~One Must Fall 

Review by Neil Hopkins

You know me by now - a PC genre snob, looking down my nose at the 
twin staples of the console world, platformers and beat-em-ups.
Well, I have a small confession to make. I do enjoy the occasional 
platform game - Commander Keen and Jazz Jackrabbit have both enjoyed 
a residency on my hard drive - and now against all the odds I have 
found a beat-em-up that I enjoy.

Why do I hate beat-em-ups so much? The contrived scenarios apart, 
it's just the feel of the things. It's not like any combat that I 
have ever been in involved in - OK, so I've never had a Street Fight 
but I have some experience of Judo and Karate, and I fence
regularly. The characters do not seem to have any mass, and success 
seems to depend soley on joystick waggling and button thumping.

So why do I like One Must Fall?

For one thing, I'm a sucker for giant Japanese robots and Epic have 
captured the Manga feel to a tee. The graphical style follows 
through from the option screens to the post-match analysis, and 
suits the theme of the game. Likewise the soundtrack is an 
appropriately techno BPM affair, with all the usual thumps, crashes 
and thuds. The sound of a robot being frazzled when it is body 
slammed into the side of the electrified arena makes me wince! The 
way that the screen shakes, the robots reel from repeated blows and 
the sparks and debris that fly from successful strikes lend depth 
and weight to this game. 

A comparison with the supposed gore of Mortal Kombat et al is worth 
making. The feeling of desperation as your stunned robot is backed 
into a corner is palpable, something that the flying red pixels and 
ludicrous death moves and combos of other beat-em-ups simply do not 
deliver. 

The game play contains the right mix of strategy and tactics, 
particularly in the tournament mode. You need to earn money in a 
series of combats to upgrade your robot to face tougher opponents. 
You also have to pay the repair bill for your robot, which can make 
a nasty dent in your profits! The cut scenes include a pre-fight 
taunt from your opponent, complaints from your chief engineer if 
your robot is badly damaged, and  a post match analysis by a TV 
sports commentator which usually is the spur to having just one more 
fight.

That, I think, is the key to the success of One Must Fall - that 
subtle hook of addictive gameplay, that rewards repeated play and 
development of strategy. Compared to the overpriced and overhyped 
Rise of the Robots, One Must Fall is a superb game. Well worth a 
download, or a visit to your local shareware shop, particularly if
you are the sort of person that doesn't normally play beat-em-ups.
