N64 Gaming: Mace The Dark Age

[retro junkie]

I love this game and find it hard to put down, yes, addicting. This game is very easy to pick up and play. After two afternoons of playing I found myself easily pulling off 4 hit combos. And you'll need to be able to perform those combos in order to get anywhere in this game. The computer offers a good challenge, so it is essential that you learn to dodge, evade, and do combos. You can't just mash one button and walk through this. There are also countermeasures, special moves, fatalities, and throws to learn. I found the controls tight & responsive which always adds to the fun of any fighter.

Graphics are very good and exceptional for an N64 fighter. For the time period, and Generation, they were some of the best visuals out there. Detailed character designs are very appealing. They really have that "3D feel" about them. The environments, like every other fighter, are built around the individual characters. And each stage is huge, detailed, and has its dangers to avoid while fighting. Some fights, we were all over the place, others I had them backed into a corner. There are 12 fighters to choose from with hidden characters to unlock. Love the good ole days of unlocking instead of dancing with the "down loadable content" devil. You have the option, if you so choose, to turn off the blood and fatalities. I, personally, find the game well balanced, with each fighter having their own strengths and weaknesses. Some fighters have a longer reach, for example, causing you to use strategy. Again there is that motivation to continue learning, building your skills, and experience, in order to advance in the game. I find it a joy as I learn and begin to master some of the fighters. I find myself wanting an arcade stick and buttons.


I think any novice, like me, or skilled gamer, will find this one hard to put down. It is a good game that is fun to get into with lots of depth. Mace is an arcade to home port. The game was released by Midway, the same people that gave us Mortal Kombat. Not to say that has any bearing on whether this game is bad or good. The atmosphere here brings to mind Soul Blade. My feelings are that I like this game better than any of the Mortal Kombat games(not a fan) and find the elements more interesting. And I think it deserved a sequel on the N64 that it never got. That is our misfortune. I love arcade gaming and that is what this game is all about. I put this game in the top ten of my list of fighters on the N64. It is a very good weapons based fighter. And I recommend it to any one who loves a good arcade fighter. Just prepare to spend some time with this one. That is the only way you'll get the full pleasurable experience of Mace.

[BLUEVOODU]

Oh man... I completely forgot about that game.  IT was a lot of fun.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but this was a direct competitor to Killer Instinct.

In a way... you see some of the same action in Mortal Kombat 4 when it graced the N64.   I was a big fan of Mortal Kombat 4... It wasn't as crazy as the Mortal Kombats today... but it still had the action that made you laugh when you juggled someone, or the way you made them flip.

Great Review, Retro!

[retro junkie]

The game got very mixed reviews back then, bad to mediocre. I really don't understand why. It was reviewed as a Mortal Kombat ripoff. But it was so different with a unique twist of its own. This game is so easy to pick up and play. Mortal Kombat takes time to develop skills. I have had hours of fun with this game. And I keep going back to it.

[targetrasp]

It really does look like a MK clone and Midway did do both...

[BLUEVOODU]

It really does.  Looks like midway ported it for Atari. 

It's stated that both games were released in October 1997 and Mace the Dark Age was the "clone" of a game.  However for either to clone... it would've had to have been at the arcade level due to release dates.