Arkanoid
Author
ST Graveyard has written 62 additional reviews
- Son Shu Shi March 21, 2021
- Live And Let Die January 13, 2019
- Lethal Weapon December 28, 2018
- Frogs December 4, 2018
- Manic Miner November 6, 2018
- Spy Who Loved Me, The August 18, 2018
- Licence to Kill August 16, 2018
- Parasol Stars August 14, 2018
- Anarcho Ride August 7, 2018
- Crash Time Plumber July 1, 2018
- Escape 2042 - The Truth Defender June 23, 2018
- Ozone May 28, 2018
- Supa Zazai Da January 21, 2018
- Fascination January 8, 2018
- Super Stario Land January 4, 2018
- Titus The Fox - To Marrakech and Back December 18, 2017
- Blues Brothers, The November 17, 2017
- Epic November 13, 2017
- Arachnophobia October 22, 2017
- Crapman March 5, 2005
- Driventure December 8, 2004
- Bold October 12, 2004
- Battle Zone July 20, 2003
- Terminator 2 - Judgment Day May 23, 2003
- Joust March 15, 2003
- Weird Dreams February 25, 2003
- GodPey December 28, 2002
- Superfly December 15, 2002
- Karate Kid Part 2 December 8, 2002
- Xenon November 15, 2002
- Pang November 6, 2002
- Great Giana Sisters, The August 13, 2002
- Team Yankee August 3, 2002
- Spindizzy Worlds July 16, 2002
- Leisure Suit Larry 1 - In the Land of the Lounge Lizards July 6, 2002
- Voyageurs Du Temps, Les - La Menace June 8, 2002
- Bomb Jack May 30, 2002
- Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker May 22, 2002
- Robocop May 14, 2002
- Disc April 27, 2002
- Wings of Death April 4, 2002
- Beyond the Ice Palace March 31, 2002
- Zool January 27, 2002
- Super Cars II January 18, 2002
- Addams Family, The December 30, 2001
- Battlehawks 1942 December 28, 2001
- Arkanoid 2 - Revenge of Doh December 23, 2001
- Vroom December 14, 2001
- Crazy Cars 3 November 27, 2001
- Crystal Castles November 20, 2001
- Buggy Boy November 13, 2001
- Turrican II - The Final Fight November 4, 2001
- Return to Genesis November 3, 2001
- Goldrunner November 1, 2001
- IK+ August 30, 2001
- Ikari Warriors August 8, 2001
- Fire and Ice August 1, 2001
- Super Cycle July 8, 2001
- Star Wars July 2, 2001
- Ork June 27, 2001
- Barbarian - The Ultimate Warrior June 18, 2001
- Xenon 2 - Megablast June 17, 2001
AL Mobile
Did you know Atari Legend is fully responsive and mobile ready? You want this site to behave like an app on your phone or tablet? Simply open the site in your favorite browser and look for the 'Add to homescreen' button. In Safari on IOS, first press the 'share' icon, then the "Add to home screen" pop-up appears. In Chrome on Android, you press the button at the top right, and select 'add to homescreen'. Once you have done this, the famous Atari bee fits nicely on your homescreen and you can enjoy AL with the tap of a finger.
Written by ST Graveyard
August 6, 2001
The intro screen
That darn background story again...lets skip it right away!
The first level is really easy...So don't miss the ball here, or you will be hitting yourself!
And all of a sudden the breakout game is turned into a shoot 'em up...
Doh!! There you have 'em!
Comments
Have you ever heard of a little game called "Pong"? If not, well then you must have been on Mars for the last 30 years or so. This classic Atari game dates back from the 70's. In "Pong" you had to play some sort of tennis. There were 2 bats and a ball, and it was your job to try and bounce the ball behind the opponents bat. It happens sometimes that a game, derived from a classic idea, gets even better than the original. This is a bit the case with the following game. "Arkanoid" is the mother of all breakout games. We all know the concept by now. In this type of game we only get one bat and a ball, and it is our job to destroy the bricks at the top of the screen, by bouncing the ball at them. Once you miss to return the ball, you lose a life. It's really simple, and addictive, I can assure you. Originally released by Taito for the arcade market in 1984, it was converted to almost any home system at the time. Arkanoid even has a background story to it. It's dull, but here goes anyway :
(Taken from the manual)
The era and time of this story is unknown. After the mothership Arkanoid was destroyed, a craft, "Vaus", scrambled away from it, only to be trapped in space warped by someone.
Graphics
A very slick presentation of the original arcade game. The graphics are colorful, backgrounds are nicely rendered and the animation is fluently. In the end, it does look a bit dated, but it is almost 20 years old anyway.
Sound
Nice intro and outro tracks and some good sound effects during gameplay. They all perfectly fit the environment of the game...
Gameplay
The idea of the game is very simple. Arkanoid consists of 32 levels. You have to destroy all the bricks in every level to finally meet the end boss. Once this guy is destroyed, the "Arkanoid" will be resurrected and the game is over. You can only move to the left and right of the screen. It takes some practice to control the ball properly.
To help you in your quest, bonuses are hidden in certain bricks. Once you bounce the ball against such an object, little cylinders fall down. Try and catch these with your spacecraft. These bonuses consist of extra fire power, multi ball, enlargement of your craft, sticky bat, skip to next level...They all have a different color and a letter on them, so you know what to expect.
But of course, there are also some features to make your life miserable. The longer it takes for you to complete a level, the faster the ball starts to move. You can solve this problem by catching the yellow bonus. Unfortunately, this goodie is a rare one. There are also enemies that crawl over the screen. if you hit them, they're destroyed, but they bounce the ball in a random direction. This is very frustrating. And remember, the more enemies you hit, the faster he ball goes! So it is recommended to just destroy them with your bat. There are also bricks that need to be hit more than once, and some of them are even indestructible.
At the end of the game, you'll meet the mastermind. This guy shoots at you. It is your job to hit him about 100 times and avoid getting shot. Controls are very good. The bat moves very accurately with the mouse. When you enter a level, the ball is stuck on the bat. Once you press fire, it is launched. This game got a follow up..."Arkanoid 2 : Revenge of Doh"...Which was even better. But that's for another time.
Conclusion
This is a classic. You'll be hooked right from the first level. It's always fun the play a quick game of "Arkanoid". One tip though, try not to get to frustrated, your computer mouse will be thankful :-) A real recommendation!
(Arkanoid only runs in TOS 1.0)
Score
- Graphics: 8
- Sound: 8
- Gameplay: 9
- Overall: 8
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.