Ark: Bricks of Atlantis [by Arcade Lab]

Game Review: Bricks of Atlantis
Release Date: August 25, 2005
Genre: Arkanoid
Developer: Arcade Lab
System Requirements: 10 MB free hard disk space, Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000 or XP, DirectX version 3 +, 233mhz or faster Intel / AMD processor
Players: 1
Price: $19.95
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I’ve played a couple of variations of different arkanoid games in my day; some oriented around fast paced brick breaking, others centering around graphical gimmicks that give the game a look not seen in other variations of it’s genre. Bricks of Atlantis is one of those games that doesn’t really try anything different beyond what its name implies, but in the end, this is something that doesn’t prevent this game from being a decent arkanoid type that has a enjoyable gameplay.

Like many games of its kind, the story, plot, reference of initiative, and overall purpose is of little or (simply no) importance. Mainly because the whole point is to break down and destroy bricks that line the screen in various ways, accounting for structures that incessantly obstruct the satisfactory condition of progressing to the next stage. There are various paddles that are offered in games of this genre such as spaceships, cars, massive or miniature vehicles, and last but most favorable, the standard rectangular paddle. This, by far has proven to be the most effective and reliant blockage for those pesky little balls that fly around on the screen. In this particular case, it appears that the block paddle has an aquatic style which is only fitting for the underwater theme of the game.

Things are quite quaint and simple in their presentation. The quaint part stands out as seeming to capture the aesthetic simplicity of the nostalgic games in this genre. It definitely makes the player feel comfortable with the easy going, (brief) under-water sounding music and choice selections (i.e., ball color, paddle speed and volume controls) when starting the game. You can choose from up to five different starting levels, five unlockable levels and a bonus level, to total it up to about eleven, which is quite a variety when compared with most arkanoid games. Within each selection are about eight different levels that have to be completed in order to pass that stage. You have a handful of lives and your progress is saved after each successfully completed level. A gripe with the level progression would have to be the inability to retain player power-ups. If you acquire a larger paddle, harpoons to break bricks with, or any other paddle oriented alteration, it is forfeited when entering the next stage. This makes the game more challenging even if you choose the ‘easy’ difficulty setting. Still, each stage does offer the player everything they need in order to advance to the next stage.

Power-ups in this game are obtained simply by hitting the brick icon within the stage and letting the icon fall on the paddle. Most of them consist of helper fish, a variety of different colored fish that have a number of different abilities: Some allow the ball to temporarily become inflamed with fire, destroying bricks and other obstructs with ease; other fish help break bricks when they collide, or drop coins for extra points. The actual power-ups are obtained from question-marked boxes or tiles that signify the sort of item the player can retrieve. Such contents range from the afore-mentioned harpoon gun, a sticky paddle for catching and releasing the ball, and boulders that drop from the surface (or upper part of the screen) and demolish anything in their way.

There are also the standard power-ups that shrink or enlarge your paddle. One of the more nifty items, would have to be the tornado, a spinning mini-tornado that continuously bounces on an object till it moves over and away from its surface or until it breaks.

Anyone concerned about the opposition need not worry, as jelly fish and the bottom-screen exodus of the ball are the only things to really stand in your way. With the exception of an anti-power-up that kills your paddle; you won’t be fending off much of anything in this game. While the game is paced well with objects occasionally coming onto the screen to help out, or spears flying through the water to break a couple of bricks for you, the initial gameplay, even on the hard setting, is still rather slow in it’s pace. There are some power-ups such as multiple balls that will speed things up a bit, but the game lacks some of the fast-paced, break-neck speed of brick-breaking that other arkanoid games have offered.

Graphics: +
I’m not big on graphics and specialized rendering. To me, so long as the game offers up enough fun and festivities for players to enjoy themselves, then the graphics are something that can easily be overlooked. Since BOA is not as fast-paced as it could have been, and the action is a little stale, it really needs some stand-out graphics. The quality of the artwork, bricks, background and whatnot, are done nicely, but dated. With richly involving backgrounds and moving environmental obstructions featured in newer arkanoid types, such as Break Quest or Ricochet: Lost Worlds, BOA leaves one somewhat disappointed when it comes to the graphical quality.

Sound: -
The notably good sound effects continuously distract me from a very obvious flaw. The music is a quality I look for in all video games. The music in BOA is too low to hear correctly, and had too little distinction to be noticeable. As a gamer, sometimes the actions on-screen must be driven (when words or stories are absent) by a motivating force of deeply captivating musical scores. What music is present, tells enough of a story to make one believe that the game takes place in the underwater world of Atlantis, but that’s all.

Gameplay: +
Moving around is easily done with the mouse, so there weren’t any hardships with the controls or movements. Bouncing and ricocheting the ball in the desired direction was slightly easier than in the graphically superior ‘Ricochet: Lost Worlds’. Keeping up with multiple balls is challenging and extremely fun, but opportunities to do so are few and far between in the game. The difference was also slight between easy, medium and hard difficulty settings. I actually enjoyed the game more on hard than I did on easy as there were quite a few ‘easy’ stages where, with a few quick hits to some power-up icons, the helper fish and a couple of tornados would do most of the work for you. The game does have an old-school feel to it and it captured my interest for several hours of suitably fun gameplay.

Value: -
A real arkanoid fan might enjoy the underwater theme in Bricks of Atlantis, though the gameplay is pretty standard. A multiplayer mode would have made it a lot more interesting. Anyone looking for a bit more depth to the gameplay might want to check out some other titles such as Ricochet, or Alpha ball 2.

Concept: -
The concept of an underwater arkanoid game with fish brick breakers and tornado power-ups, with flaming balls and harpoon guns all fall a little flat when they still do the same thing....Break bricks. Many games of this genre have underwater segments and themed bricks and even some power-ups and ‘enemies’ to match that particular theme in the level. In this case, the entire game takes place under water. That is the extent of the conceptual basis. Harpoon guns and helping fish are only visually different from the power-ups we’ve seen in other arkanoid games. They all do the same thing....Break bricks.

Fun: +
BOA is a fun game to play, even if it isn’t up to par with some other, more original games within the genre. The pace is slow and easy, but it controls well and plays like it should.

Overall: Try
A bit pricey in comparison to other, better games in its class, Bricks of Atlantis has qualities of a retro-refitted arkanoid classic. It is certainly worth looking at if you are an aquatic buff or if you enjoy themed arkanoid games. If you enjoy old-school games then you just might find a gem among the old-hat gaming style and features present in Bricks of Atlantis..

Added: October 21st 2005
Reviewer: William Usher
Score:
Hits: 2824
Language: english