I'm looking for good Breakout/Arkanoid style games

[1upsuper]

Hello. I've developed a hankering for some Breakout/Arkanoid action. Outside of games bearing those names, what are some other cool/fun/interesting games in the genre that you can recommend? Breakout minigames are a dime a dozen, but I'm looking for games where it's the focus.

I recently discovered Toaplan's Ghox, which looks really weird and cool. Hopefully M2 throws it onto one of their Toaplan collections one of these days.

There are a few indie games in the genre, like Shatter, Wizorb, and Strikey Sisters, but I can't think of many more besides. But hopefully there's something good that I've missed.

Thanks for your recommendations!

[jorpho]

Ah, those were the three I was just going to name. Maybe Firestriker for the SNES? Or good ol' Kirby's Block Ball?

Jardinains has an interesting twist, as these things go.

I was quite impressed by a little something called Ricochet Xtreme. Apparently it had a bunch of sequels too? Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be on Steam.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricochet_Infinity

There was one that I distantly recall that I was rather impressed with – it might have been Brick Quest, but I can only find videos of the sequel. It was released as shareware sometime around 20 years ago, when shareware was on its way out. It had a paddle that could change shapes, and I remember a lot of spinning squares falling? Maybe you'll find it in your searches. ETA: Got it! BreakQuest, also available on the Vita, but free for Windows now too.

The weirdest one I ever saw is an even older title whose name I have completely forgotten. The paddle was this little 3D-rendered guy with a round head, and all the blocks were eggs. And occasionally a little dinosaur would pop in on the side of the screen and give the little guy a hug, momentarily immobilizing him. In later levels the dinosaur would dress up as a ballerina or ninja and become harder to avoid. Naturally he could be stunned by being hit with the ball, or possibly with the mouse cursor? Powerups were dispensed by some kind of wheel-of-fortune style prize wheel. And it was shareware, but included a level editor for some reason.

[excelsior]

I find Konami's Crackout on NES to be fairly enjoyable.

If you want to see a particularly odd one take a look at Zig Zag Cat on SNES which adds an adventure alongside.

[windfisch]

Devilish/Bad Omen (Mega Drive/Game Gear/Nintendo DS) is an interesting take on the genre. It's got intriguing dark fantasy visuals and excellent synth rock music. I'd say it feels somewhat similar to Devil's Crush. It also distinguishes itself by giving you two paddles, one of which you can move on both axes. Furthermore the game moves upwards, not constantly but in chunks. So there's a bit of a vertical shmup feel, too. The MD version isn't that beloved, though, with the most common criticism directed at its somewhat unpredictable ball physics. Those have been improved on the GG, though naturally that version doesn't look nor sound as nice. Still, both versions are worth a look.

Never played the DS game, so I can't say much about that one.

[ZenithianHero]

Psikyo's Gunbarich is fun.




Capcom's Block Block. I played it a bunch on that Puzzle collection on PSP. Good chance it will show up on the new Arcade Stadium they announced.



Taito also made Puchi Carat which turns the format into competitive puzzle gameplay.

[🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀]

Kirby's Block Ball is the only one that comes to mind, but it's quite good.

[dr_st]

For PC and mouse control, there is DX-Ball and DX-Ball 2.

[ommadawnyawn2]

Maybe you'd enjoy Pulseman too, it incorporates such mechanics into an action platformer. With basically pure arkanoid-style bonus levels, although I didn't like how zoomed in the view was for those.

[1upsuper]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone! There's some really cool stuff here for me to check out. I really appreciate it.

As a fan of Psikyo, I really should have gotten around to Gunbarich sooner.

Also I've played just about every Kirby game under the sun, but Kirby's Block Ball is one of the few that I'm missing. I'll have to fix that.

[jorpho]

May 5, 2022 15:02:05 GMT -5 dr_st said:

For PC and mouse control, there is DX-Ball and DX-Ball 2.

I was going to mention that; I even bought the 20th Anniversary Edition on Steam. And I even downloaded it and played it for more than a few seconds!

But that was mostly out of nostalgia; I played a lot of it 20 years ago. (I kind of wish it still had the old MIDI files like The Marriage of Figaro.) Not sure if it can be particularly recommended nowadays over many of the alternatives, even if it does have a few neat features.

In the same vein, I could recommend Electranoid, the PC DOS game by Pixel Painters. And Krypton Egg used to be pretty huge. Also Krakout for the C64.

[Colonel Kurtz]

I Know it’s a named Arkanoid game AND it’ not rétro AND it’s on mobile but Arkanoid vs Space Invaders is a fun little distraction.

[Woody Alien]

The arcade game Thunder And Lightning:

Maybe not great but still original for being far less abstract than usual, with a story progression and everything, and a few original ideas like the bonuses not being hidden in the blocks but being given by hitting the vehicles that appear every now and then.

[ZenithianHero]

Look what just got announced. 1upsuper

[magic89]

I just browsed DEMO disc from one gameing magazine.
And there was two Breakout style demo versions Break quest and Time Breaker.
few years ago ive played two freeware titles Sawoid & Egyptoball  from this website www.gametop.com/

[ommadawnyawn2]

New SMS game which is a spinoff of the concept:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtsmSv8Q3DE