Ark: Break Ball 2 [by BCSoft]

Game Review: Break Ball 2
Release: 31 July 2002
Genre: Arkanoid
Developer: BCSoft
System Requirements: Windows, DirectX8, Pentium 300mhz
Price: $14.99

When I first moved away from home there was a little pizza place across the street from my apartment that had an Arkanoid cabinet in their lobby area. The place was greasy and there was no air conditioning but I used to pump quarters into that machine while waiting for my panzarattis to cook and sometimes even when I hadn’t ordered anything. For my money Arkanoid is the best breakout styled arcade game there is and perhaps that has tainted my opinion of breakout games on the PC. Very few of them could ever measure up to the classic.

Enter BC Soft and the unfortunately named Break Ball 2. While the name makes me want to cringe (for various reasons) the game is sweet nostalgia for anyone who loves fast and challenging arcade-style breakout games. While other developers seem content to churn out generic clones or updating to pretty 3D graphics, BC Soft was busy packing Break Ball 2 to the gills with features, options and play modes.

In short Break Ball 2 is absolutely the most feature-dense breakout game I have ever played!

The classic game play is still there; move your bat horizontally across the bottom of the screen, hit the ball and try to break blocks and clear the level. For those of you who have played Arkanoid in the arcades you’ll know the best part of the game was the power-ups, falling blocks you could catch that would give your paddle extra abilities or change the way the ball behaves. Break Ball 2 has all the classic power-ups like “gun” and “twin” plus more than a few new ones. It also has “poisons” that cause negative effects and seriously increase the challenge level. You can’t just rush around collecting power-ups, you have to be able to identify which items are power-ups and which are poisons while still keeping the ball on the screen.

Another important addition is the ability to add spin to the ball by moving the paddle just right when you hit it. At first it can be a challenging skill to pick up but once you get the hang of it you can use spin to hook the ball around block formations and achieve better control over your bounce directions. Now that I’ve played a breakout game with spin I don’t know if I can ever go back ones without it.

Break Ball 2 ships with 8 levels, which seem to have about 15 screens each, more than enough to get you started. On higher levels the blocks actually move around the screen which increases the difficulty level to what I’d call “insane!” but it’s still great fun and seriously addictive. There’s also an easy to use level editor that allows you to create your own custom levels and share them on the internet through the BC Soft website. As of this writing the feature hasn’t been fully implemented on their site but it’s still early and they seem committed to making it a success.

Game play is refreshingly non-linear. You can pick any of the 8 levels to start and beating these levels unlocks extra skins for your paddle. These skins like magnetic and rubber act as a constant power-up and dynamically change the way you play, both for better and worse. Fortunately, you always have the option to use the classic paddle and ball. You can also gain ball skins that work in the same manner by beating the computer in versus mode, though the computer opponent can be sadistically tough to beat at times. You can also play versus another human player either over LAN connection, internet or on the same computer.

I’ve still barely scraped the surface of all the features and options in Break Ball 2. BC Soft has clearly listened to what their customers want in this type of game and have delivered above and beyond expectations. The developer will probably be irritated by all of my references to Arkanoid in this review but if you’re like me and you’ve been waiting for a great breakout game for your PC (at a great price!) that recaptures the adrenaline pumping excitement of the arcade classic then this is your game.

Graphics: 8

The 2D styled graphics are exactly where they need to be for this type of game, crisp and colorful. There’s plenty of visual variety so you never really get bored with the look of the game. The power-ups and poisons are easily identifiable even in the midst of frantic game play and their effects can be dazzling to watch. My favorite is the “tox” power-up that causes the blocks to be infected and spread that infection to the blocks around them. Couple “tox” with the “twin” or “gun” power-up and you’ll see what I mean.

I’m somewhat tempted to call the 2D look “dated” though I see no reason why a game like this (which plays on the x and y-axis only) would need to use 3D styled graphics. The menu layouts are a little strange and could certainly be more ergonomic, plus I had to deduct points based on some of the level backgrounds being so “busy” that it’s difficult to keep track of the ball.

Sound: 9

The sound effects have good variety and the music tracks are surprisingly well done, actually adding to the personality of the game and not just window dressing.

For the first time in a long time I haven’t switched the music off in a game. The tracks are funky and have an “urban” feel to them that’s refreshing compared to the usual techno loops you find in these types of games.

Game Play: 8

The game play is fast and furious and the balance is very well done. Since isolated blocks will slowly die off on their own you are never left in the situation of having one remaining block to kill and spending forever trying to guide the ball to hit it. Collision detection seems perfect all around.

There is so much variety in the 8 included levels that even alone they’re a great value for your money. Factor in the ability to create your own level sets and trade them with others on-line and that makes the $14.99 price tag and absolute steal! The extra ball and paddle skins give you a goal system to reach by unlocking them all (less ambitious players can use the cheat to unlock them) and completely change the nature of game play when in use.

If there is a complaint it’s that the power-ups and poisons in combination can be too overwhelming. When the game really gets going you can have a dozen power-ups falling towards you, get hit with a bunch all at once and not know what the heck is going on. The same thing occurs on a number of levels where the blocks are too low on the screen. When you start there is no time to move and you are forced to take whatever power-ups or poisons fall on you. This can be both exhilarating and frustrating.

I’m tempted to dock points because of this but at the same time I can’t remember when I last got that much of a freak-out adrenaline rush from this style of game. Fortunately, you can switch off the poisons so that only power-ups exist, although some of the power-ups feel more like poisons in my opinion. The ability to switch all the power-ups and poisons off would have been nice to make the game more newbie friendly.

Options: 10

In case you missed it: this is absolutely the most feature dense breakout game I have every played! And these features aren’t just tacked on, each one from the multiplayer modes to the various paddle skins add well thought out and well balanced play value to the game. I honestly can’t think of any features that are missing or anything that I would recommend adding.

Concept: 7

Technically the “concept” is nothing new. At its core this is a breakout game, plain and simple. Still, BC Soft deserves kudos for taking breakout back to the adrenaline pumping arcade style rather than just going for a pretty 3D graphics update.

Fun: 9

As breakout games go, we have a new king! Break Ball 2 is the closest I’ve seen any developer get to a classic, arcade quality breakout game. It could easily sit alongside that Arkanoid cabinet and not look out of place or pale in comparison.

Overall: 9

The phrase “unlimited replay value” has become a bit of a marketing cliché but here is a game that truly lives up to that label. With all of the features and extras to unlock there is tons of game play to be had even without getting into multiplayer or the custom level editor. I would like to see the sharing of custom levels really take off and BC Soft appears committed to making this a reality. Every true gamer should have at least one breakout-style game in their collection and Break Ball 2 is it! While the difficulty level is a little steep for newbies, the feature rich design and accessibility of the game make it in my opinion the new gold standard of the genre.
Added: May 14th 2003
Reviewer: Kyle Nau
Score:
Related Link: Break Ball 2 Website
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