Oneiromancer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2936
Registered: 03-29-2003
IP: Logged

I originally was going to post this in the DS vs. PSP thread, but it was getting so long I decided to make a new thread.

I picked up Break 'em All for the DS a few nights ago. It's another Breakout/Arkanoiod-type game, but since it is on the DS, it uses the stylus to move. This works well, although it is a bit tiring after a while. My overall impression is that it's not nearly as good as Break Quest, with that game's awesome physics and ability to move the ball to get those really hard-to-reach blocks, but Break 'em All is very easy to get your money's worth from everything that it offers, since it is only $20, while a new DS game is usually $35.

The gameplay is basically what you would expect, although it would have been nice for the paddle to telegraph better how the ball will bounce off of it. A rounded paddle (again like Break Quest) would have been much more intuitive. Once you get used to it you can manipulate the ball much better. Also, the "Catch" powerup confused me at first, because I thought I had to use my right hand to activate the ball, which really sucks because I am right-handed and I am holding the stylus with that hand. Fortunately you can just push left or right on the D-pad and that also shoots the ball.

The way power-ups are done is also very unique for this type of game. All the previews/reviews I have seen say "Think Gradius" and I have to agree. There are 6 categories on the bottom of the top screen, and when you start the game you choose one power-up in each category. Most are no-brainers, but I suppose that someone that really wants a high score will pick the ones that penalize you for extra points. Anyway, as you play the game, the power-ups light up in sequence, and you can activate one by tapping the side of the screen or by pressing a button (again, I discovered that Up on the D-Pad worked, which is excellent). The biggest problem with this is that the power-ups don't cycle...so you'll be stuck on the final one until you use it, even if you would rather have it go back around so you can slow the ball down. Also, you can't have two paddle-modifying power-ups at the same time, like Catch and Wide.

Some of the ideas are pretty cool, like "Option", which is kind of similar to the Gradius one except that it drops a replica of your paddle on the bottom of the screen that doesn't move, but acts as a permanent barrier. You can have two at once, and if you use that powerup again, it moves the first one you placed. I accidentally activated this several times, which was annoying. I also found that if you have a Wide paddle it still places a smaller Option, but centered on your paddle. So you can never get it all the way to the edge, where it is the most useful (in my opinion) unless you place it before getting the Wide paddle. So I think I like the other option better, which places a full barrier at the bottom of the screen that can only take 2 hits. Then I never use the multi-ball powerup, but oh well.

The last option in the list is between Laser and Bomb. Laser makes the ball mow through all breakable blocks in one hit. This is extremely powerful, and you often rack up enough points to be able to use it again immediately after it runs out (about 5-10 seconds it seems). Bomb hits all adjacent blocks to the one that you strike, which includes blocks that would normally be broken only when hitting it from one side. This can be very useful, and Bomb also lasts quite a long time, at least one minute, maybe longer. I still haven't decided which one is really the best, although after using Bomb the last few games I want to go back to Laser again to see if I notice a difference in difficulty.

Now to the game modes. There is "Tokoton" mode, which has standard and random play. Standard play is the same 50 levels, and I don't know what happens at the end since I could only get to level 43 before I died and there are no continues. I didn't feel like doing all that again just yet. Random mode boasts "over 3 million" possible levels, which seems to me like it chooses from a pool of a few hundred block configurations and then randomly assigns the blocks to them. It's probably more complicated than that, but when playing through around 15 "random" levels I noticed a lot of similarities between the levels.

Then you have Quest mode, which has 12 stages of 4 levels each, with a boss in the final level of each stage. This looks like fun, but I haven't sat down and really tried to beat it yet. This mode does feature unlimited continues, so beating it shouldn't be a problem. Finally there is Survival mode, which is kind of odd and doesn't really work well single-player. It's just too hectic and hard to describe.

So anyway, if you enjoy this type of game, and want to be able to take it on the go, I think it is a pretty good deal. It will certainly be one of my top choices for a quick fix while travelling. But if you mostly only use your DS at home, I would definitely recommend one of the better PC games in this style. This is a good game in its own right, especially since it is the only one on the system that I know of, and much better than the original Breakout/Arkanoid games, but it pales in comparison to what you can get nowadays on the PC.

Game on,

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"He who is certain he knows the ending of things when he is only beginning them is either extremely wise or extremely foolish; no matter which is true, he is certainly an unhappy man, for he has put a knife in the heart of wonder." -- Tad Williams