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->''Ladies ... and ... gentlemen!   PARE ... A ... RENA!''
-->-- '''The announcer'''

''Pararena'' was an early [[TheNineties nineties]] Platform/{{Macintosh}} game by John Calhoun. Its premise could be summed up as "one-on-one Film/{{Rollerball}} with {{Hover Board}}s, on a satellite dish [[RecycledInSpace In Space]]."

Version 1.x (1990) was a {{Shareware}} title on Calhoun's "Soft Dorothy" label, with registration unlocking more features, opponents, and rulesets. Version 2.x (1992) was a [[UpdatedRerelease boxed retail product]] from Creator/CasadyAndGreene, adding color graphics, a tournament mode, and head-to-head network play at up to 60 frames per second. Rules, physics, options, AI, graphics, and sounds were tinkered with over multiple updates.

As to fan requests for an [[UsefulNotes/IOSGames iOS]] version, the WordOfGod is [[http://toucharcade.com/2011/09/26/john-calhouns-mac-classic-glider-coming-to-ios/#comment-320131850 "Maybe"]] (with an acknowledgment that ''Pararena'' would be perfect for tilt controls).

!! Contains examples of...

* AlliterativeName -- Mad Mara and Clever Claire.
* AnnouncerChatter
* AutomaticLevel -- The AI characters can be set to duel each other.
* BlandNameProduct / IncrediblyLamePun -- The game clock is branded "Bowl-of-a" [[spoiler:(Bulova)]].
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard -- For once, inverted! No matter which size of target you select for your own goal, the computer will resolutely play with the smallest and most difficult size.
* CopyProtection -- The shareware version had a uniquely convoluted scheme involving snail mailing the author, receiving back a serial number, and choosing a password that you would occasionally have to re-enter when the game ''intentionally de-registered itself''. (You could lock the app to prevent this, with the side effect of blocking high scores from being recorded.)
* CosmeticAward -- Trophies are awarded for tournament performance, with the highest achievement being to shut out all six opponents.
* CreatorCameo -- John Calhoun is the announcer.
* DarkIsNotEvil / LightIsNotGood -- In the original game's monochrome art, your skater wears black and your enemy white. The commercial release flips this.
* EEqualsMCHammer -- One of the splash screens has the actually quite relevant "F = ma" tucked upside-down in the corner.
* FedoraOfAsskicking -- Mister Eaze wears one over his [[CoolMask hockey mask]].
* FictionalSport
* GiantMook -- Heavy Otto has twice the mass of any other character, allowing him to knock opponents off the dish without even trying.
* HomeFieldAdvantage -- In most versions, the crowd will cheer your successes and boo or grumble at your setbacks.
* HoverBoard -- Make that ''Grav-Board''®.
* IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels -- Little League, Junior Varsity, Varsity, Minor League, and Professional.
* InSceneTitleText -- The letters of the game's title lose formation as they skate around the arena.
* ItsNotPornItsArt -- The Soft Dorothy logo, [[http://www.softdorothy.com/Blog/Entries/2011/6/18_Soft_Dorothy.html an 1889 engraving of a topless fairy]], caused problems with Compuserve and gave CD-ROM compilers pause. Calhoun says he even got "all of two pieces of hate mail" and muses that that's still more eyebrows than the original art probably ever raised in Europe.
* NoOSHACompliance -- Averted. Your armor cushions you from all injury, the [[TeleportationRescue transporter]] is flawless at recovering players flung into space, and there's a helpful "Caution!" sign above the ball return (even though it's impossible for anything to go wrong there in-game).
* PaletteSwap -- All characters use palette swaps of the same sprite, even the one who weighs twice as much.
* {{Portmanteau}} -- '''Para'''bolic a'''rena'''.
* RaceLift -- Otto went from white to black in version 1.2.
* RepeatCut -- The picture-in-picture instant replay feature.
* SomeDexterityRequired -- Getting anywhere at all meant mastering diagonal mouse movement while controlling an onscreen sprite that moved like a swinging pendulum. According to the author, fan mail about ''Glider'' always seemed to include the aside, "Oh, and I tried ''Pararena'' too, but I couldn't score a goal so I trashed it."
* TattooAsCharacterType -- Mara has a large "M" on her upper arm, apparently signposting a rough-and-tumble nature and no small degree of self-regard.

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