Arkanoid 2 - Revenge of Doh
Author
ST Graveyard has written 62 additional reviews
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Written by ST Graveyard
December 23, 2001
Well, I'm not gonna start with the background story, it's just to dull to be true!
The marvelous Peter Johnson ... Who else?
A shot from the short intro of the game!
The first level is a breeze...
Comments
Arkanoid was a very big hit in the arcades during the second half of the 80's. This game gave new life to the breakout genre by introducing some cool power-ups. So it doesn't really come as a surprise that a sequel was produced. With better graphics and sound, more levels and even more power-ups! "Doh" is back, and it's your job to get rid of him...again! But is it really worth bothering?
Graphics
This is a very good conversion of the original arcade game. The graphics are slightly better than its predecessor, with lots of bright colors and fluent animation!
Sound
Well, there is not much to say here. The sound FX are good and the music sounds fine. I do miss the original track from Galway, but hey...
Gameplay
We all know the drill by now, so I'm not going to explain the goal of the game. Just hit those bricks and progress. Let me start by saying that Arkanoid 2 is difficult...VERY difficult! You will need some serious practice to complete this game.
So, what new features can you expect? Let's start with the power-ups. We've got the classic sticky bat, expanded bat, laser bat...from the first game. But there are new, innovative powers to collect. Like the powerball, which passes through a wall of bricks, or the three way splitter. This power always splits the ball into three, so you're constantly playing with three balls. Other cool powers are the twin bat, and the ghost bat (enlarging your bat a great deal). It's also possible to make combinations eg. grab a multiball bonus, and then a powerball bonus for a power-multiball! Finally, we have the extra life power-up, or the next level power...But these are rare gems!
But there is a downside to all of this. Like in the first game, there are enemies, crawling down the screen. Hit them, and your ball shoots in random direction! There are indestructible bricks, bricks that need to be hit more than once, reappearing bricks and even bouncing bricks! Your ball gets faster as time passes, and it goes faster quickly. You can try and catch the yellow bonus to solve this problem, but these are painstakingly sparse!
Hey, where are you going? I'm not finished yet! There is more...Once all bricks are destroyed you have the option of taking 2 exits, creating even more levels for you to complete! After a couple of levels you'll have to destroy the mid-game boss. Big things with tentacles, spitting all kinds of badness at you! Once you've completed more then 30 levels in a row, you'll encounter "Doh" himself! He's a real though one so...Hit him hard!
As in the first game, you control the bat with the mouse. This works perfectly. Controls are very accurate and you'll soon get the hang of it, hitting the ball in that perfect angle!
Conclusion
Although the genre has been milked to death, you really gotta try Arkanoid 2. It's even better than its predecessor. The power-ups are a load of fun! This is without a doubt the best break-out game for the Atari ST...But it's also the most difficult! Draw!
Score
- Graphics: 8
- Sound: 8
- Gameplay: 9
- Overall: 8
Review Comments
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Great review mate. AL certainly has a massive archive going back soooo many years. Brilliant STuff.
Zone Warrior
February 12, 2023 by AtariCrypt
Once again, pesky aliens are giving us Earthlings lots of grief. We previously fought them off but they managed to pinch a time machine so are using that to alter history and wreak havoc by taking crucial hostages from each period in an attempt to halt their influence. From the invention of the wheel in prehistoric times to England's King Arthur uniting Britain! And where would any of us be today without Japan and its technical wizardry? Yep, we cannot allow this - the fight is on!
Son Shu Shi
March 21, 2021 by ST Graveyard
What an accomplishment this game is. Created with such a small team, the result is really amazing. The game oozes creative passion. While the gameplay is really well balanced, it is a tough cookie, very hard from time to time with its moments of sheer frustration. As of level 3, timing becomes key. You will need to practice and learn the levels to complete this game, there are so many bad guys on screen it sometimes gets a bit hard to take.
Blood Money
April 4, 2020 by Morcar
Graphically, it's also nice on the eyes with well-defined graphics and animation. You really get the feeling that the developers put some thought and love into the game. Remember what I said about the large levels? Well these are wonderful and are very different to each other, they also scroll fairly smooth in all four directions.