As always, the aim of the game is to destroy a ‘wall’ of bricks at the top of the playing area with your bouncing ball. Bat it skywards with your paddle, and don’t let it fall off the bottom of the screen. You can play the game’s ten Normal Mode levels, build up to ten of your own in Custom Mode and even have the levels built on the fly in Random Mode. Each mode has Hard and Easy skill levels, and the usual power-ups offer effects such as shrinking your paddle or making the ball stick to it. You can control your paddle via the D-pad if you wish, but if you want to keep up with the game’s rather snappy pace, it’s best to use the touchscreen stylus.
Breakout neither claims nor aims for originality, but that’s hardly an indictment. This is Breakout for the purists, and none the worse for it either. A refreshing and exciting trip down memory lane.
Above: Breakout on the Nintendo DS
To Return to the competition home page click here
Breakout DS The arcade classic finds its way on to the Nintendo DS thanks to Max Media Player. |
DSokoban Clever treasure puzzle game with puzzles ranging from easy-peasy to tricky enough to make you pull your hair out in frustration. |
DSudoku The pen-and-paper classic comes to the DS, and the developer has put a great deal of effort into turning it into a videogame. |
Earth Invaders Positioned at the foot of the screen Space Invaders style, You blasts out bullets with attitude for as long as your stylus is on the touchscreen. |
Super Snake DS Guide your roving reptile around the screen, eating the fruit and food scattered around the playing area. |
Warrior Training an interesting mix of game styles. |
AMAP4DS A map of the London Underground is always a handy thing to have when visiting the capital. This is the Nintendo DS version. |
Stringy Things DS Stringy Things DS is a compendium of word games. |
Minesweeper DS Fans of classic gaming will soon be able to play it on the move. |
DDRlite It does what it says on the tin, with no real surprises. |
Battleship Now here’s a game worth playing! A fair old rendition of the classic pencil-and-paper offering. |
Memory What can you say about Memory that isn’t obvious from the screenshots? |
Tic Tac Toe This one’s Noughts and Crosses on the DS. |
Prohibition Interesting – an Amstrad CPC game brought to the DS in an unofficial conversion. |
Joggle DS It’s daunting at first, but as you sit and think, all sorts of words present themselves. |
PaddleBattleDS Now here’s a text-book example of how to make good use of the touchscreen and create a game which could only have appeared on the DS. |