Conference hydra::amiga_v1

957.0. "Arkanoid" by STAR::BANKS (In Search of Mediocrity) Tue Dec 08 1987 12:05

    Well, last night I became the proud owner of the new game from
    Discovery software (Marauder folks) called "Arkanoid".  This is
    a licensed imitation of the arcade game of the same name, and so
    far, seems to be a pretty faithful one.
    
    For those not familiar with the game: Superficially, it's Still Another
    Breakout Clone, where you have some silly half baked premise in the
    instructions which really boils down to you playing Pong against a
    brick wall.  The differences here are what make it interesting: 
    
    First, there are some bricks that flat won't go away no matter how many
    times you hit them.  They serve mainly as an obstruction.  
    
    Second, there are some bricks that will go away, but only after you hit
    them 2-6 times each.  
    
    Third, the brick layout varies from level to level (there are 32.5 of
    them), and it's a lot more imaginative than just n rows of different
    colored bricks.  Some of them are downright nasty, consisting of
    a front row composed entirely of the ones you have to hit six times,
    or another composed mainly of the can't kill flavor, with only a
    few breakable bricks hidden behind a pattern of them.
    
    Fourth, there are a bunch of things wandering around that just seem to
    do nothing but get in the way, and maybe contribute a little to your
    point score if you hit them. Mostly, they just get in the way. 
    
    Fifth and finally, (and this adds the most fun) when you knock down a
    brick, it'll occasionally dislodge a pill shaped object that rolls down
    the screen.  These objects are color coded with a letter in the
    middle.  A subset of them (as many as I can remember) are:
    
    B - Gives you a cheater exit into the next level
    C - Lets you catch the ball every time it hits the paddle.  You
        can then reposition and manually release it with the mouse button.
    D - Breaks the ball into three.  This obviously tends to require
        a little hand-eye coordination (more than I have, in fact)
    E - Makes the paddle twice as wide
    L - Gives the paddle Phasers that let you shot the bricks.  Of course,
        the unkillable ones still can't be shot down, and you still
        have to return the ball every time it comes by.
    P - Gives you another player (an extra life, I suppose)
    S - Slows the ball by some increment.
    
    Aside from getting points from catching these, you get the action
    taken as described above.  They are mutually exclusive, so if you
    catch an "E", your phasers will go away, etc.
    
    So much for the game description.  I bought this mainly as self
    defense (for my bank account), because I've been spending too much
    money on the arcade version.
    
    It's a fairly good emulation of the arcade version.  To keep the
    arcade aspect ratio, the actual playing area only occupies the left
    2/3 of the screen, with the right side dedicated to the scoreboard
    and tacky rotating rainbow company logo.
    
    You can't really expect too much from the graphics on a game like
    this, but what's there is still good.  All the bricks have shadows,
    and the edges are highlighted.  Anything you hit flashes (especially
    if it doesn't go away).  The backdrops are more interesting than
    just a monochromic background, although it doesn't really add anything
    to the play.  Overall, it looks just like the arcade version shrunk
    down a bit.  I couldn't really see much visual difference from the
    arcade version other than the size of the playing area.
    
    The sound seems to consist of some canned pieces of digitized audio.
    It's pretty repetitious, but just as much so as the arcade version,
    so that's accurate, too.
    
    As for play:
    
    * Minor flame on *
    
    Whoever decided that playing a breakout/pong game with a mouse is
    a good idea ought to be strung up.  Ok, so they make it an option
    for those who don't have old Atari game paddles or analog joysticks.
    These losers make it the only interface, period.  I consistently
    found myself missing the ball, just because I'd managed to get the
    mouse uncentered on the mouse pad.
    
    * More flame on *
    
    It really disappoints me that everyone in the world has to take
    an idea and shoehorn everything that doesn't fit into it.  I'm having
    a hard enough time dealing with the notion that some dweeb somewhere
    decided I'd have some empty space on my desk for rodent based
    interfaces, and now someone comes along and decides to impose that
    onto a game where it's entirely inappropriate.
    
    * End flames *
    
    Other than that, it plays pretty good (which is to say, I'm not
    sorry I bought it).  They try to keep the accuracy right down to
    the point where when you lose the game, and it's giving you a chance
    to start a new one at the same level, the instructions include the
    insertion of another coin.
    
    You can start the game at any of the first 20 levels, but if you
    want to see any higher levels, you either play all the way to that
    level, or you ratchet up by getting to the next higher level, then
    when you lose, take the option to restart at the level you lost
    at.  I got to level 32.5 this way, although if you lose at 32.5,
    you start over.
    
    There's also a rather irritating scoreboard that keeps the top five
    scores (complete with some bogus entires), but since the disk is
    write locked, it gets reset every time you boot the game.  In fact,
    I wouldn't be surprised to find that the disk doesn't even has a
    file structure on it, cause it sounds a lot different when it boots
    (yes, this game is entirely standalone, and doesn't multitask).
    
    The biggest irritation with the scoreboard, as well as other startup
    phases, is that you have to sit there and listen to all the little
    ditties get played in their entirety.  If you don't like looking
    at the scoreboard, that's tough, because you're just gonna have
    to wait until it's done.
    
    Like I said, though, other than that, it's a fun game.  My arm is
    sore and I'm not getting anything done at home anymore.

    An interesting footnote to the above tale...
    
    The Discovery Software folks (creaters of Maurader) have announced
    that Arkanoid WILL NOT be copyable with Marauder.  Ever.  It sounds
    a bit hypocritical to me, but I heard that Taito would not let them
    do the port unless they promised to make the disk unbreakable with
    Marauder. 
    
    Someone else will no doubt break it. :^)
                                        

    Huh.
    
    Maybe I otta get cracking.

    When you buy Arkanoid there is a coupon included to send for a "backup"
    copy for $3.  That's a pretty good deal.  When your backup copy
    arrives, try it out and you will probably find that it is also a new,
    improved version - making it a FANTASTIC deal!  The one I received was
    dated 31-March-88 and it includes an new series of completely new
    screens in addition to the original ones.  The new screens were
    obviously designed specifically for the Amiga version of Arkanoid. 
    They use a lot of Commodore and Amiga logos, etc.
    
    Just when you thought you'd mastered all the screens, now there's a
    whole new series to test your reflexes...

    I just got the new version two days ago.  I love it.
    
    For some reason I have not figured out, I was able to get the game
    to slow down.  This had nothing to do with catching the capsule
    that does this.  The effect lasted through multiple screens, allowing
    me to rack up some amazing scores.
    
    Using the mouse is OK, but it would be nice to have a paddle control
    like the real game.
    
    My version does not play music while it loads.  The game is silent
    until you select your level.
    
    Randy
    

    re:.4
    
<        For some reason I have not figured out, I was able to get the game
<    to slow down.  This had nothing to do with catching the capsule
<    that does this.  The effect lasted through multiple screens, allowing
<    me to rack up some amazing scores.

    I know in the first version if you hit the zero "0" before you start
    playing, it starts off slower....I know somone who racked up 700,000+
    points ...SHE took a picture of it
    
    

Re: .4, .5

Yep, the digit keys provide a handicap for the game.  The lower the digit,
the slower the game; the higher the digit, the faster the game.

Of course, I've never tried the high digits to see if they work. :-)

This fact is mentioned in the instructions that come with the game.

It's fairly easy to hit the digit keys by mistake instead of the
function keys that start the game.

    Has anyone heard any news about Arkanoid II coming out for the Amiga?
    I had the good fortune to play it at the airport in Boston and it
    stands head and shoulders above the original version.  You have more
    pills and more options and the levels are harder but not intimidatingly
    so.

    It's available