture of VF and Tekken with Killer Instinct type characters. The look is more of a blockiness for the characters, but yet there is detail more so than what you would expect. The first Tekken and VF 2 does come to mind when thinking of this. The backgrounds are greatly detailed. It is a weapon based fighter, with no visible option for blood. (Go figure.) Has very nice special effects, which puts it over the average fighter mark.

I think that it stands pretty good on it own, when thinking of the other options a gamer had on the N64. I don't think that I would have been disappointed if I would have picked this up in the year of its release. I think it gets more criticism than it deserves and should have gotten more positives reviews. I do think that in “Normal Mode” that the AI is a bit too easy. I consider myself a lousy gamer and I was able to beat the characters in the first two stages, three matches, without losing. I didn't feel challenged until the third stage. Average amount of moans and groans during a fight with scaling in and out of the screen depending on how close you are to your opponent.

The more I play it, the more I like it. I am becoming a fan of Dark Rift. It is a very good game. It is growing on me the more I play. I have really been surprised by this game.

Did anyone else like this game?