According to general producer Noritaka Funamizu in a 1997 Gamest magazine interview, he stated that the original plan for the Dark Force system was to make it so that "you could just completely pummel your opponent" while in Dark Force. However, there were problems with the idea, so it morphed into the form that was used in the final game, having been developed with an emphasis to making Dark Force feel unique to each fighter in the game.