It was originally conceived as Criticom II, and is the second of three fighting games developed by Kronos Digital, falling between Criticom and Cardinal Syn. These three games have been referred to as the "Trilogy of Terror", due to their rather uniform low-standing with critics.

Dark Rift takes place far in the future, sometime after the events of Criticom. Gameplay spans three dimensions: the Neutral Dimension (where Earth is located), the Dark Dimension (home to demons), and the Light Dimension (home to energy beings). Although the creatures of the Dark Dimension are demonic, there is no indication that the inhabitants of the Light Dimension have any angelic qualities.

The crystal (the acquisition of which is the main motivation of the characters of Criticom) turns out to be the Core Prime Element of a Master Key, one which holds the power to all the secrets in the universe. The Master Key was found eons ago lodged in a spatial tear. When it was retrieved it burst into three pieces, sending two pieces into alternate dimensions, and widening the tear into the game's namesake Dark Rift.

While it is known that the Demon Lord Demitron (of the Dark Dimension) holds the Dark Prime Element, and Criticom's Sonork (of the Neutral Dimension) holds the Core Prime Element, a tournament is being held in order to lure the unknown holder of the Light Prime Element (presumably from the Light Dimension) out of hiding. Sonork is using his own Core Prime Element as the grand prize.

3/5 (PC)

Doug Perry at IGN.com gave Dark Rift an overall score of 5.4 - Mediocre (with its graphics scoring the highest points at 7.0), referring to the game as "a visually attractive game with very little in the way of gameplay." IGN's Peer Schneider said "Dark Rift suffers from a horrible lack of personality and is virtually devoid of any innovation."

Jeff Gerstmann of Gamespot gave the game 5.0 - mediocre (with graphics again scoring highest at 8.0), saying it "feels like a Virtua Fighter-inspired mishmash of monsters, demons, and guys with guns. The graphic effects are the only things that save Dark Rift from falling below average."

SCARYLARRY at GamePro gave Dark Rift a short but positive review, stating simply "Although Dark Rift may not be in the elite class of fighters, Nintendo 64 owners starving for a slaying may find themselves satiated by a weekend with Dark Rift." He gave the game a score 4/5.

In reference to the "Trilogy of Terror" title used for Kronos's fighting games, Stan Liu (head and founder of Kronos) said "we got stuck doing fighting games for a while simply because we were one of the very few U.S. game developers that actually made a fighting game. Hence, Dark Rift and Cardinal Syn."

Farkas, B & Kiang, D: "Dark Rift: Official Secrets & Solutions", Prima Publishing, 1997