Watch Kosta don some cool shades and become a robot fighter pilot

The Game: One Must Fall 2097
The Year: 1994
The Developer: Diversions Entertainment
The System: PC (DOS)

When it comes to the fighting games of the ‘90s, pretty much the only ones people remember are those that began as arcade games. Titles like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, games that swallowed pocket money en masse. Titles that also found success at home, but on consoles like the Super Nintendo and Sony PlayStation. And sure, the PC was also a popular gaming platform at the time and home to many iconic releases across a broad range of genres -- but as a whole, the fighting game wasn’t one of them.

Now, one of the reasons for this was that a Joystick or Gamepad was a secondary peripheral, and a very secondary one at that. Most people played PC games via the keyboard, mouse, or a combination of the two. Consequently this allowed things like adventure games and first-person shooters to flourish in the ‘90s, and in the process make those genres feel quintessentially PC. But there was one exception to this lack of decent fighting games rule, 1994’s One Must Fall 2097 from Diversions Entertainment and Epic Megagames. A giant-robot fighter for the PC that still remains one of the most interesting releases in the genre’s long and storied history.

Hugh Jackman in One Must Fall: The Movie
One Must Fall 2097 (or, as it affectionately became known, OMF) was by no means a radical reinvention of the form. The mechanics were lifted just about wholesale from the various arcade giants of the time. Plus, the setting itself seemed to be based on a popular manga or anime series -- albeit one that didn’t exist. But once all these familiar and recognisable parts came together the end result felt truly special. The blend of science fiction, robot pilots, fighting, role-playing, and customisation resulted in an experience that was not only ahead of its time, but one that also helped define it.

The underground gaming scene of the early ‘90s is something that most have probably forgotten about. The most recognisable term born from this era, Shareware, is one often misappropriated to represent a simple game demo. In actual fact, the term Shareware was born from the hobbyist spirit of early computer programming, a time when computer programs were freely distributed amongst peers and consumers. Free from the monetisation-for-everything ethos of capitalism. Naturally, once the computer industry became heavily commercialised this quickly morphed into rampant piracy, but by the early ‘90s thriving communities were creating and sharing programs and games in a non-commercial capacity. Shareware.

Two robots enter the ring. One leaves victorious. The other in a robo-bag
Although many got their first taste of OMF from playing the Shareware demo, the true legacy of this scene can be felt once you start up One Must Fall 2097 for the first time. And it can heard almost immediately with the game’s iconic soundtrack. What sounds like simple and catchy computer-driven melodic techno is actually underground computer music, created using the very tools that drove this thriving early ‘90s computer subculture. And it was created by one of its more well-known artists. This fact alone says a lot about OMF, a fighting game that couldn’t exist on any other platform. It’s a PC game through and through.

One Must Fall began as a demo in the same sense that a lot of incomplete indie games today are released under the Early Access banner. It was made for the pure love of a specific genre and a certain type of Eastern aesthetic. In no time at all it became a cult hit, which was then picked up by Epic MegaGames for full release the following year. Naturally a lot of changes were made to the game, from balancing to beefing up the roster of giant mechanised fighters to choose from. But perhaps the greatest achievement of One Must Fall 2097 was how the setting, premise, and fighting mechanics came together in the spectacular mode called Tournament Play.

Whatever pops. Now make sure that we get two coats of wax this time. Not just one.
It’s here that the true genius of OMF becomes apparent, and still feels fresh. The way Tournament Play works is simple, and based around the idea of a career mode. Once you create a pilot you’re given the vanilla robot du jour, the Jaguar, and are then thrown into an amateur tournament. Winning fights moves you up in ranking whilst also netting you some cash to either upgrade your robot or piloting skills. Customisation doesn’t end there as once you have enough money you can trade in the Jaguar for a number of different models, each with their own move set. The more money you have the fancier the robot you can buy. A narrative staple found with this sort of science fiction setting, and one that’s integral to the world of OMF.

The execution of all these little elements is not only fantastic, but the way in which the career mode blends seamlessly with the manga style setting and controls by-the-way-of Street Fighter is something to savour. It may not be the first game to do this sort of thing, but it’s the first to combine all these elements into one immediately accessible standout package. The little touches are equally wonderful. Before each bout you’ll not only be taunted by your opponent, but you’ll get a hangar view of your machine of choice being worked on by your repair crew. The sense of scale is mesmerising, and this sort of attention to peripheral detail paves the way for things like the impressive and seamless transition to a televised breakdown after the end of each fight.

With a sweet pair of shades and leather duster, Kosties is the coolest Jaguar pilot going around
When talking about the longevity of a fighting game odds are that a writer would reference and point to the title's multiplayer aspects. This is both true today and at the time of One Must Fall’s release. And it’s hard to fault this logic. As a genre born at the arcade, the competitive nature of head-to-head battles between human players served as the foundation of many classic fighting games. So it’s no wonder that many console releases were either ports or new games that aimed to capture this singular trait. A deep single-player mode has never been the goal.

Which is one of the main reasons why One Must Fall 2097 has aged as well as it has. It plays as fresh as it did back in 1994, sounds fantastic, and proves that fighting games can work on PC. And in doing so, become one of its very best.

Throwback Rating:

Best Forgotten / A Trip Down Memory Lane / Timeless

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Previous Throwbacks:

• King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder! (1990)
• Star Wars Episode I: Racer (1999)
• Mortal Kombat (1993)
• Hybrid Heaven (1999)
• Zombie Edition
• Die by the Sword (1998)
• Command and Conquer: Red Alert (1996)
• Disney's Aladdin (1994)
• Blood (1997)
• Blast Corps (1997)
• The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants (1991)
• Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire (1995)
• Wizards & Warriors (1987)
• Descent (1994)
• The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (2000)
• Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger (1994)
• Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness (1995)

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Kosta Andreadis remembers a time when in order to get the best out of a console game you had to blow gently into it and whisper sweet nothings like "please work, I’m up to World 8-3, for fudgcicles sake". Situated in Melbourne, Kosta is a freelancer who enjoys playing RPGs, strategy, adventure, and action games. Apart from investing well over 200 hours into The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim he’s also an electronic musician with an album recently released.

Find him or follow him on Twitter - @toadovsky, Steam - toadovsky and Xbox Live - Toadovsky.