SEGA Saturn

Dark Legend

The problem with fighting games is that you have to get nearly everything perfect to make a game worth playing. Dark Legend has good graphics, awesome music and cool character design, but it's hard to appreciate any movement and a few hard-to-do moves. Close, but not quite. I'll wait for Golden Axe: The Duel.

With more titles like MK II, MK 3 and Darkstalkers on the way, gamers should think twice before spending 60 beans on Dark Legend. But if you're dying for a new fight now, consider this entertaining, if unoriginal, brawl.

Ultimately, the biggest disappointment is that this game does little to explore the capabilities of the Sega Saturn. While other 32-bit games blaze a trail into the future, Dark Legend only offers a stroll down memory lane.

Well, the only thing that I am sure of in this game is that I didn't like it. It reminds me, graphically, of Samurai Shodown, but it doesn't have the play control at all. Let's face it, 2-D fighters really are on the decline, with rare exception... and this is not one of them.

Dark Legend, as a whole, has a decent fighting engine, and fighting fans looking for some extra entertainment on the Saturn might find some decent entertainment value to be had out of this title. But it's failure to offer anything new or innovate in any way brands it immediately as an also-ran, and as a result it will unfortunately fail to impress most of its players.