Quest works like the single-player mode but includes a timer counting down as you try to score the various point requirements. In addition to the single-player campaign that sees you busting blocks, there's a quest mode and a time attack against the game's artificial intelligence to destroy all the blocks before it can. We also found the knob controller best for desperation wrist flicks. We played with all three methods, and while the stylus wasn't uncomfortable, we found the D pad the most accurate. Moving around can be done either with the D pad, dragging the stylus on the DS touch screen, or with an optional hardware peripheral that plugs in the Game Boy Advance cartridge slot and uses a scroll knob. If you miss again, it's game over.Ĭontrolling your paddle is handled in a couple of different ways, depending on your preference. Once the net is gone, you're on your own. The bar under your paddle is yellow when undamaged but quickly turns from orange to red and then disappears if you let three balls slip through. Arkanoid DS now has a colored safety-net-style device. This also removed any speed and power-ups you may have accrued along the way. Previously, if you missed the ball, it would fall into the abyss below you and take one of your lives. There's also a special type of ball that ignores collision with the blocks and simply rolls its way through everything in its path.Īrkanoid fans will be happy to learn that in addition to retaining all the classic features, the upcoming Taito-developed DS version will include a few new twists. Some provide you bonuses, such as lengthening your paddle to cover more ground and giving you extra firepower that lets you shoot at blocks with bullets. In the meantime, power-ups and penalty items continue to rain down randomly from the blocks as you destroy them. Provided you can keep the ball moving, it continues to speed up, making it progressively tougher to keep it from getting past you. For the uninitiated, the general gist is that you take control of a small paddle and bounce a ball upward, trying to destroy all the blocks on the playfield. Simply amazing.Like Space Invaders Extreme, Arkanoid is another classic table-top arcade game that has been given a new lease on life with the impending release of the game for the Nintendo DS handheld.Ĭhances are if you've owned a PC, console, or in some cases a mobile phone, you've probably played Arkanoid, even if you don't know it by that name. I almost snapped my DS in half with glee as I heard it. My favorite tune by far has to be a vocal J-pop techno remix of the Arkanoid theme. The music is all CD-quality tunes that were enjoyable ranging from smooth jazzy stuff to some Guilty Gear-style rock. For instance, one level had the bricks arranged like Bub from Taito’s famous Bubble Bobble series. The best part of the game, aside from the gameplay, was the fanservice. The Completion Mode is your standard break all the bricks mode. The gameplay is true to the original, just with different levels and modes. Arkanoid DS is technically speaking a new game and not a port of the arcade classic, however the game includes no new power-ups or extreme changes in how it’s played. I can make the slightest adjustments for accurate ball placement and I can make mad spins to the side for a save all with no problems. The Paddle Controller performs exactly as it feels. I’ve loved the game ever since I first played it and I love it now. It’s still the same Breakout clone with a soul. So I cleaned up my puddle of drool and I finally decided to play the game. The controller also comes in four different colors (white, black, pink, and silver) for those of you who want to buy the game and controller separately, however you won’t get the price break of the game and white controller bundle that I bought. I’ve never bought an accessory I’ve been happier with than this one. However, Taito made sure I didn’t have to shake my fists at the heavens. I think my only reason for still owning the original model DS is so I have an excuse to be bitter when accessories come out that aren’t made for it. My biggest fear was also relieved: the Paddle Controller is made to fit in the DS’s GBA slot (as the DS Rumble Pack does) of both models of DS. It feels JUST like the arcade version of Arakanoid’s spinner, only the knob’s a tad smaller and made of plastic. The DS Paddle Controller turns all the way around and the knob coasts on ball bearings, still spinning after a good amount of force. They had a limited range of motion and just didn’t have that arcade feel. The paddle controllers on the Atari 2600 were good but not perfect. The knob on it is probably the most perfect recreation of an arcade spinner I’ve ever had the pleasure of using. What makes the Paddle Controller so special is its build quality.
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