One must fall 2097, in my opinion, is one of the most solid, well made, and funniest, not to mention most addictive, arcade fighting games for dos. This game is amazing, it allows you to pick, not only from a selection of pilots with different stats, but also from a selection of robots, all carrying their own advantages and disadvantages. The tournament play allows you to build your own pilots, upgrading the pilot stats as you see fits, and also allows you to buy, and upgrade better robots.
The tournament mode is fun to the point of addiction. You have to advance through a series of four tournaments each tournament containing at least 20 pilots of increasing difficulty. With the story mode there is enough of a bio and backstory on each different character to make you want to beat the game with all the different pilots. And each time you beat a game with a different pilot, you receive not only their personal story line, but a portion of the story and of the world the game is built around.
The variety in the robots is truly astonishing, each robot has a set of strengths and weaknesses. its unique look, fighting style, and some killer specials that you find yourself using over
and over again just because they look so cool.
Another wonderful aspect of the game is the variety between the arenas. Each arena has its own, completely unique hazards. This sets the challenge of not only using your robot and fighting the match but also using the arena to your advantage.
The graphics, though nowadays appearing rudimentary, were, for the time, extremely advanced. This was one of the first games to introduce 3d into an arcade fighter. The use of shadow is also very advanced for the time the game was made.
The other aspect of the tournament play is that the game used a system wear you have to use money from matches to upgrade your robot, but repairs cost money, so the less damage you take in a match, the more money you have to spend on upgrades this was another rarity in the pc gaming world at the time. This game is one of the most enjoyable I have ever played and I continue to play it and enjoy it.
This game is a classic and absolutely a must have for all arcade fighter fans.
