Breakout

Atari's 1976 arcade game Breakout became a genre unto itself.

What are your favorite Breakout-style games? A few that stand out for me are:

Super Breakout(Atari, Arcade, 1978)
To this day this game is beautiful stuff. I just wish the classic compilations it has appeared in had paddle control. The lack of proper control makes these versions hard to play which is why I usually go back to the 2600 version.
http://images.webmagic.com/klov.com/...r_Breakout.png

Arkanoid(Taito, Arcade, 1986)
This is probably the most popular series of Breakout clones.
http://images.webmagic.com/klov.com/.../wArkanoid.png

Krakout(Gremlin, C64, 1987)
I haven't played the other computer versions but I remember the C64 one kicking ass.
http://www.c64gg.com/Images/K/Krakout_ingame.gif

Alleyway(Nintendo, Game Boy, 1989)
Nothing too original here but it worked great with the portable format.
http://www.classicgaming.com/tmk/ima...lleyway_24.gif

Woody Pop(Sega, Game Gear, 1991)
This screen is from the Flash version on Sega's website but the GG one is almost the same.
http://www2.sega.co.jp/sw/woody/imgs/image1.GIF

Devilish(Sage's Creation, Genesis, 1992)
I used to have the Game Gear version and it was pretty good. The screen scrolled and you had to destroy enemies quick enough to make it to the goal.

I loved Breakout for the 2600. It was always very popular in my basement back in the day. My mum really liked playing that one. :)

My favourite listed here is Woody Pop thanks to it's GameGear incarnation. It's a good style game for gaming on the go and it's very well done with plenty of options and whatnot. You may as well give the URL to the web version of WP, if anyone wants to play!

* http://www2.sega.co.jp/sw/woody/ :sonic:


For some reason I never got into Arkanoid, but I have played it recently
and it's pretty good too, and clearly the most famous one. I need to try Devilish. I maaay have rented it once back in the day.. but it's foggy. Looks like fun.

It may be pushing it but the closest thing to a modern interpretation on this classic genre would probably be Cosmic Smash for Dreamcast. It's 3D but you still need to break all the blocks and move on to the next room. Great game. :)

Cosmic Smash is tennis + Breakout. Incredible stuff.

Wierd thing: I've noticed a lot of Japanese sites tend to have java-based Breakout games in which you destroy the clothing off females instead of blocks. I find that odd as it seems to be the single most encountered game when cruising Japanese art sites.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MechDeus

Cosmic Smash is tennis + Breakout. Incredible stuff.

Wierd thing: I've noticed a lot of Japanese sites tend to have java-based Breakout games in which you destroy the clothing off females instead of blocks. I find that odd as it seems to be the single most encountered game when cruising Japanese art sites.

---

You will provide links, yes? :)

If I recall correctly, Steve Jobs had something to do with Breakout. Apparently, Atari wanted to find a way to get the game to run on as little silicon as possible, and Jobs was given the task to get it to do so.

Apparently, the Breakout program he came up with was incredibly tight, and ran with a bare minimum amount of chips. However, it was too well done, and was too complicated to be manufactured that way.

Rumor has it that Jobs did not even pull off such a programming feat himself, and had his friend do it for him. I think it was someone who later helped develop home computers with him...

Yep, Steve Wozniak. Jobs got paid a lot extra by Atari for getting it on as few chips as possible and never told Wozniak. Woz wasn't too pleased when he found out years later that his friend scammed him.

Atari also released a game called Circus. Instead of your standard paddle at the bottom of the screen, they had a clown sitting on one end of a see-saw. You had to make the other clown land on the end that was open. It was a fairly popular title on the 2600.

http://www.digitpress.com/dpsightz/a...ircusatari.gif

gunbarich is relatively new, and it's pretty fun

Don't forget Capcom's elusive Block Block.

i've actually been playing a good amount of Alleyway lately...

but anyways, everyone should check out GunBarich if they haven't already. great game.