Review: Break Out Mania

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Created on Wednesday, 04 January 2012 21:52

Last Updated on Wednesday, 11 September 2013 02:40

Written by Lynx

Hits: 1795

Man, I think I'm going to have to find some new words that mean AWESOME! Because homebrew just keeps getting better!

Gameplay = 8
Graphics = 6
Sound = 7
Fun = 8
Overall = 9
Author: Ninogenio

Ok, let's start with the beginning, as this homebrew is like no other (that I have seen at least).

First thing you will notice is that it isn't just a .nds file. It has directories that go along with the .nds or .ds.gba file. So, we start with copying the whole BREAK_OUT_MANIA folder to our media. In this case, I'm using a GBA MP with MightyMax's Multibooter.

So, let's start the game.. First thing you will see is the intro, and then the main menu:

You have Start Game, Instructions, and Score Board. Well, the scores don't seem to update, so we'll skip that one.. So let's take a look at the instructions screen.
Ok.. It's Break Out right? Why would you need instructions anyway? Well, this is more of an Arknoid clone. It has power ups and stuff to make it cooler! :)

So, here's a quick run through.

Falling Green Block = Kick butt and don't worry about names. After you collect one of these, the ball goes right through the blocks and cleans house. Makes for a quicker level. Personally, I think this one is nice, but seems to be on every level. Might want to make this one harder to get.. but that is just me.

Falling Black Block = Guns. As cool as this sounds, I find myself loosing more when I have it. Sure, you can shoot the blocks, but I find myself chasing around the screen trying to shoot blocks, instead of trying to keep the ball on the screen. Anyway, you can have up to 6 bullets on the screen at one time, and as you shoot two bullets each time you pull the trigger (L, R, or A) it's really only 3 shots. Either way, it's very helpfull to get that last block you have been trying to hit.

Falling Yellow Block = Speeds up the ball. Good on lower levels to help complete if faster, bad on upper levels when the ball is already going pretty fast.

Falling Red Block = Free life. Sometimes there are two or three of these on a single level.

No, that is all the instructions mention, but there are more color power ups than that, but I'm not sure the colors yet. I know another one slows down the ball.

Extra info

Of course, you can use the d-pad or the touch screen to control the paddle, and the response is great.
Now, on to the game! You can select 3 levels to play. Beginner has 10 levels, Intermediate has 20 levels and Advanced has 30 levels... As the names don't fit into the boxes, it might be a good idea to change it to "Easy", "Mediam", and "Hard". Either way, even Advanced seems to be pretty easy. If nothing more, because it still has a lot of power ups.

So, there isn't any background music, but it has plenty of sound.. and for some reason, I love the shooting sound (once you play it, I think you will know why :) ). The sound is very well done, and fitting.

The graphics are just OK, but the sweet thing about this design is that you can change them. You can create your own .jpg files and replace the ones in the directories. Tired of Black Power Ups for the gun, make them rainbow colored. Heck, you could even make it look like a gun.

Same with the blocks. Current style to blah for you, throw in some chrome or brick looking blocks.. Don't stop there, you might as well redo the backgrounds while your at it.

So, with all this customization, I did miss one thing.. and that's the paddle. Either I didn't see it, or it's not in the .jpg's that you can edit.


Overall, the game is very fun to play, and has sucked up more of my playtime then some of the Nintendo liscensed games I own. But, with most games, there is still room for improvement. I wouldn't mind seeing a "level" editor, be it a seperate app, a tutorial (as they are just .txt files) or even an option in the game itself. Also, it anounces the level at the beginning of each one, but it wouldn't hurt to also list it on the top screen.. I think I saw a bug, but don't know what level I was playing when it happened.. the ball started in the middle of the level, and cleared out blocks as it fell down to the paddle the first time.

It also seems to be very easy to rack up lives.. I think I was at 11 before I realized I had that many.. Maybe if I played with the d-pad, I wouldn't have had so many, as it is much harder to control the paddle that way, but with the stylus, it's much easier. Maybe speed the ball up after some time would make it harder.

So, I'm going to play this one for a while longer.. if I see anything else worth mentioning, I'll be sure to do it.

Download : .nds and .ds.gba