DS Review: Arkanoid DS

Yet another ball-bouncing, brick-breaking game has been released for the Nintendo DS. Although Arkanoid is a clone of the Breakout pioneer that started this puzzle-esque genre, the title means quality, as many have tried and failed to recreate this experience on the system, whereas Arkanoid DS succeeds. Think of it as a revival of the title; retaining its classic, addictive gameplay, the game is enhanced with catchy tunes, vibrant graphical backgrounds, multiplayer and leaderboards, and tons of replay value.

As you would expect, Arkanoid DS features the classic ‘break the bricks’ gameplay, as you repeatedly bounce a ball with a paddle to make your way through a static stage. You can embark on Clear Mode, in which you clear sets of 5 rounds each for a total of 35 stages to finish the session. The thing is, every Zone matches a letter in the alphabet, giving players hundreds of stages to go through to fully beat the game. Once you clear a Zone, you can enter Quest Mode and clear the Zone’s five stages again, this time with specific challenges such as clearing a certain color of blocks or all of them with limited time or ball bounces. Although there isn’t nothing all that new about these modes, and the gameplay remains repetitive overall, it’s still a very addictive title, especially if you want to go through every stage.


And you just might, seeing how different they are. There are seven different types of Zones, each with a different background color and music. And the rounds themselves change quite drastically; you might start with a standard wide stage, moving on to a narrow one, then off to a stage with very few blocks that are heavily guarded by unbreakable ones, etc. Although the diverse width of stages adds variety, narrow rounds are considerably easier to beat, seeing how at times your paddle can cover half the stage, if not more. You can also take advantage of falling power-ups that do a variety of effects, such as adding two extra balls to the mix, giving your paddle a laser, or firing up your ball so that it goes straight through all bricks. Add to that the ability to include a layered barrier to prevent the ball from escaping, and you will notice that it’s very hard to actually lose a stage. In terms of challenge, Arkanoid DS falls a bit short.

Even so, the game’s value is truly astonishing. $20 gets you hundreds of stages to go through in both Clear and Quest modes. Not only that, but a good run-thru of Clear Mode can earn you a high spot in the game’s online leaderboards. You can also play against the CPU to practice the game’s Multiplayer modes. Up to four players can battle it out, trying to clear their stages of bricks while affecting the performance of their opponents with various power-ups. Although a bit luck-based, multiplayer battles are still quite fun, and you only need one copy of the game to get the balls going. Even if no local players are around, you can play online against one or three opponents in lag-less, entertaining battles. You can also go through the Friend Code ordeal and register a long-distance friend for online battles.

With so many things to do, it would be nice to have a neat presentation, and Arkanoid DS delivers. You can unlock a variety of backgrounds, paddles, and brick shapes, and you can customize each Zone type to your liking, with different backgrounds and even music. The game’s soundtrack is really well done, with an overall techno feel and different genres, each song with a neat style and very catchy rhythm. There are little to no problems with the title. It might take you a minute or two to get adjusted to the ‘dead zone’ of space in between the screens, but this is definitely not a considerable factor. You can use buttons as your control method, or preferably the stylus, which is responsive and efficient. North American copies of Arkanoid DS did not include a paddle peripheral like they did in Japan, but they do feature paddle compatibility; if you’re a DS fan who needs it all, the paddle will work just fine, but stylus controls alone are perfect.

Although its classic gameplay wasn’t as enhanced as it could have been, and the ‘been there, done that, multiple times’ feel is present, the overall fun and addictiveness of breaking bricks still pushes Arkanoid DS to great heights. With tons of stages to go through, entertaining multiplayer features for local and online play, leaderboards, and a fantastic presentation and style, this title is extremely easy to recommend, especially with an impressive admission price of just $20.

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