Mace: the Dark Age
Platform: PlayStation
Publisher: Midway

The Basics

The arcade port of Mace: The Dark Age would have been to 3D fighting games what Doom was to first-person shooters: the darkest of a dark genre. It was originally set in the 14th century (though not based on actual events), where feudal princes and warlords ravaged the land at the bidding of rogue demon Asmodeus, who fed off the death, despair, and disease they caused (the wicked princes and evil warlords were known as "the Covenant of Seven"). In return, the demon granted them limited power beyond that of normal human beings - but that was just not enough for them. They all craved the source of Asmodeus' power, the ancient artifact known as the Mace of Tanis and schemed to wrest it from him. Meanwhile, a few warriors emerged from the oppressed masses, intent on either destroying the demon and the Seven to free their countries or using the Mace to rule themselves.

The basic characters which would have been available for play were: Lord Deimos, an armor-clad member of the Seven who planned to expand his kingdom; Al' Rashid, an assassin hired to bring back the Mace; Koyasha, a young female ninja sent to kill Asmodeus; the Executioner, a sadist with a megalomaniacal itch; Mordos Kull, a mercenary orphaned by the Seven who vowed revenge; Takeshi, a samurai entrusted with the twin tasks of keeping the evil from spreading to Japan and finding his lost brother Ichiro; Namira, the lost princess of Arabia who seeks vengeance against Al' Rashid and the Seven; Ragnar Bloodaxe, a huge Viking warrior with only Lord Deimos' blood on his mind; Taria, an evil sorceress and daughter of one of the Seven, who wanted to take her father's place; and Xiao Long, a blind monk who sought to destroy all evil, including the Mace. In the arcade title, four more characters were available through a Tekken-like time release process and two through codes. These characters included the undead paladin, Lord Dregan; the evil samurai Ichiro (hey, isn't he somebody's brother?); the hulking winged demon Hell Knight; a medieval conception of Marvel Comics' Iron Man, War Mech; the stone gargoyle sub-boss, Grendal and Pojo, "the amazing fighting chicken."

WHAT HAPPENED?
Mace was canceled because it just wasn't capable of looking good enough on the PlayStation, and Midway wasn't happy with how it was turning out. It was released on the Nintendo 64 only.