Arkanoid

Copyright : Imagine | Reviewed by : Ritchardo

The era and time of this story is unknown?.. After the mother ship ?Arkanoid? was destroyed a spacecraft ?Vaus? scrambled away from it. But only to be trapped in space warped by someone?..

Based on the legendary Breakout, Arkanoid is perhaps the most famous home computer interpretation of the classic bat and ball arcade game.

Graphics

With such a simple concept you could be forgiven for expecting the makers of Arkanoid to concentrate more on the physics of the game engine rather than the aesthetics and while this may be the case, it?s not to say that they have skimped on the look of the package.

Each ?brick? has a distinct, vibrant colour arranged in eye-friendly patterns of colour and shape and an acceptable variety of baddies descend upon your bat and ball, adding to the game immensely.

The bat and the ball move with a realistic enough sense of inertia and this is implemented well by the designers, looking realistic and remaining playable.

The major letdown with the graphics comes though from the backgrounds. For the most part they are gaudy abominations that make it all too easy for bricks to almost disappear and often cause confusion with the player having to strain to see the exact position of the ball - a real frustration when it can cost lives as the speed begins to pick up.

Sound

An excellent tune accompanies the scrolling back story that runs across screen when a new game is started but the music makes way for some good spot effects in the game proper that although not startling or particularly original are effective and suit the arcade style of the game very well.

Gameplay

With a concept as old as video games themselves, Arkanoid sticks to the tried and tested Breakout formula with a few essential additions to crank up the longevity and the challenge of the game.

For those who?ve been living under a rock for the last quarter of a century, Arkanoid involves controlling a bat at the bottom of the screen that must deflect a ball off all of the blocks on the screen whilst stopping the ball from slipping out of the screen and losing a life.

To help in your task a range of power-ups descend from broken blocks that offer different additions and benefits including slowing down the ball, extra lives, the ability to catch the ball and lasers not to mention letting the player warp out of the screen.

Despite its heritage, Arkanoid does not play as well as you would?ve hoped. The clashing backgrounds, mentioned previously, seriously hamper gameplay and there are a few irritating glitches that sometimes creep into the game (for example some of the bricks on level two will occasional become unstable allowing the ball to travel through them instead of destroying them - making the level impossible to complete). Add to this a serious difficulty curve that kicks in around the third level, which is nigh on impossible without a warp, and the whole experience is a frustrating disappointment.

Although undeniably influential and a landmark game that everyone remembers, Arkanoid is far from the best example of this type of game, instead it?s more of a rough blueprint for the games to come after it.

I know I?m in the minority when it comes to this game but in my opinion, Arkanoid is Important but not essential. Nostalgia paints Arkanoid as being a better game than it is.