taoofgreentea
Member
Hi, I'm a fan of brick breaker type games.
So far I only have 2 for PSP. BreakQuest mini is very thought out with lots of physics and powerups.
The new mini Brick Breaker is very very simple, it's more of an 'old school' type brick game.
Any other minis or UMD's you know of that are or contain brick breaker games?
onmode-ky
Member
Among Minis, there's Soccer Bashi, recently renamed as Bashi Blocks. It even contains a level editor. If you get the game and want to know how scoring works, take a look at this forum topic. Also, the Mini 5-in-1 Arcade Hits has a Breakout descendant, "Tetroid," among its included games. And, the Mini Smashbreak is a 2-player variant of Breakout.
Among PS1 games in the PS Store, I recently looked at Blockids, in the Japanese imports section. It uses polygonal graphics, with the game taking place in a 3D world, and apparently includes a mechanic whereby you can jump the ball over a structure of blocks to get it behind them (what would normally be "above" in a standard 2D Breakout clone).
Elsewhere in the PS Store, there's a PSP game from D3 Publisher, Beta Bloc, which seems to be a combination of RPG mechanics and Breakout gameplay (in Japan, it was a UMD release in D3's Simple series). And, on UMD (at least, I don't think it's in the Store), there is always Atari Classics Evolved, which has a variant of Atari's own Super Breakout on it--however, I'll note that this PSP release seems to be universally reviled over at the AtariAge.com forum.
Hydravision/Bigben's Brick Breaker Mini really is the worst choice. :) Especially at that price!
onmode-ky
Member
I'd heard about it, but I thought it was a soccer title.
Precisely the reason why Icon Games renamed it! :P Consumer confusion is the pits.
I actually like it when games allow playing with the PSP held vertically (assuming the controls are still manageable), if it means the view of the playing field is larger.
taoofgreentea
Member
Nice, I bought bashi blocks, it's good, the paddle speed is fast and precise. Only thing is, I wish it had a section that told me what all the powerups did. But it's definitely a good breakout type game.
Only other one I'm considering is the Japanese Blockoids, as Beta Blok and the 5-in-1 breakout games are both sideways screen. Getting the Atari Classics Evolved just for the breakout game in it seems like overkill, though I may get it at some point.
I hope they release more breakout games for the psp. I remember playing a great one on my cell phone years ago, and the psp has much better controls. (The cell game was called Block Breaker Deluxe if anyone's interested, good powerups and control, though a bit kiddish in design).
@taoofgreentea
Don't overlook Beta Bloc... it dosen't play sideways... you hold the psp verticaly, it's a great game.
It is a good game imo, as for the filesize, the game is quite big and it is 3D and not 2D like Break Quest and Bashi Blocks. The RPG element comes from the fact that the paddle levels up and evolves, plus there are spells to find also.
taoofgreentea
Member
I'll just give a quick review for each as I dig these games so much.
Breakquest - Must get. An old standby, it has many levels, cool physics, good control. Downside is to move the paddle fast you have to hold down a button if you use the d-pad. I don't like that part. The developer put a lot of time into it.
Brick Breaker - Bare bones, plays like a cell phone game. For brick breaker fans only. I play it only when I want a really relaxing game.
Bashi Blocks - This publisher in my opinion did a good job with fast gameplay, really tight controls. It's more of a challenge, it's fast and not relaxing. However, I feel the art is uninspired, the whole presentation is lackluster to me, that's the only problem. Also, it's a bit hard.
Blockoids - Ridiculous, has a 3D mechanic, can't move the paddle fast enough and I lose often just because of this. For block breaker fans only. I like the ridiculousness of it, battling this weird ghost, hard to explain really.
Sorcerer's Maze - Just got today, so can't do a great review. The power ups are awesome. The controls are tight. I like it so far. PS1 graphics takes me back. Giant ball powerup, and a great mechanic where the ball splits into 2 balls every time it touches the paddle, easy to win this way.
I don't play anything where the screen has to be held sideways because I like to play sort of half lying down and gravity does not favor playing anything sideways in this position.
taoofgreentea
Member
I just want to give a second update, it's been a long strange journey trying all of these brickbreaker games.
I now play Bashi Blocks almost exclusively.
I've learned that gameplay beats graphics and interesting mechanics any day.
Basically, it has the tightest, most responsive controls, so you're losing because of skill and not because the controls are bad.
If I have one complaint with the other games, it's that I lose too often due to the controls, either the paddle is too slow, or not responsive enough, or a weird acceleration. Now there's always an element of chance in brick breaker, like pinball, sometimes it just falls in the wrong place where you can't get it. But despite all the fancy graphics and cool mechanics of the other ones, the games just become frustrating when losing due to control issues.
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