Mace: The Dark Age
0 plays 1997 #Fighting
Mace: The Dark Age is a 1997 fighting video game developed and published by Atari Games for arcades, with a port for the Nintendo 64 later released by Midway. Like many fighting games of the time, its style is marked by extreme violence, with characters graphically slaying defeated opponents. Utilizing 3dfx Voodoo chips for the hardware, the game received attention for its cutting-edge graphics and turned Atari a profit in the arcades. Critical response to the gameplay was much less enthusiastic.
From Wikipedia's article Mace: The Dark Age
Keyboard controls
| N64 | Player 1 |
|---|---|
| Stick | ↑↓←→ |
| A | X |
| B | C |
| Z | Z |
| L | A |
| R | S |
| C buttons | IKJL |
| D-pad | TGFH |
| Start | Enter |
Hotkeys
- 1 Quick save state
- 2 Quick load state
- 3 Change save slot
A gamepad with an analog stick plays much better than the keyboard.
Gamepads are detected when you press a button. Remap any key from the emulator’s Controls menu (gear icon).
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Keyboard controls
| N64 | Player 1 |
|---|---|
| Stick | ↑↓←→ |
| A | X |
| B | C |
| Z | Z |
| L | A |
| R | S |
| C buttons | IKJL |
| D-pad | TGFH |
| Start | Enter |
Hotkeys
- 1 Quick save state
- 2 Quick load state
- 3 Change save slot
A gamepad with an analog stick plays much better than the keyboard.
Gamepads are detected when you press a button. Remap any key from the emulator’s Controls menu (gear icon).
2.5 Could be better
GameRankings 64%
Review scorecard
- Graphics 2.5 out of 5 Overall fallback
- Sound 2.5 out of 5 Overall fallback
- Control 2.5 out of 5 Overall fallback
- Fun Factor 2.5 out of 5 Overall fallback
Overall fallback: GameRankings 64%. Overall source The same 64/100 overall rating fills missing categories using the face scale; these are not separate category scores.
What the reviews talk about
Key wordschoppymediocresmoothcolourfulimpressiveexcellent
What the critics said
An exception was Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot, who considered it inferior to Dark Rift, saying it "looks fantastic but still plays poorly."
— GameSpot, 2000 (Jeff Gerstmann)
Critics did praise the arena designs, particularly the interactive objects and danger zones, with GamePro, one of the few to give Mace a wholly positive review, applauding the "dynamic details that not only look great but add to the fun and playability of the game."
— GamePro, 1997
According to Matt Casamassina of IGN, "Possibly because of the attention to detail, character animation is sometimes choppy and, because of that, gameplay suffers."
— IGN, 2018 (Matt Casamassina)
Next Generation reviewed the arcade version, stating that "Detail and depth on the order of a Virtua Fighter take years of development and practice, and Atari Games has a good start. Mace is a beautifully designed game with attractive characters and bodes well for Mace II."
— Next Generation, 1997 · about another version
Electronic Gaming Monthly later commented that "If your local arcade had this machine in, then you probably took a close look at it at one point or another.... It is clearly one of the most visually impressive fighting games around, boasting smooth animations and large, colorful characters."
— Electronic Gaming Monthly, 1997 · about another version
From the Reception section of Wikipedia's Mace: The Dark Age article.
Scores
- 85 Consoles +1997 85%
- 81 N64 Magazine1997 81% (N64)
- 71 IGN2018 7.1/10 (N64)
- 65 Electronic Gaming Monthly 6.5/10, 7.5/10, 6.5/10, 5.5/10
- 60 Computer and Video Games1998 3/5 (N64)
- 60 Edge1998 6/10
- 54 GameSpot2000 5.4/10 (N64)
- 40 Next Generation 3/5 (ARC) ; 2/5 (N64)
From the review table in Wikipedia's Mace: The Dark Age article.
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