Ark: Acky's XP Breakout [by Isotope 244 Graphics]

Game Review: Acky's XP Breakout
Release: June 4, 2004
Genre: Arkanoid
Developer: Isotope 244 Graphics
System Requirements: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
Players: 1
Price: $16.95
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At first look at the screenshots of Acky's XP Breakout I immediately thought it looked like Electrobalz. My guess is that I'm probably one of only a few people in the world who made that connection, which probably means I've played way too many arkanoid games. However, the reality is that this is a good thing for you because Electrobalz was one of the best arkanoid games around when it came out nearly 5 years ago. This pseudo sequel catches a lot of the great feel to that game while expanding upon the concept, while expanding the game play with bonuses that don't interfere with the base game play.

This as well is a good thing for while Acky's probably could use a new name it doesn't need improvements to the game play. The original Electrobalz had a knack for capturing the feel of the original Breakout from years ago. This was really done in two different ways. The first is by focusing on making the levels built in such a way that working to get the ball up on top of the wall of bricks is not only a smart thing to do, but an entertaining challenge. The second piece that leads to that feel is by decreasing the focus on power-ups.

There are many power-ups in the game to be sure. Those looking for guns to blow away those pesky bricks instead of having to hit them will find 3 different types of guns in the game. You save up gems in three different colors during the boards and then if you happen to get a gun on the board then you can use it as long as you have gems. The real key here is that guns are few and far between. The same thing really could be said for the other bonuses in the game. While there are balls that pass-through the bricks and a couple of other really cool power-ups most of these are fairly sparsely available throughout the game.

The bonuses also provide the coolest feature of the game in what is called XP Mode. XP Mode speeds up the background and makes your paddle impervious to the different power-ups that fall from the broken bricks. While that doesn't seem very cool the good thing it does is that you double all bonuses and points and you get a new ball every 20 seconds. So that is what it does, the big piece is how to get it.

At the top of the screen there are 5 different bars that track your progress towards XP Mode. In order to reach XP Mode you must fill all 5 bars. Two of the bars are filled by hitting the bricks on the board. One of those two bars is filled by hitting the bricks 10 straight times without hitting the wall, another is by hitting the bricks 10 straight times without hitting the paddle. Of the remaining 5, 2 are accomplished by catching power-ups, one by catching bonuses other than point bonuses, and another by catching only the point bonuses. Of all the available bonuses, the ones made by catching only point bonuses is the only one I found myself upset at. Far too often I would catch 8 of them only to be forced to catch a non-point bonus as I tried to save the ball. The last power-up is achieved by hitting 5 of Acky's saucer as they float across the top of the board.

It may not seem like much written out, but it provides one of the more interesting additions to a breakout game that I've seen. Instead of just trying to get through the levels I found myself totally focused on completing the various bonuses needed to accomplish the opening of XP Mode. Lest you think that XP lasts long, it doesn't. Once you complete 3 levels with XP Mode it disappears and you then begin the long road (about 20 levels) towards getting XP Mode again. This is one of the simple but very effective additions to a game that makes it much better.

Suffering from little more than a bad name I would strongly recommend that you check out Acky's XP Breakout and see what you think for yourself. I haven't even hit a couple of key things like multiball, which is interesting enough, especially when you turn on the ball collision, that I could talk about it for a couple of paragraphs too and the ball creation system itself. Instead, I'll let you download and enjoy it yourself.


Graphics: 8
Though the game doesn't sport the graphics of games such as Ricochet or 3D BrickBlaster, there are a lot of cool 2D effects in Acky's that provide a very solid visual presentation. My personal favorite was watching my ball run through the text that appears after you achieve an experience level or one of the bonuses leaving a near comet trail behind as it moved on.

Sound: 7
The sound is great for the game but admittedly some of the sound tracks get a little tiresome. I'm quite sure that some of the tracks are just an expanded midi version of songs from the 80's (including a track by Richard Marx?) Overall I think that you'll find that the music does fit the feel of the game quite well, but it doesn't stick out as being a really strong point of the game.

Game Play: 9
I have two different opinions on the game play that lead me to wanting to rate this game two different ways. The ability to control to a great degree the path that the ball will take as you hit it with your paddle lends to a feeling of having a great amount of control over what is going on in front of you. This is further expanded by what I've termed as the great 'breakout' feel to the game. There is definitely a reward for getting the ball up to the top of the bricks in front of you that doesn't come across in most modern day arkanoid titles. The levels are well-designed to maximize the levels that offer this and honestly, though it may seem strange, it is one of the better points of the game.

The negative side of the game play is probably related to the good points. The levels in my mind are just a bit too long. Level 44 took me just over 12 minutes to get through, the average level takes 4-5 minutes. While one could say that it is great to have so much game play in a game, many of us start getting frustrated when we get down to that last brick that we cannot seem to hit. In Acky's instead of a single last brick you often have a set of them that may be difficult to hit due to indestructible bricks around them. The bricks you are hitting are often require multiple hits, 6 hits on level 44, which leads to massive amount of frustration as you are trying over and over again to hit the ball so it hits that 'last' brick just one more time.

Given the mixed bag you might expect the rating to be a bit lower, but the overall control of the game as you are hitting the ball with the paddle more than makes up for some of the level design issues.

Value: 10
There is definitely a ton of play for what you pay for here. With well over 100 levels and a level designer there are endless hours of play here. What is more, the level have been carefully crafted so that you will find some very well-thought out levels during your journey. Some other nice bonuses include an online high-score feature that pits your scores against other players all across the globe in addition to showing you your own scores. Perhaps the factor that most improves the value of the title is the aforementioned XP system that really provides a lot to shoot fore as you are playing through the game.

Concept: 9
This is definitely not just another breakout/arkanoid game. In fact is it clearly one of the better games in the genre. The added XP system is a great improvement to the genre that reminds me of the old combo system that was used in Wilkanoid. This is a great improvement over that combo system and it really will keep you playing for 'just one more level' as you try to reach the great moment of 'XP mode.'

Fun: 8
Other than the boards that a bit a longer than they should be I would have rated this category higher. There is a lot more fun and strategy involved with this title than the normal arkanoid game and that works for better and for worse. Those looking for mindless smashing action will be rewarded though, even if it is with a few more options and complexity than they are used to.

Overall: 8
I debated back and forth on this one between a score of 8 and 9. I think that true arkanoid fans will embrace this game as being easily one of the better titles available. However, I think that most game fans will see the lack of flashy graphics like there are in Ricochet and will instead incorrectly assume that this is the inferior game. So the 8 would be for the non-fan of breakout/arkanoid games, the 9 is for those who are fans of the genre. No matter whether you are a definite fan of arkanoid games or just mildly amused by them, Acky's XP Breakout is a great game that will keep you engaged for many hours.

Added: September 8th 2004
Reviewer: Russell Carroll
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