Arkanoid

When an unexpected alien attack destroys the Arkenoid spaceship only one small Vaus class vessel escapes the destruction. It is however mysteriously sucked into another dimension where it has to battle security system and overcome the enemies to escape. Reading this weird storyline you might think that Arkanoid is some kind of shoot ‘em up but it’s actually a very simple little arcade game.

 You control the Vaus ship with a spinner and simply move it left or right to deflect a bouncing ball which then breaks the blocks on each stage. Destroy all the blocks and you move on to the next round. Allow the ball to touch the bottom of the screen and you lose a life. In case this all sounds slightly familiar then you’ll realize that Arkanoid definitely counts Pong as one of it’s inspirations not to mention Breakout. 

Like the gameplay the graphics in Arkanoid is very basic. Each stage has a basic background and some colored blocks that need to be destroyed. Enemies take the form of strange triangular and conical shaped blocks that bounce around the screen randomly. If they touch your paddle they are destroyed but their real danger lies in the fact that they can deflect the path of your ball when it hits them making it careen off into unexpected directions. There are also some unbreakable blocks and blocks that take multiple hits to destroy that makes life difficult for you. You do have some help in the form of power-ups that can alter or enhance your paddle. Everything from a longer paddle, the ability to shoot to extra lives and level warps can be accessed if you can catch the capsules floating from certain broken blocks. 

The sound is very minimal and apart from a little tune at the start of each stage you mostly have silence. Blocks make weird sounds when broken and there are a few explosions and other effects but overall not a lot was done with the audio. It does give the game a strange feel which fits the “other dimension” storyline so I guess it’s not that bad. The gameplay can be slightly annoying however as its way too easy to lose lives after the ball picks up speed and bounce around at weird angles faster than you can control your paddle. It usually takes a few tries just to finish a single level so it’s probably a good thing that when you continue it’s not all the way back to the start of the game. I doubt that many people will actually have the patience and persistence (not to mention coins) to actually reach the last boss but who knows. If you enjoy simple yet challenging arcade games then you’ll definitely want to check out this offering from Taito. It might not last long before it becomes repetitive but there’s still fun to be had.