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| | | (____ |/ ___) |_/ ) | __ /| (_ __|_ _)
| |__/ // ___ | | | _ ( | | \ \| | | | | |_
|_____/ \_____|_| |_| \_) |_| |_|_| |_| \__)
A Walk-Through by glass_soul
Final
(C) 2008
===========================================================================
1) Introduction
2) Player Controls and Other Options
3) Meet the Freaks
4) How To Be A Winner
5) What's the Difference?
6) Secret Codes By Secret Squirrel
7) In My Opinion...
8) Acknowledgements and Legal Stuff
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1)INTRODUCTION
Dark Rift is one of the seemingly hundreds of mediocre fighting games that
plagued the Nintendo 64. It is actually the sequel to a very little-known
Saturn game called Criticom (a stupid bastardization of "critical combat").
Things go down in this beast as follows.
The Core Prime Element and the Dark Prime Element, two keys to controlling
the cosmos, are held by two different tyrants from separate dimensions. A
third key, the Light Prime Element is out there somewhere. If a ruler can
manage to gather all three keys together, then he, she, or it would become
virtually unstoppable.
One of the afore mentioned tyrants, Sonork Nezom, has searched in vain for
the Light Prime Element for centuries. Failing to find it, this evil ruler
has devised a tournament, inviting fighters from around the universe to
come and compete, with his Core Prime Element as a prize. Sonork hopes to
lure the carrier of the Light Prime Element into his tournament, confident
that he can kill whoever it is. He will then take the two keys and use
their power to smash the carrier of the Dark Prime Element. With all three
keys finally at his disposal, Sonork will rule the cosmos for all eternity.
Lord Demon Demitron, the owner of the Dark Prime Element, however has other
plans...
2)PLAYER CONTROLS AND OTHER OPTIONS
In the first version of this FAQ I just sort of glossed over this section,
partially because I no longer had the game in my possession and couldn’t do
the kind of thorough job I usually like doing while writing these, but
mainly because nobody cares. Well, as luck would have it, one of my friends
happens to own this game, so I borrowed it from him to do an “update”. I
mean still nobody cares, but at least I get the chance to drone on endlessly
about some really stupid junk that nobody cares about.
MAIN MENU (TURN ON)
-------------------
Pressing start at the title screen will bring up the main menu, of which
there are three options to choose from.
Tournament --- This is the main game here. Playing one player will take you
through all eight regular fighters and the two bosses. To
play versus a human, a buddy only has to press start on the
second controller.
Options --- Takes you to the options menu. What are these options you
ask? Well, they are all fully detailed below.
Practice --- If you’d like to take your favorite fighter out for a spin to
hone your skills against a dummy fighter, go here. During a
practice session, you can see what button combinations yield
which results, as well as how much damage each attack does.
OPTIONS
-------
The options menu seems ridiculously involved for a game that has so little
depth. None the less, there are a few things for you to tinker around with
here.
Difficulty --- Adjusts the difficulty (in theory) of your CPU-controlled
opponents. Standard fair here: you’ve got Easy, Medium, and
Hard.
Timer --- Adjusts the time limit per round. Just three options here
as well, 60, 90 or infinity (represented by 00).
Rounds --- Sets the number of rounds per battle, from 1-5. It should
be noted that Dark Rift doesn’t follow the usual rule of
“win twice to move on”. If Rounds are set to three, you’ll
need to win three times to win the fight.
Audio --- Switches your audio setup between Mono and Stereo.
Music Volume --- Lets you turn up or down the background music, from a
setting of 0 (off) to 9 (ear-splitting).
SFX Volume --- Identical to Music Volume, except this affects sound
effects.
Controls --- Don’t like the default control setting? Well just go here
to customize your controls to your liking.
Ranking --- This is totally pointless since you can’t save Dark Rift
data to a memory card and the game has no battery backup to
save your scores in the first place. None the less, the
Ranking option lets you look at the highest ranked Dark
Rift fighter, which you might become until you shut off
your N64 and the damn thing resets.
Stats --- This is kind of a neat option. Going here will let you look
at profiles for each of the characters, even the bosses
provided you’ve unlocked them. Kind of pointless, but kind
of cool none the less.
CONTROLS
--------
Now that that’s finished with, let’s review how to control the “action”. The
default settings are as follows.
Movement --- Your character’s movement is controlled by the digital
directional pad (or as we gamers like to call it the “D-Pad”)
or by using the analog joystick. Holding a direction on either
will make your fighter move either left or right, advancing on
or retreating from your opponent. If you tap the direction your
opposition is standing in twice, you will run towards them, and
if you tap away twice you’ll execute a small, dash retreat.
Holding up jumps, and holding up diagonally will make your
character jump in whichever direction you’re pressing. You can
also execute a small hop by tapping up or up plus a direction.
And down, of course, crouches for low attacks. Pretty standard
fighting game stuff.
Basic Attacks --- You have three main attack buttons in Dark Rift:
Horizontal Attack, Vertical Attack, and Kick. The list
below details which buttons these are mapped to under the
default setting, as well as a brief description of the
attacks’ strengths and weaknesses. Do be advised that
which character you select is going to effect how much
damage you do as well as your reach with any one attack.
Horizontal Attack – Your character will make a left-to-right sweep
with their gun/sword/claw/face etc. This is a
good way to counter an opponent that attempts to
dodge your attack by sidestepping, but can be
jumped over or ducked with relative ease. Mapped
to the C< button as default.
Vertical Attack – Pretty much the opposite of the above attack,
said character will make a down-to-up sweep with
their selected choice of armament. Can and will
usually stop jumping or ducking foes, but can be
sidestepped. Mapped to the C/\ button as
default.
Kick - ... it’s a kick. I’m not really sure why the
programmers decided to include this attack,
since in my experience with playing the game
people forget about it entirely. Still, it is
useful for making a slide attack, which we’ll
talk about in a moment. Kicking is mapped to CV
by default.
Advanced Attacks --- Of course, you’re not limited to flailing your arms at
your enemies and kicking them in the shins like a
sissy. If that were the case, this game would be even
more boring than it already is. No, you’ve got a few
more tricks up your sleeves to allow you to deal death
to your opponents here.
Running Attacks – Run and press either one of the attack buttons
listed above and you’ll do one of these. Pressing
Horizontal or Vertical will net you a charge
attack, which will involve you ramming your
shoulder/shield/what-have-you into your opponent’s
face. Kick nets you a slide attack, where you’ll
slide (NO!) into your enemy’s legs. Both attacks
will net an instant knock-down if they connect.
Net, net, net!
Jumping Attacks – Jumping around like a goofball and pressing the
attack buttons will allow you to do several
different attacks. First, if you press the attack
button right as you jump, you’ll swing your weapon
on the way up. The second is to let yourself gain
some altitude and then press an attack button.
This will let you swing your weapon on the way
down. And finally, there’s what I like to call the
“pounce” attack. If your opponent has been knocked
silly and is lying on the floor, press up and an
attack button at the same time. Your character
will leap in the air and come down on your floored
foe. This move is invaluable, for reasons I’ll get
to later.
Special Attacks – Of course, since this is a late ‘90s fighting
game, your repertoire of usable psychopaths also
have a variety of fireballs and other projectiles
to bring to the fight. Most of these moves are
activated via a specific D-Pad input, plus the
special button, which is mapped to the A-Button by
default. More on these moves are detailed below in
the Meet The Freaks section.
Throwing – Interestingly, throws have their own, separate
button in this game, rather than going the usual
route of getting close and hitting one or more
attack buttons. B is the button for you if you
wish to toss your enemy around like a rag doll.
The Good!: Throws are the one constant when it
comes to damage since everyone inflicts the same
amount of pain when throwing and they hurt a lot
more than simply wailing on your enemy. The Bad!:
You practically have to be on top of your enemy to
successfully execute one of these, and your
opponent can (and probably will) punch you in the
face before you get the chance to connect.
Defensive Actions --– There are a few techniques you can employ to defend
yourself whilst playing this game (besides running
away I mean). These are detailed below.
Blocking – You can, of course, block your opponent’s attacks.
All the usual fighting game rules apply here. If
you’re blocking high, you can be hit low, if you’re
blocking low you can be hit high, if you block a
special move it still shaves off some life, blah,
blah, blah. In Dark Rift they decided to make block a
button instead of the practically universal “hold
away from your enemy” that most games use, and that
button is C>.
Sidestepping – Seeing as how this is a 3D fighting game, you can
also dodge into the foreground or the background to
avoid oncoming attacks. Though only marginally
useful, hey, the ability is still there. These
buttons are mapped to the shoulder buttons on N64
controller, L sidestepping in and R out.
Wow, I just realized that this section is bigger than the actual strategy
section. Says a lot about the game, huh?
3) MEET THE FREAKS
All moves are transcribed as if your character is standing on the left side
of the screen, facing right. If you switch sides, reverse the control pad
motions. Also, the moves are listed as if the keys are set at the default
setting.
MOVES LEGEND
------------
F-Forward (in the direction towards your opponent)
B-Backward (the reverse of above)
D-Down (duh)
DF-Down-Forward (diagonally down and towards your foe)
DB-Down-Back (ditto above, except reverse)
A-the A button
T-the B button (T is for throw, which is what that button does)
C<-C-Left
C>-C-Right
CV-C-Down
C/\-C-Up
+-press both buttons at the same time
Got that? Good. This list will begin with the character's name, followed by
his or her special moves, followed by a list of available combos, and
topped off with some delicious whipped cream. I'm kidding. The final entry
will be a brief description of the character's overall strengths and
weaknesses.
Alright, let's roll.
AARON MAVERICK
--------------
Lock 'n Load - F, F, C/\
Fires a quick burst from Aaron's gun.
Duck 'n Cover - D, DF, F, A
Aaron tosses out three grenades in a decently wide circle
that then explode. Nice move to counter someone trying to
out-flank you.
Rough n' Tumble - B, B, C<+C/\
Basically a combination of the Vertical Slice and the
Side Swipe. A decent move covering both of your bases for
a counter attack. A bit tricky to pull off in the heat of
combat.
Slash 'n Crash - F, F, A
Aaron does a quick summersault which will connect twice
if you land it correctly. A nice quick attack, decent
damage.
Vertical Slice - DF+C/\
A quick, underhand arc that is ideal to wreck a jumping
enemy's plan.
Side Swipe - F, F, C<
A backhand slash that is good for countering circling
enemies.
Back Hand - B, B, C<
Similar to the side swipe, but it doesn't knock your
enemy down. Good for starting a combo.
COMBOS
------
Horizontal Combo 1 - C<, C<, C/\, F+C/\, B+C<, B+C<
Horizontal Combo 2 - C<, C<, C/\, C/\, CV, CV, C<
Horizontal Combo 3 - C<, C<, C/\, C/\, B+C<, B+C<
Vertical Combo 1 - C/\, CV, C<, D+C<
Vertical Combo 2 - C/\, CV, C<, C/\, C/\, CV, CV, C<, T
Kick Combo - CV, CV, D+CV
Aaron is a decent character. He's got two projectile attacks, which is more
than anyone else in the game, and he has fairly good reach with that MFG-16
of his. He's not the strongest character in the game but he's got
flexibility, he's easy to use, and he's moderately powerful making him a
good choice for beginners.
DEMONICA GRROUX
---------------
Hades Bite - DB+C<
A quick, low attack that will knock your enemy off his
or her feet.
Demon Breath - F, F, C/\
Demonica breaths fire. It's short-range move and it
won't stun or knock down your opponent, limiting its
usefulness.
Portal Uppercut - DF+C/\
Demonica disappears into thin air and reappears with a
vengeance. Good move, even though you can see it
coming.
Incubus Ball - F, F, A
Demonica's "fireball attack". Pretty much identical to
everyone else's fireball.
Backhand Garrotter - B, B, C<
Quick, horizontal backhand slash. Useful against
opponents who like to circle.
Snarl Lewis - F, F, C<
Quick jumping combination that hits three times. Use
as an opener for a combo.
Demon Flip - D+A
Quick back flip that catches your opponent in the
chin, knocking them flat on their backs. Good move to
counter-attack with or to get you out of sticky
situations in a hurry.
COMBOS
------
Horizontal Combo 1 - C<, C<, C/\, C<, D+C/\, T
Horizontal Combo 2 - C<, D+C<, D+C<
Horizontal Combo 3 - C<, C<, C/\, C<, C/\, D+C<, D+CL, C/\
Vertical Combo 1 - C/\, C/\, D+C<, D+C<
Vertical Combo 2 - C/\, C/\, C/\, C<, C/\, D+C<, D+C<, C/\
Kick Combo - CV, CV
Demonica looks VERY different than she did in Criticom, and her looks
aren't an improvement. Though she doesn't have much in the way of power or
reach, she's got plenty of speed, and the freaky, animalistic way that she
moves is likely to throw a human opponent off. Demonica's thin frame can
make her a difficult target to hit, especially when she runs.
EVE
---
Spiral Slice - F, F, C<
A quick sword thrust. Fairly weak and useless.
Argon Saber Bolt - D, DF, F, A
Bolt from Eve's Saber. Whoopee.
Stygian Lunge - F+C/\
Quick, powerful lunge that will knock the enemy down.
Fierce Stab - F, F, C/\
A quick lunge where Eve rears back first before
delivering the blow. Can be used as sort of a sucker
punch until your opponent wises up.
Stygian Ballet - F+C<, C<
Nice combo. Two hits, it's fairly damaging, and makes
sweeps in both horizontally and vertically for excellent
defense.
Low Thrust - DB+C/\
A sword thrust that will hit your enemy's knees,
knocking them off their feet.
COMBOS
------
Horizontal Combo 1 - C<, C<, D+C<
Horizontal Combo 2 - C/\, C<
Horizontal Combo 3 - C<, C<, C/\, C<, C<, A
Horizontal Combo 4 - C<, C<, C/\, C<, C<, D+C/\, F+C/\
Vertical Combo 1 - C/\, C/\, D+C/\
Vertical Combo 2 - C/\, C/\, C<, C/\, C<, C<, D+C/\, F+C/\
Vertical Combo 3 - C/\, C/\, C<, C/\, C<, D+C<
Eve definitely has some versatility. She's got the reach with her lunges
and plenty of combos to choose from. But regrettably, she's neither strong
nor fast. This means that it's hard to get close enough to start a combo
with her. Even if you do get lucky, it won't be as effective as another
character's might. Eve is one of those characters that needs to have
"EXPERTS ONLY' stamped on her forehead.
GORE
----
Ground Zero - DF+C<
A leaping, low slice that will put an opponent on
the ground.
Cain Lunge - F, F, C/\
Gore lunges with his axe/club. This move has pretty
good reach and like most of Gore's moves will knock
you on your ass if it hits.
Back Smash - F, F, A
An elbow smash attack. Kind of slow, but hurts if
you land it.
Dorlon Roller Coaster - F+C<, T
This move is very hard to pull off for some reason,
but if you can land it your enemy is going to be in
some serious pain.
Tree Feller - F, F, C<
A strong swing in a wide arc. Kind of slow, but
then again, those words pretty much describe
everything about Gore.
Seismic Ripple - D, DF, F, A
Gore's fireball attack. It has the worst range out
of all the "fireball" moves, but has the advantage
of being able to hit anything around close to Gore
no matter where they're at on the battlefield.
COMBOS
------
Horizontal Combo 1 - B+C<, C<, C/\, T
Horizontal Combo 2 - C<, C<, D+C<, C<, C<, T
Horizontal Combo 3 - C<, C<, D+C<, C<, D+C/\, C/\
Vertical Combo 1 - C/\, CV, C<, F+C<
Vertical Combo 2 - C/\, C/\, C/\, C/\, T
Kick Combo - CV, D+C<
Excepting the bosses, Gore's the strongest character in the game. You're
obviously going to want to capitalize on that, as he's also one of the
slowest. A lot of his special moves aren't very quick, and leave you wide
open for a counter-attack if you miss. Gore's fireball attack is almost a
liability rather than an advantage since it's got no real range to speak of
and, like the rest of his moves, it's pathetically easy to counter.
MORPHIX
-------
Blender - F, F, C<
Morphix's arms spin around him like... well, like a
blender. Capable of 4 hits at close range.
Mantis Strike - F, F, A
A quick, overhead stab that will drop your opponent if
you hit them with it.
Amputator - F, F, CV
Think of it as a lower Blender. Morphix sinks into the
ground and his arms spin around him. Capable of 3 hits
at close range.
Zenith Strike - F, F+C/\, B+C<
A double hit combo that strikes high and low.
Leg Division - DB+C<
Spinning attack that will knock your foe down.
Windmill - DF+CU
Another spinning attack that can hit your target four
times, the first contact knocking them into the air,
the next three juggling them.
Tesla Plasma Ring - D, DF, F, A
Morphix's fireball. That said, what else is there to
say?
COMBOS
------
Horizontal Combo 1 - B+C<, D+C<, C/\, T
Horizontal Combo 2 - C<, C<, C<, C/\, D+C<, D+C<, D+C/\
Horizontal Combo 3 - C<, C<, C<, C/\, D+C<, D+C<, D+C/\
Vertical Combo 1 - C/\, C/\, C<, C/\, D+C<, D+C<, C/\, T
Vertical Combo 2 - C/\, C/\, C<, C/\, C<
Vertical Combo 3 - C/\, C/\, C<, C/\, D+C<, D+C<, D+C/\
Kick Combo - CV, CV
Morphix is a fun play. He's quick and he has several moves that will hit
multiple times if you're close enough. Morphix lacks power though, and he's
not the toughest card in the deck either. Combined with the fact that he's
got pretty poor reach, it can be tricky to play with our plasmafied pal
from another dimension.
NIIKI
-----
Deadly Butterfly - B, B, C<
Niiki lets loose with a quick, spinning strike.
Starburst Blast - D, DF, F, A
Niiki's projectile weapon. It's not the strongest in
the game, but it does have the second best range, being
nearly able to hit your enemy no the other side of the
screen.
Faralon Tumble - F, F, C\/
A forward summersault that will hit an enemy twice
before knocking them flat on their butt.
Fatal Pirouette 1 - F, F, C<
A quick, two-hit attack. Aimed horizontally.
Fatal Pirouette 2 - F, F, C/\
Another quick, two-hit attack. This one's aimed
vertically.
Back Vault - B+CV
A backwards summersault that takes Niiki out of harms
way in a hurry.
COMBOS
------
Horizontal Combo 1 - C<, C<, D+CV
Horizontal Combo 2 - C<, C<, CV, B+CV, D+C/\, D+CV
Horizontal Combo 3 - C<, C<, CV, B+CV, CV, F+CV
Vertical Combo 1 - C/\, C/\, D+C<
Vertical Combo 2 - C/\, C/\, CV, B+CV, D+C/\, D+C/\
Vertical Combo 3 - C/\, C/\, CV, B+CV, CV, F+CV
Kick Combo 1 - F+CV, CV, F+CV
Kick Combo 2 - CV, CV, CV
Kick Combo 3 - CV, CV, CV, B+CV, CV, F+CV
Niiki has more combos than anyone else in this game, giving her amazing
flexibility. Her fireball almost makes it all the way across the screen,
and her speed is second to none. Of course, now comes the bad news. Niiki's
the weakest character in the game and takes the highest damage.
Consequently, she can't stay in a toe to toe fight with anyone else for
very long. You'll need to master a hit and run style of fighting with this
little firecracker to win.
SCARLET ZERAI
-------------
Side Kick - F, F, CV
A quick roundhouse to your foe's noggin.
Slayer Punch - F, F, C/\
Scarlet decks her opponent with the hilt of her sword.
Angel's Fight - F, F, A
Scarlet spins several times before slashing out with
her sword. It has a nice, wide, horizontal arc and
hurts if you connect with it, but it's totally
telegraphed and hence easy to dodge and counter.
Ascension Slash - F, F, C<
A quick, double-hitting combo.
Spiral Lava Flow - D, DF, F, A
Scarlet's fireball. 'Nuff said.
Slayer Eviscerator - F+CU, CL
Another two-hit combo. A little more damaging than the
Ascension Slash, and it will also floor your enemy.
Death Web - D, DB, B, C/\
Scarlet spins her blade around and walks towards her
foe. Can hit up to three times if you're close enough.
COMBOS
------
Horizontal Combo 1 - C<, C<, C<, CV
Horizontal Combo 2 - DF+C<, C/\, T
Vertical Combo 1 - C/\, C/\, C/\
Vertical Combo 2 - C/\, C/\, D+C<, C/\, T
Vertical Combo 3 - C/\, C/\, D+C<, C/\, C/\, D+C<
Kick Combo - CV, C<
Scarlet is simultaneously the slowest and the strongest of the female
characters. With her heavy sword, shield, and armor, she can dish out
damage and she can take it. Her sword gives her a medium range of attack,
and she also has a decent number of special moves to choose from to shake
things up. As stated, Scarlet's biggest hindrance is she's not very fast,
and her fireball is a little slower in wind up and delivery than the other
characters, so use it sparingly.
ZENMURON
--------
Ankle Separator - DB+C<
A spinning low cut.
Phoenix Strike - F, F, C<
Zenmuron lunges forward with his sword. The warm up
for this move is a tad too long, but it does alright
damage if you manage to connect with it and has decent
range.
Propulsion Kick - F, F, A
A flurry of high and low kicks that can hit your
opponent three times if you're close enough.
Mantis Lunge - F, F, C/\
More sword-lunging action. This one's basically
identical to the Phoenix Strike in terms of speed,
damage, and reach. But, and this is important, IT
LOOKS DIFFERENT.
Phoenix Kick - B, B, CV
A kick combo that will end with your enemy on the
ground.
Fiery Phoenix Bolt - D, DF, F, A
Zenmuron's fireball. Oh joy.
COMBOS
------
Horizontal Combo 1 - C<, C<, C/\, C/\, C/\, T
Horizontal Combo 2 - C<, C<, D+C/\
Horizontal Combo 3 - C<, C<, C/\, CV, CV, CV, B+CV, CV
Vertical Combo 1 - F+C/\, CV, CV, T
Vertical Combo 2 - C/\, C/\, C/\, C<, C/\, D+C<, D+C/\, C/\
Vertical Combo 3 - C/\, C/\, C/\, CV, C/\, T
Kick Combo - CV, CV, F+CV, C/\, CV, CV, CV, B+CV, CV, CV
Zenmuron has above-average speed, medium power, and despite the sword, no
real reach to speak of. He also has the longest, most complicated kick
combo in the game. Zen's kind of difficult to use effectively, since he's
got a very limited strike zone, but once you get used to his style, he's
actually a pretty solid choice to go with.
THE BOSSES
----------
By inputting the codes below in the SECRET CODES section, you can access
and play the game's two boss characters. Below are their moves.
SONORK NEZOM
------------
Death From Above - B, B, C/\
Flies you into your foe and then ends the attack with a
sharp, downward strike. Hits 4 times if you're close
enough, and it's also a decent move to get you out of
tight spots if necessary.
Gatling Drill - F, F, C/\
Blades on Sonork's Gatling arm extend to deliver long
range damage. Better range on this attack than most.
Gatling Cannon - D, DF, F, A
Fires four rapid shots from Sonork's Gatling cannon.
Great attack if you can catch your opponent with it, and
virtually impossible to quickly counter-attack if
blocked.
Machine Gun Kick - B, B, CV
Sonork's mechanical leg repeatedly extends and contracts
in an effort to kick in his opponent's face. Can hit 3
times at close range.
Drill Upper - F, F, A
An uppercut that ends with a downward thrust for two
hits.
Bionic Stomp - F, F, CV
A quick, jumping attack. A counter-attack.
Gatling Shredder - F, F, C<
The blades start spinning as Sonork swings his arm in an
arc. Good for defending against enemies who try to
circle you and capable of hitting the target 3 times.
Die Swatter - B, B, C<
Backhand blow that will floor your opponent.
COMBOS
------
Horizontal Combo 1 - C<, C<, D+C<
Horizontal Combo 2 - C<, C<, F+C<, F+C/\, T
Vertical Combo - C/\, C/\, C/\, F+C/\, F+C/\, T
Sonork is the other character that can be traced directly back to Criticom
and, like Demonica, he's changed considerably. Veterans of Criticom (of
which there may be 2 or 3) may be surprised to see their little, wimpy,
Sonork reformed as this cybernetically enhanced super-villain. Sonork
doesn't have very many combos, and in truth, he doesn't need them. He's
strong, durable, and he has plenty of moves to choose from. The Gatling
Cannon is an ideal move to keep your enemy at bay, and Death From Above is
a nice quick way to either get some space between you and your foe or close
ranks with them.
LORD DEMON DEMITRON
-------------------
Stampede - F, F, C/\
A quick dash attack with decent range. Excellent for
closing with your enemy.
Blade Strike - B, B, C/\
A fast uppercut with Demitron's arm blade.
Portal Uppercut - DF, C/\
Pretty much identical to Demonica's, except since it's
coming from Demitron it hurts more.
Teleport - B, B, A
Teleports you right in front of your target.
3D Teleport - B+A
Teleports you in a circular pattern around your target.
Vaper Saw - D, DF, F, A
Demitron's fireball. Not only is this the hardest-hitting
projectile in the game, it also is the only one that will
travel all the way across the screen. Since it's too big
to jump over, your target will be forced to either dodge
or block.
Teleport Drop - DF+CV
Demitron jumps into the air and vanishes...only to
reappear above the enemy's head and proceed to land on
it. This move is unblockable; foes (or you for that
matter, if you're on the receiving end) will be forced to
try and dodge it.
Crescent Sault - F, F, CV
A flipping attack that has a crescent flight path.
Hell Smasher - B, B, CV
A dropkick. Medium distance, medium damage.
Vertigo - DB+CL
A highly damaging move that lands multiple hits on your
hapless victim.
COMBOS
------
Horizontal Combo 1 - C<, C<, C/\, C<, A
Horizontal Combo 2 - C<, C<, D+C<
Vertical Combo 1 - C/\, C/\, C/\, C<, A
Vertical Combo 2 - C/\, C/\, C/\, C<, C<, C/\, D+C/\, D+C/\
Kick Combo - F+CV, CV
Demitron is the game's big boss, and rightly so. He's horribly powerful,
has a wide array of special moves, and is surprisingly quick for being the
biggest thing on two hooves. Nothing is perfect, however. Demitron's
largest handicap is his weapon; the arm blade is short and as such has poor
reach. Also, since he's a big guy, Demitron is rather easy to hit in spite
of his speed. But when you consider all of his multiple advantages (an
unblockable attack that puts him directly next to you, a fireball that
travels the length of the screen, enough strength to pound opponents into
silly putty) that one argument is a minor drawback at best.
4) HOW TO BE A WINNER
Due to the fact that the programmers had apparently been smoking some
seriously good pot when they made this game, this is going to be one of the
shortest FAQS I've written. You may have noticed that under the character
profiles the suggestions on how to use them are rather vague. That's
because the only situation where you'll possibly need to use strategy will
be when battling a human opponent. And let's face it. Human opponents
require strategy and adaptation and tactics to defeat. The computer doesn't
suffer from these requirements. The computer is so dumb, you could probably
beat the entire game without using your arms, though I haven't tried this.
On standard setting, you need to win three rounds in order to beat your
foe. Losing three rounds makes you lose the game, though since you can
continue an unlimited amount of times, this really isn't much of a
drawback.
FIGHTING EVERYONE ELSE
----------------------
Open each match by simultaneously leaping at your foe and swinging your
weapon. 99% of the time, you'll catch the bad guy and knock him to the
ground. If your opening move lands, immediately perform a jumping attack,
then back off as far as you can. If you miss with the starting attack, just
back off as quickly as possible. Stay on the other side of the screen from
your opponent. They might dodge around for a bit, maybe try and hit you
with a projectile, but eventually they'll run at you. When they're about
halfway across the screen, jump backward and swing your weapon on the way
down (use vertical or horizontal attacks; kicks don't work as well). What
will happen is your enemy will run into your attack as you drop from the
height of your jump, flooring them again. Immediately, perform another jump
attack and "pounce" on your defenseless victim. Back off as they get back
up, and repeat the process. Time it wrong and your opponent will usually
slide into you, knocking you to the ground. But once you've got this
pattern down right, this game is yours on any difficulty level. The
exception, of course, is Lord Demon Demitron...
FIGHTING DEMITRON
-----------------
Though Demitron will fall for the above mentioned tactic if he runs at you,
don't count on him cooperating. He tends to prefer to do the Teleport Drop
or the simple Teleport to close distance with you. When he does the regular
Teleport, he'll usually try and combo you immediately after reappearing.
Deal with this by jumping forward and swinging your weapon as soon as he
disappears. This will catch him right when he rematerializes, nailing him
before he has time to attack and knocking him to the ground for another
hit. The Teleport Drop is a bit trickier to deal with. As stated above, you
can't block this move, and it is much too difficult to try and dodge by
dashing left or right. Instead, run forward. Demitron will harmlessly crash
to the ground behind you. Turn around as he gets back up, dash towards him,
and use a slide attack to put his ugly mug back in the dust. "Pounce" on
him as he's lying there helpless and then back off. Unless you have a very
encyclopedic knowledge of all the character's moves, I would seriously
advise against going toe to toe with Demitron. You can beat him easiest by
getting in your hits where you can and then rushing back to safety.
5) WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?
Though there are three levels of difficulty, your standard Easy, Normal,
Hard, they really don't mean anything. True, your enemy will become more
aggressive on the harder difficulty levels, but that only means that
they'll fall for the above tactic that much quicker. Beating the game on
Easy only nets you a teaser ending, and encourages you to play through the
game on Normal or Hard. Beating the game on Normal or Hard, by contrast,
will show you your character's full ending as well as give you the code for
playing Sonork.
6) SECRET CODES BY SECRET SQUIRREL
All codes must be put in at the title screen (the one that says " Press
Start").
BOSS CODES
-----------
Play As Sonork Nezom - L, R, C/\, CV, C<, C>
Makes Sonork playable in all modes of play. You'll
hear him laugh if you input the code correctly.
Play As Sonork Nezom and Lord Demon Demitron - A, B, R, L, CV, C/\
This makes both Sonork and Demitron available in all
modes of play. Again, you'll hear Sonork laugh if
you put the code in correctly. Quite a jolly guy,
that Sonork.
SPECIAL FIGHTS
--------------
Fight Demitron - Up, C<, R, Right, Down, B, B, B, C/\
This is an interesting code, and the name isn't entirely
accurate. It's more like "Play the Game As Demitron
Starting With Demitron As Your First Opponent". Sonork
will laugh (again) if you input the code correctly, and
the game will jump right to the first match. Sonork is
always the last person you battle, and playing through it
only graces you with the teaser ending no matter which
level of difficulty you play it on. My guess is that this
is something the programmers used to test out the big
bosses abilities. Once the product was finished, it was
accidentally left in the final product, and then someone
accidentally stumbled upon it by trying to input one of
the character ending codes (the code above is identical to
all of the ending codes for the first five keys).
CHARACTER ENDINGS
-----------------
Inputting these codes will show you that particular character's full ending
without the hassle of actually slugging through the game.
Aaron Maverick - Up, C<, R, Right, Down, R, R, C<
Demonica Grroux - Up, C<, R, Right, Down, R, R, C/\
Eve - Up, C<, R, Right, Down, R, R, C>
Gore - Up, C<, R, Right, Down, R, R, CV
Lord Demon Demitron - Up, C<, R, Right, Down, L, L, CV
Morphix - Up, C<, R, Right, Down, R, R, B
Niiki - Up, C<, R, Right, Down, R, R, A
Scarlet Zerai - Up, C<, R, Right, Down, L. L. C<
Sonork Nezom - Up, C<, R, Right, Down, L, L, C/\
Zenmuron - Up, C<, R, Right, Down, L, L, C>
7) IN MY OPINION
As I've already stated, the Nintendo 64 seemed to want to collect all of
the crummiest fighting games in the universe for its game library, and Dark
Rift is another mediocre title for the system. Personally, I have a soft
spot for the game, but that's mostly due to the fact that, like many other
less-than-stellar things (Mortal Kombat the movie, early 90s dodge Shadows,
and Where's Waldo books), my memories of the game are tied to a rather
special time in my life. Let's take a closer look at the game's qualities.
Let's start with the eye-candy, which is a mixed bag like practically
everything else in this title. The large stills at the end of each
character's story are very nice, and something Midway could have and
absolutely SHOULD have used to spice up War Gods, MK Trilogy, and Mace: The
Dark Age on this same gaming platform. I mean seriously, the 64 can handle
these kinds of graphics, so the only excuse I can think of for not
including something like this is laziness. The backgrounds are pretty well
detailed too, from the dimly lit hallway that Zenmuron fights in to the
destroyed and diseased ruins of a city that Sonork calls home. Each
environment fits its master perfectly. The ambient glow of some of the
areas (Demonica's stage) or the glare of someone's weapon (anytime you
fight with Eve) are rather sophisticated touches as well. Sadly, the
character renditions themselves are actually rather shoddy. The models are
boxy and clunky (even their shadows), and while there was a lot of
attention given to making all of the moves very fluid and lifelike, the
trade-off is actual combat is very slow. This isn't a chess match. The
action in fighting games is meant to be a fast and furious, and the snail's
pace at which things move hurts the game play considerably.
In the audio department, the game does have a different set of vocals for
each unique character as it should. But Dark Rifts selection of grunts and
groans are rather weak and quiet, and don't really add much to the overall
feel (aside from Demitron, who actually sounds threatening and seems to say
"#$*% you!" whenever he's doing his little victory dance). In fact, I think
it's safe to say that were the vocals removed, it would hardly effect the
game at all. The music is slightly better. There are some alright tunes in
this one (Aaron's stage, Scarlet's stage, Niiki's stage) but there's an
equal amount of ambient, strange sounding garbage. Admittedly, these
particular tracks go well with their stages, but the game definitely lacks
a Street Fighter, or even a Mortal Kombatish intensity in its soundtrack.
The game already seems to play far too slow for my tastes, and the music
seems determined to reinforce that idea.
One of the deadliest sins a fighter can commit is to make the controls
unresponsive. This game seems to have a very picky input time to do your
special moves correctly, and that can cost you in a fight. Plus the overall
lag time in inputting commands slows the action down even MORE than it
already drags. FURTHER complicating all of this is assigning a button for
block rather than using the usual "hold back" that most fighters utilize.
Mortal Kombat worked fine with a block button. Dark Rift doesn't.
Finally, as stated above, the computer has the mind of a liver fluke. This
game is only a challenge if you decide to play it conventionally, and not
employ the tactics I've suggested above. And even then, if you're losing,
you can always fall back to the cheap-o-la method of winning. Dark Rift
therefore falls from being a mildly entertaining game to a tedious,
repetitive chore, sort of like mowing the lawn. chore. The character's
endings are detailed, and as I stated, and have good still shots to go with
them. Everyone (except Zenmuron) has a full story, with a reason for why
they've entered the tournament to a concise ending which actually finishes
out that character's tale fairly well. But once you've seen all 10 endings,
there's no point in playing the game any more. Also, the limited number of
characters and the fact that there are really only two modes of play blast
Dark Rift's replay value out of the sky with a twelve-gauge shotgun.
The slowness of the gameplay and the other below-average features of Dark
Rift detailed above won't make it last, either versus the CPU or on the
player-versus-player level. There simply isn't enough to keep you here, and
what the game's got it doesn't execute very well. It seemed to have
concentrated all of its quality attention to making good still shots (which
it did) but then ignored all the basic requirements of any decent fighting
game. There's always room for more titles in any rabid game collector's
cache of video games, but if you're looking for a good fighter, pass Dark
Rift up. You won't be missing much.
3 out of 10.
===========================================================================
8) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND LEGAL STUFF
Vic Toki and Kronos Entertainment get the credit for making this game,
naturally. Both companies, I believe, are no longer with us, which is sad.
But a brief look at their products doesn't really leave much of a mystery
as to why they went out of business. Strange when you think about how many
other mediocre game companies are still out there, but there you go.
The gameplay strategies and information was acquired mostly by me. I did
not, however, have a complete list of each character's moves, let alone
what the moves were called, so I did have to look those up. In doing so I
used CooperTeam's FAQ for assistance in that department. Likewise, I needed
to look up the codes in the 'Secret Codes' section. Therefore, credit goes
to War Pig, coolryan3, KasketDarkFyre, and LaxSean182 for making these
codes available on GameFAQS. You guys rock.
All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders. The fact that I've bothered to
write this does not constitute a challenge to said copyright holders.
This document is Copyright 2008 glass_soul (that's me). Only GameFAQs,
Neoseeker, and 1-up have permission to post this walk-through on their site
(if they feel like it). Nobody else, person, entity, horse, butcher, baker,
candlestick maker, or otherwise, may post this document in part or whole on
their website without my express permission to do so.
Comments, questions, corrections, flames, phone numbers, and recipes for
delicious chocolate chip cookies and other forms of feedback in general are
all welcome. Especially cookie recipes.
I may be reached at
[email protected].
Until we meet again. :)
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