Break'Em All
- June 09, 2006 00:00 AM PST
Balls to the wall: Break'Em All for the Nintendo DS is like Arkanoid on acid.
Those pesky video game blocks never see to learn their lesson. They get blown up, broken apart, but they still just keep on coming. Now's your chance to level the playing field against them in D3's upcoming Nintendo DS game Break'Em All, where naturally, your goal is to break bricks like it's going out of style. To do so you'll take an Arkanoid-like paddle through a multitude of different modes and stages, all while trying to keep your brick-busting ball alive. The game may borrow strongly from the aforementioned Arkanoid (and Breakout, for all you true retro gamers), but there so far there are enough twists and tweaks to keep things interesting.
As far as a storyline goes, the game's title says it all -- break 'em all. There are three different game modes: Tokoton, Survival, and Quest. The oddly named Tokoton has you playing through a huge assortment of levels, which D3 touts as clocking in at about 3 million different variations. You see, the levels are randomly generated, which should give you just a tad bit of variety when you play. If you're up for a more competitive experience, Survival lets you play against the computer or up to seven other human players (via Wi-Fi) as you try pilot uniquely shaped paddles around in space. Space, it seems, is filled with a ton of floating balls, and using your paddle, you try to reduce your opponents to dust. It's quite a unique take on the old brick-breaking formula, and especially fun when played with other people.
Quest mode also mixes things up with a neat level-based progression system, complete with boss battles. There are 12 levels total, with each level containing three regular stages and one boss fight. The regular stages are pretty standard fare, although some later ones do ramp up in difficulty significantly. The real fun lies in the boss fights, mainly because they end up really testing your geometry skills. The first boss, for example, can be destroyed with a single hit if you manage to smack the ball through a tiny hole in its armor. But, the boss sends out spinning panels that, if hit, dramatically change the path of your ball, making such an eagle-eye shot difficult to pull off.
To even the odds, every game mode lets you utilize up to six of twelve special power-ups. When you start a game you'll be able to choose your six bonus abilities, which includes things like slowing down the ball, making the paddle larger, and even turning the ball in to a laser that cuts through multiple bricks like a hot knife through butter. When you start up the game, all of the abilities are listed on-screen in a small menu. As you string together ricochets, one of the power-ups will light up, indicating that it can be used. The effects only last for a short time, but can prove invaluable during difficult levels.
So far Break'Em All is shaping up to be a nice addition to the already eclectic library of Nintendo DS titles. While its premise is pretty simple, the sheer numbers of different level designs and unique game modes should put it on the watch list of puzzle gaming fans.
