Dark Rift, one of the first fighting titles to ever hit the Nintendo 64, is getting a surprising revival. The 3D fighter has been listed on Steam for a PC release sometime soon.
Developed by Kronos Digital Entertainment,Dark Riftlaunched on the Nintendo 64 in July 1997 and came to the PC later that same year. The game was initially in development for the Sega Saturn, but the project was moved to Nintendo’s new consolefollowing the Saturn’s failure. Though it received mediocre reviews upon launch for the Nintendo 64, the fighter was lauded at the time for its impressive 3D visuals and 60 frames per second gameplay.
RELATED:Gamer Gets Incredibly Cheap Nintendo 64 Haul at Yard Sale
Dark Riftis the sequel to Kronos' first 3D fighting title,Criticom, which launched on the original PlayStation in 1995.Dark Rifttakes place after the events ofCriticomand sees gameplay transpire across numerous dimensions. In the Nintendo 64 sequel, there’s a neutral dimension, dark dimension, and light dimension, with each holding a third of the game’s MacGuffin, the Master Key. The titular dark rifts are portals between these parallel dimensions. Once the Master Key is reforged, the true center of the universe, known as the Vortex, reopens and grants the one who enters with the Master Key “immeasurable power.” This sounds quite a bit likeThe Legend of Zeldaand the series' Triforce.
The game features eight playable characters that represent one of the title’s three dimensions, as well as two hidden characters that are unlocked as fighters progress through the game’s single-player story mode. Also included for theNintendo 64and PC title is a two-player versus mode and a training mode.Dark Riftdiffers from many other fighting titles with matches revolving around a best-of-five setting as opposed to the much more common best-of-three.
While in development, Kronos Digital Entertainment utilized motion capture technology forDark Rift’s animations. This led to the game getting praise for its visuals, with comparisons to Sega’s impressiveand long overdue for a comebackVirtua Fighter. Special moves and chained combos were highlighted features of the game’s fighting mechanics, though some critics panned the combo system as too difficult to pull off.
Given that the title was released over 25 years ago, the hardware requirements listed on Steam are minimal. PC players just need Windows 7, 8, 10, or 11, as well as a Celeron processor or better and 512 MB of RAM.
