One Must Fall: 2097

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One Must Fall: 2097 is a fighting game for the IBM PC compatible, programmed by Diversions Entertainment. It has a sequel, One Must Fall: Battlegrounds.

[edit] Background

Screenshot showing Crystal (in the blue Jaguar HAR) fighting Jean-Paul (in the red Shadow HAR).

Released in 1994 by Epic MegaGames, One Must Fall: 2097 replaces the human combatants typical of contemporary fighter video games with large Human Assisted Robots (HAR). These HARs are piloted through a physical and mental link to the human pilots; however, this is merely a plot concept, and it is never shown on-screen, nor does it factor in to gameplay. Eleven HARs and ten customizable pilots are available for play, along with five arenas and four tournaments. The pilots vary in strength, speed and endurance, thus the many HAR/pilot combinations allow for large replay value.

Unlike in most fighting games of its time, the arenas (except one, the Stadium) contain hazards. For instance, one arena features spikes coming out of the wall that can damage your robot, and one has a floating sphere that, when struck, triggers a fireball from the floor under your opponent.

The game was later patched to include multiplayer support. On February 10, 1999, the game was declared freeware by the developers.

The ten main HARs and their features are:

• Jaguar (balanced in agility and power)
• Shadow (creates duplicates of itself)
• Thorn (monomolecular spikes)
• Pyros (flamethrowers)
• Electra (electric bolts)
• Katana (monomolecular blades)
• Shredder (detachable magnetic hands)
• Flail (two swinging chains, wheels)
• Gargoyle (wings, air dominance)
• Chronos (teleportation, time manipulation)

The eleventh HAR, the Nova, is the final battle in story mode, and is only playable in tournament mode (or through the input of a sequence of commands in story mode). It is equipped with heavy missiles and grenades, and is by far the tallest of the available robots. Each HAR has three special attacks that can be discovered (except for Shadow and Nova, who both have four), along with a "scrap" and "destruction" move (similar to fatalities in Mortal Kombat) that can earn bonus points and, in some cases, unlock secrets.

Using destruction moves in the tournament mode in the higher difficulty levels sometimes results in the player being challenged by an unranked opponent. Defeating that opponent and using a destruction move on their robot occasionally yields secret components which can be installed on the players HAR, significantly improving the effectiveness of certain special moves. Secret challengers include Jazz Jackrabbit and Devan Shell, the hero and villain, respectively, of the Jazz Jackrabbit videogames, also developed by Epic Megagames around the same time.

[edit] Differences between the shareware and full versions

In the shareware version:

• The Ordering Info screen is different from that in the full version.
• The music is different from that in the full version.
• Raven, in the Pyros HAR, is the boss, and in order to fight him, the difficulty level must be ROOKIE or higher.
• The Power Plant is the only playable arena.
• North American Open is the only available tournament.
• Crystal, Steffan, Milano, Christian, and Shirro are the only playable pilots in story mode.
• Jaguar, Shadow, and Thorn are the only robots playable in both story mode and tournament mode. Pyros is playable, too, but in tournament mode only.
• HYPER mode is unavailable.

In the full version:

• Major Kreissack, in the Nova robot, is the boss, and in order to fight him, the difficulty level must be VETERAN or higher.

[edit] Credits

Rob Elam, and his brother Ryan Elam[1], developed the entire video game, in exception to the sound system and the music. Even the sound effects were created by Ryan Elam.

Credits as shown from the Outro:

• game design - Rob Elam
• programming - Rob Elam
• artwork - Rob Elam
• animation - Rob Elam
• game design - Ryan Elam
• programming assistance - Ryan Elam
• sound effects - Ryan Elam
• sound system - Joshua Jensen
• musician - Kenny Chou

(Kenny Chou was also known as CCCatch from the demoscene[2]).

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• The music was created by Kenny Chou (a.k.a. C.C.Catch) from the PC demo scene, who was a member of the group Renaissance. The music was done with Scream Tracker 3.^{[citation needed]}
• An early freeware beta was released of this game simply titled One Must Fall, featuring characters who greatly resembled Ryu and Ken of the Street Fighter series.

[edit] External links

• Official OMF:2097 download — full version since it has been released as freeware
• OMF2097.com — A fansite for One Must Fall 2097
• One Must Fall: 2097 at MobyGames