Having got to the half way point of our N64 week, we've already covered a mass mountain of games. Yet there's more to come as we go looking for a beating in the fighting genre!

Fighters Destiny:

I still remember the information provided in the directory of N64 magazine which stated that Fighters Destiny was "In a very real sense our Tekken". In a way that is quite a true statement but having fired up the game this morning it is in many ways an injustice to the N64 fighter as it differs in many ways.

Whilst Tekken provided straightforward hand-to-hand combat with the goal of depleting the oppositions life guage, Fighters Destiny worked on a points system (illustrated by stars under your characthers health). Points could be obtained by knocking your opponent out (Knockdown: 3 Points), throwing an opponent to the ground (Throwdown: 2 Points), knocking the other player off the fighting arena (Ring Out: 1 Point), countering the other fighter's attack (Counter: 3 Points), performing a special move (Special: 4 Points) or, if the time ended, the player who performed better during the fight (Judge: 1 Point). The default number of points required for victory was 7 Points, but this value, along with the the number of points given for each criteria, could be altered as well as changing the dimensions of the fighting arena! (Useful if battling for ‘Ring Out’ points)

In my opinion these mechanics brought a fresh experience to the fighting genre. As well as your standard 'Arcade Mode' (VS Com) and '2-Player Modes' (VS Battle), Fighters Destiny also had soemthing called the Master Challenge.

Master Challenge was a mode where it started with a screen showing 12 opponents in a circle (8 being 'The Master' and 4 being 'The Joker'). The cursor rotated around the circle at a very high speed and you had to stop it on the next person you would fight. The aim of the game was to win each fight against Master which would provide you with a new move to perform, and this could be saved to the Memory Card! You could end the mode after each fight to keep the moves you have obtained. (Though if you wanted them all you would have to beat all 8 Master opponents). The interesting part of the mode, apart from obtaining great new moves, was that if you fought the Joker, defeat would result in you losing all the moves you had gained! Risk and reward never felt so good.

Survival, Time Attack and Rodeo were the other game modes provided. Rodeo put you in the ring with a Cow fighter and it was all about seeing how long you could last in the ring (over a minute resulted in unlocking the Cow as a playable character)

So, Fighters Destiny had some very interesting inclusions but what was the actual gameplay like today? Surprisingly it was still good, if a little slow (though this means it is a lot more tactical as button-bashing doesn't get you far). Nicely, the decent selection of characters, each with their own stage and music still gives off a high-production vibe. The music in the game is actually pretty good along with everything else and, as you can perhaps tell, I seem to be rather fond of this game! I was certainly impressed going back to it and feel that (in hindsight) is was worthy of the high acclaim it received!

Mace: The Dark Age:

This game, strangely enough, has really not aged as badly as I expected. The menu system is simple & nippy, the characters are easy to control, and the game allows side stepping around the other player, as well as some fairly advanced moves (which effectively let you swap sides with each other - eg. swinging them around on your weapon, or picking them up and throwing them). The music shows its age, reminding me of early, low quality music on the Amiga. Graphically, the characters are nicely detailed, and background scenery, whilst only a basic 3D arena, sometimes has elements which damage the player (electricity, water, rotating blades, etc). The framerate isn't totally smooth, but doesn't really affect gameplay. Overall, I’d say it is a slightly overlooked title and one which offers solid (if unremarkable) fighting moments.

Rampage World Tour:

This game is pretty much as you'd remember - nothing special but not so terrible neither. The controls feel ok, graphics are decent to watch with some nice animations, and music and sound effects are well fitting to the atmosphere of the game. Rampage World Tour won't keep you playing for hours on end, but it definately gives you a quick-fix of destructive arcade action. Watching the attract mode demo showed me a few scenes I'd never actually reached in the game (and if this was "World Tour", what were they doing on the moon?) Overall, not a bad little destructive outing and certainly better than some of the recent iterations.

WWF No Mercy::

So far, we've had days dedicated to genres housing Goldeneye, F Zero X and Super Mario 64. Yet today was the turn of THE WWF brawler - WWF No Mercy. And, by god, today was the greatest day of them all. There's a reason why I come back to this game whenever I am in close proximity of my beloved Nintendo 64 - the fighting system is supreme and still reigns head and shoulders above everything else.

As a wrestling fan, I've certainly played a fair few wrestlers in my time. So far, No Mercy is still the closest to replicating what you see on TV, but in videogame form. The characters feel meaty and it actually does feel like you are in control of a wrestling superstar - it does not feel like your character weighs about 3 pounds and is part cereal box, part paperbag. You feel every single punch, throw or bodyslam. Every suplex is accompanied by a crunch on the canvas, every smack with the steel steps is greeted with that inhuman sound of metal upon man. And, I love every sweaty second of it.

The Ladder Match in particular is one of my highlights. It's not just tacked on for the sake of adding an extra match, because the developers have clearly thought about every single detail. For instance, take the careful positioning of the ladder in order to reach the prize, the sounds that it makes and the fact that players are left vunerable whilst holding the ladder or climbing up it. What's more, if you're really daring, you can perform a set of acrobatic tricks using the ladder. Such as climbing to the top of it and performing an array of moves. For my match, I was Jeff Hardy, and it was the Hardy Boyz versus Edge and Christian, and boy did I have fun with the ladder in that game!

The one thing that is sorely missing is the Hell in a Cell match. I won't explain why, because as other fellow wrestling fans know, the Hell in a Cell match is brutal and violent and would have fitted in rather nicely. Still, this game has too many plus-points to be overshadowed by a small problem. The depth in the roster is fantastic, allowing players to play as The Rock, Mankind, The Undertaker, as well as your household favourites such as Chris Jericho, Jeff Hardy, and even Earl Hebner. I've been giving the Championship mode a go this afternoon, and it still feels as fresh as it did all those years ago.

If you have managed to play this game before, you will know for sure why I'm ranting and raving about this masterpiece. If you haven't, then you are truely without a soul.

Killer Instinct Gold:

Kuh-Kuh-Kuh-Kuh-Kombo Breaker...On My Thumb!

I went for KI Gold seeing as it’s still played when I get some multiplayer gaming going. I ripped through the single player mode this evening with a couple of characters such as B. Orchid, Kim Wu, Jago and Uncle Tusk. KI Gold is my favourite fighting game because I think its got the best system going. The first one, on the SNES, introduced me to the flowing and logical combo system (putting Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat to shame). KI Gold cranks things up by tweaking some moves and allowing you to put the speed up to the setting ‘ludicrous’ - the only way the game should be played.

The graphics aren't the greatest on the N64 but there is some good sprite work and some nice Special effects/Particle effects which bring each fight to life. The death moves aren't that amazing compared to the brutality of Mortal Kombat yet there’s still nothing as satisfying as stringing combo's together and finishing it al off with an ‘ultimate’.

WWF No Mercy::

Can you smell that the. Rock. Is. Cooking. My. Thumb.

The N64 had a wealth of wrasstlers, and No Mercy was the cream of the crop. I played most of the wrestling games (if not all) through borrowing them and renting them but No Mercy is the only one I own. The graphics are big, blocky and downright ugly but that just adds to the manliness and machoness of it all. There are too many options and match types for me to fully go back through them all this evening, (ED: As per Fierce_Link’s impressions!) but the brief return I made was nonetheless time well spent.

I was happy enough to find that it wasn't too hard to get back into - in No Mercy it’s all about the grappling. I chose the Rock, beat the others down with all moves at his disposal and at the end unloaded with the People's Elbow... or was it the Rockbottom? Still as good as it ever was. It’s a pity that no other wrestling game since No Mercy has managed to replicate its quality, but at the very least, the grapple system lives on through the Def Jam games. A classic.

Super Smash Bros:

The original Smash Bros. is the one I've put the most time into and in return got the most fun out of. Back when it came out I remember I used to play it daily but unfortunately Melee on the GameCube never captivated me in the same way. My return to Smash Bros. was an indifferent one. The graphics are now butt ugly and I was shocked at how few characters there were to choose from! Nevertheless, once I chose Pikachu and got to playing, I could still see why the core premise has spawned such a following.

It’s fast, frantic and compact. The biggest levels in Smash Bros. on the N64 are tiny in comparison to the big ones in Melee. It keeps everyone in the fray and means theres no games of cat and mouse- nowhere to run, nowhere to hide! Smash Bros was great fun yet is definately showing its age.

Super Smash Bros:

You think the wait for Brawl was bad? This took a lifetime to hit Europe! Yet when smash landed on our shores it was a revelation. This ‘platformer-come-fighter’ was refreshing, had more tricks up its sleeve than Paul Daniels and looked as fit as his mrs. Unfortunately the magic has faded over time. The main problem is that the original has been bettered in every single way by it’s sequels.

After putting a good three hours into it I can report that it definately feels less floaty than Melee and Brawl which gives it a tactical mannerism yet the main problem is the longevity of the title. With no adventure mode (or subspace aspect) the title relies on the single and multiplayer components to see it through. With four players it’s still a good laugh yet the customisation of Brawl and Melee means it plays like a “my-first-smash” title.

Smash Bros on the N64 is a nice fight in memory lane but one which, after a few headbutts and smashes, is over and done with a little too quickly.

Super Smash Bros:

One of my favourite N64 games. This game received a lot of play time back in the day when my sisters were still young and didn't mind playing a game with me. I was wondering how this game would hold up, especially after playing Brawl. One of the first things I noticed was how ugly the characters looked! Sure it worked back in the day, but right now the models are low-quality (especially Donkey Kong). As the N64 is an ageing system it's a flaw I can forgive. Another thing is the small amount of characters to pick from (12 in total) and the stages (9 in total).

Gladly, it didn't take me long to get into the game. The moves are pretty easy to get the hang of and during the sequels they have pretty much stayed the same (except for improvements of course). I grabbed Pikachu and started the single player mode, battling my way through differing duels and bonus stages. The battles were fun and frantic, especially since all of the stages are quite small and don't allow you to run away from your opponent (though you really shouldn't if you want to win!). The Master Hand was still a nice challenge as well.

The VS Mode only has a couple of options, basically letting you play Time or Stock matches, each on their own or in teams. Limited options yes, but you really don't need much more to get some good fights going! I got to try out some more characters, namely my favourites Pikachu, Kirby and Link. The fights against the computer were fun and even made me laugh when for example Donkey Kong kept falling in a hole again and again. Silly ape!

In my opinion, this game is still great to play, but after today my attention will go back to the newest (meatier) version in the series.

Pokemon Stadium:

Pokémon Stadium, the first game to let you see your Pokémon in beautiful 3D! The models actually still look pretty nice to this day and the effects for the different moves are pretty good looking as well. Too bad the rest of the game couldn't hold my attention for very long.

After much trouble getting my Transfer Pak to work - and the game to recognise my GB game, (I had to play it again and go save at a Pokémon Center), I finally got some battles going with my great party of Level one hundred Pokémon (with my dear Raichu!). I did a few battles in the Stadium first, followed by some fights in the Gym against Brock and his gang. All the fights were pretty easy actually; I don't know if it's because of the game's difficulty or my Pokémon simply being too good though!

While the visuals are okay, the rest of the fights seems pretty boring. The music is typical Pokémon tunes repeated over and over, with some sound effects for the moves. Unfortunately the Pokémon only make noises when they get thrown into the battlefield. Shame. Only later did I find out there is an announcer, but I regretted turning that option on as his voice annoyed me to no end, as did the cheesy lines he said.

With the announcer ringing in my ears, I quickly gave up on the fights and turned to the one mode I played like crazy back when the game came out: the minigames!

Even to this day they are still fun to play, if you're into this sort of thing. You can run around as Lickitung and grab the most food, or thrown Ekans around a Diglett for points. These minigames had me more entertained than the rest of this game, and they would be the only reason for me to come back to Pokémon Stadium.

Pokemon Stadium:

Ok, so it's not your traditional 'fighting' game but I managed to bend the rules as there are elements of fighting in it. (The Pokemon attack each other!) Thinking I'd have to search everywhere for my transfer pack, I was pleased to find both and so I immediately set to work! Note: This is the first game I played on the N64 so I have a lot of love for it!

I was met with the sound of "PIIKA" followed by the music kicking in behind, which got me pumped for some Pokemon action all over again! I have to say that this game is chock-full of classic Game Boy tunes and straight away (without realising), I had begun to hum along to them all. After tripping on nostalgia I came around and went straight to the Gym leader's castle and selected my Pokemon which were:

Alakazam/Vaporeon/Flareon/Snorlax/Jolteon and Charizard. (All from my Pokemon Red Cartridge).

The fighting was (at first) insanely easy as all I had to do was use Flareon to take down the trainers weak selection of grass Pokemon. In between this (when you win) it comes up with a great screen where a giant red cross crosses the fainted Pokemon in the most overly dramatic way. It was great. I was high on Pokemon all over again.

I then went onto the Pokemon Stadium for the Prime Cup which offered much more of a challenge but still nothing too difficult. I Don't think I have ever found the game hard though as I was shocked to find I had won every cup when younger! In retrospect, I still think it is a great game and despite the easiness I was having great fun. Maybe it was nostalgia setting in but I was enjoying every minute of playing this game again. The actual battle simulation is great and I still feel the animation and 3D models of the Pokemon still hold up today. I never realised that they have such great facial expressions while being attacked. Particularly Gloom when hit with a Firespin! Typical Nintendo really.

Another thing that brought a smile to my face was the commentator with his hilarious cheesy lines which fit in well with the whole mood of the game! The way he says everything is fantasticly dramatic and oh-so manly (titter).

Having battled it out for quite some time, I thought I'd check out the other options this game had to offer. It was a great idea for you to be able to play the GB version through the N64 and although I only had a brief go today, I remember playing this way a lot as it had a special mode where you could speed up the game and I'd get to places much quicker.

The final and GREATEST mode in this game is actually the Minigame mode and so I hit it hard. 'Snore War' was the first to appear yet I'd never really understood what to do in this and had never won it! But today I made history and won. Finally! I then hit more mini games and my impressions of these can be found in the N64 appreciation forum. There was just so much to talk about!

And so, as the moon rises high in the sky, we finish our day of fighting. It was a fun treck through fists and feet and although we never had the Tekkens and Street Fighters, the N64 certainly thrashed out a good few fighters. Having birthed Smash Bros is enough for us! Right, we’re off to rest our weary thumbs in buckets of ice. The analogue was certainly a lot tougher back then!

Don’t forget to let us know your favourite N64 fighters!