If you’re like me and have fond memories of popping greasy quarters into video game machines at your local pizzeria, you’ll like this news. Archive.org now features a large collection of vintage “bronze-age” (1970’s – 1990’s) video games to play for free on their website. You’ll be sure to recognize games from some of your favorite companies including Capcom, Midway and Sega. It’s not quite the same playing these games with a keyboard as your controller but they’re still a lot of fun.
There are a number of different thing that come into play while destroying bricks. Some bricks have to be hit multiple times, flying enemy ships appear, and power-up capsules fall from the destroyed bricks to enhance the Vaus including multiply the number of balls, equip a lasercannon, break directly to the next level. The game is very similar to Atari’s 1978 classic, Super Breakout. Once the player reaches the final round, round 33, the player will take on the game’s boss, a large head named “DOH”.
The colorful graphics and extra items aren’t the only impressive thing about Arkanoid. The gameplay in the arcade version and some home versions is controlled by controller with a knob to move the paddle left and right. The controller, contains a potentiometer and the faster the knob is turned, the quicker the paddle moves. Because of the Arkanoid’s popularity, it was ported to numerous home consoles and computers. In addition to a large number of unauthorized clones, many sequels of the game were developed including Tournament Arkanoid, Arkanoid II: Revenge of Doh, Arkanoid Returns, Arkanoid DS, Arkanoid Live! and Arkanoid Plus!
Controls:
| Action | Response |
| Paddle counter-clockwise: | Direct the Vaus to the left. |
| Paddle clockwise: | Direct the Vaus to the right. |
| Fire button: | Use to shoot lasers when Vaus is configured in laser mode. |
| 1-2 Player button: | Press to begin a one or two player game. |
Power-ups:
| Name | Description | |
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Enlarge | Collect the blue capsule to extend the width of the Vaus by about twice the normal length. |
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Disruption | Collect the cyan capsule and the ball turn into three balls. |
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Player | Collect the gray capsule to receive an extra Vaus. |
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Catch | Collect the green capsule and the player can catch the ball on the Vaus. The player can then release it after they line it up for a shot to take out some bricks. |
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Slow | Collect the orange capsule and the speed of the ball will slow down. |
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Lasers | Collect the red capsule and the Vause will have the ability to shoot twin lasers out of it towards the blocks. |
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Break | Collect the violet capsule and the player will skip through the current level onto the next. The player will aslo gain 10,000 points. |
Bricks:
| Color | Details | |
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White brick | One shot to destroy, 50 points. |
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Orange brick | One shot to destroy, 60 points. |
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Cyan brick | One shot to destroy, 70 points. |
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Green brick | One shot to destroy, 90 points. |
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Red brick | One shot to destroy, 100 points. |
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Blue brick | One shot to destroy, 110 points. |
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Violet brick | One shot to destroy, 120 points. |
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Yellow brick | One shot to destroy, 50 points. |
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Silver brick | The number of hits it takes to destroy them increases by one every eight stages. Worth 50X the stage number you are on. |
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Gold brick | Cannot be destroyed. |
Tips & Tricks:
Power-up Rarity
The power pills are completely random except that the extra life and warp pills are twice as unlikely to occur. Only one extra life pill is possible per “vaus”. If the pill randomizer selects a duplicate pill based on the last pill dropped, a multi-ball pill is substituted. Thus, the multi-ball pill is the only one you can get twice in a row. The randomizer uses player score as the seed, so it is possible to control which pill is dispensed by purposely breaking pill dispensing blocks with specific scores displayed.
Ball Speed
On each level, the ball will not speed up completely until it hits the back wall, so :
Multiple Balls
As only one pill can fall at a time, multiple balls can reduce your potential score quite drastically. Every pill is worth 1000 points. For the first few levels, get every pill you can, but do not use the special powers. You will get a lot of extra ships and should get a gray P or two – thereby starting early with 6 or 7 ships.
DOH
In the final level, where you face DOH himself, you should get 15 hits (1000 points per hit) on DOH/per man until you defeat DOH with the 16th hit on your last man to end the game.
Arkanoid is composed of 33 stages. The first 32 stages are made up of just bricks. The 33rd stage is where the player goes up against “DOH”, the only and final boss in the game. DOH spits bombs from his mouth that it hit the Vaus will destroy it instantly.
To defeat DOH, you must hit him with the ball 16 times. After defeating DOH, the ending sequence to the game will be displayed which includes the text “Dimension-controlling fort “doh” has now been demolished, and time started flowing reversely. “Vaus” managed to escape from the distorted space. But the real voyage of “Arkanoid” in the galaxy has only started……”
Stages:
Stage 1 |
Stage 2 |
Stage 3 |
Stage 4 |
Stage 5 |
Stage 6 |
Stage 7 |
Stage 8 |
Stage 9 |
Stage 10 |
Stage 11 |
Stage 12 |
Stage 13 |
Stage 14 |
Stage 15 |
Stage 16 |
Stage 17 |
Stage 18 |
Stage 19 |
Stage 20 |
Stage 21 |
Stage 22 |
Stage 23 |
Stage 24 |
Stage 25 |
Stage 26 |
Stage 27 |
Stage 28 |
Stage 29 |
Stage 30 |
Stage 31 |
Stage 32 |
Stage 33 |
Arcade Info:
| Category | Detail |
| Main CPU: | Z80 (@ 6 Mhz), M68705 (@ 500 Khz) |
| Sound Chips: | AY8910 (@ 1.5 Mhz) |
| Screen orientation: | Vertical |
| Video resolution: | 224 x 256 pixels |
| Screen refresh: | 60.00 Hz |
| Palette colors: | 512 |
| Players: | 2 |
| Control: | paddle |
| Buttons: | 1 |
Arkanoid Staff:
| Name | Job |
| Game designer: | Akira Fujita (AKR) |
| Programmer: | Yasumasa Sasabe (SSB) |
| Director of hardware & co-programmer: |
Toshiyuki Sanada (SND) |
| Assistant programmer: | Toru T. (TOR) |
| Graphic designer: | Onijust H. (ONJ) |
| Sound composer: | Hisayoshi Ogura |
| Sound effects: | Tadashi Kimijima |
| Pattern designe: | Akira Iwai |
Scoring:
Nick Mollison holds the official record for this game on extremely hard settings with 1,156,930 points on September 7, 2008.
Zack Hample holds the official record for this game on normal settings with 1,658,110 points on March 13, 2000.
Other Arkanoid links:
Arkanoid Arcade Videos:
Arkanoid Clone/Remake Videos:
Today I downloaded that game Sunflowers for PS Vita. Apparently the game is available for iPhone too but I have never heard of it before. The first thing that you will notice that’s different about this game is that it’s played on your PS Vita in vertical format which means that when playing you need to rotate your Vita 90 degrees. When I first heard this I instantly got turned off but it turns out that it really works well for this game. Because Sunflowers controls are touch screen only, There’s no need awkwardly push buttons while holding your Vita this way. The gameplay is very simple and great for casual gamers like myself who don’t have a lot of time and want to pick up a quick, 10-minute enjoyable game once in a while.
You control the sun, and the goal is to drop rain drops on the flowers below. To make the rain drops, the suns rays must pass through the clouds that move by. If you drop a ray of light that doesn’t pass through the clouds, it will burn whatever it touches on the ground. If it touches a flower, then that flower will burn and you need to give it water. If you burn too many flowers then you will get an X. Three X’s and game over. There are bonus levels once you collect a certain amount of points.
The graphics in Sunflowers are very good for such a cheap game. The sound is also very good and works well with the game. As you progress through levels, you can grow and collect new types of flowers. In the games main menu, you can view all the flowers that you’ve collected (there are over 300 types to collect in the game!) For $3.99 on the PlayStation Store you really can’t go wrong with this game. After purchasing it, I would consider it a must have Vita game for anyone that enjoys casual, arcade style games.
Today I’m taking a look at an app I downloaded called Mr. Crab (not to be confused with the SpongeBob character) for my iPhone. The game can be had at the standard 99 cent price tag (How are these games continuously so cheap?) and is a casual gamers dream. In the game, you control Mr. Crab, a fast little crab that crawls sideways in a circular motion around a giant sand castle. The goal is to make it to the top of the castle but that is no easy task young grasshopper. On the way to the top you will encounter obstacles, enemies, walls and coins that give you points. You can also try to collect all of the baby crabs that the level has to offer on the way to the top.
Bumping into an enemy will bump you down a couple of levels, prolonging your trip up the maze. The game controls are simple – you tap the screen to have Mr. Crab jump. Mr. Crab is capable of doing a double jump when he touches a wall in mid-air. The game has some beautifully colorful graphics that look great on high-resolution devices. The sound is okay. Mr. Crab works in both portrait and landscape modes but I prefer portrait. I’ve only made it about 1/3 of the way through the game so far but I’m having a lot of fun with it.
Just hope he doesn’t think you’re a pellet. Next time you sit down, think about what you’re sitting in and how it’s not as cool as one of these Pac-Man chairs. There’s not a more comfortable feeling than knowing that Pac-Man is protecting your backside while you enjoy playing your Pac-Man table top arcade game that you have set up in your living room. Don’t get too excited because I honestly don’t know if these chairs are actually for sale or just some art students senior project.. that he Aced.
Here is the Pac Seat’s creators description from the website that this image was posted on:
This chair was designed for children taking as inspiration the immortalization of an icon of the arcade games of the 90s.
When I was checking out the app store a couple of days ago, I noticed Temple Run 2 was the number one app in the store. I didn’t even know that this game was being developed but I was very excited to grab it for free and begin playing it. Right away I noticed the resemblance to the first one but I also noticed that this one was actually better than the first. The first thing that you will notice is that the graphics of the terrain are much more improved and realistic. Where as in the first game, the terrain was mostly flat, in the new game there are many more hills and turns. Another neat thing about the sequel are the new elements of gameplay including rope slides and mine cart. There are also more coins and gems to collect in this version. If you were a fan of the first, definitely check out the second.
Today I checked out Ice Rage, a 99 cent game for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. In Ice Rage, you control one player against the computer or human component in some 1-on-1 ice hockey action. The game definitely has more of an quick-action, arcade feel than a realistic simulation 5-on-5 hockey game and that’s why I like it. You can currently choose from only two characters to play with, a human and a bear. For 99 cents more, you can also purchase a character that resembles Santa Clause. There are three modes of play, single player quick match, single player tournament and multiplayer. In quick match, you play against the computer in a 1:45 match. In tournament mode, you play against a number of players in 0:45 second matches that get tougher the more opponents you play against. In multiplayer, you play against the computer. The graphics are very crisp and gorgeous. The controls in the game are very accurate considering you’re using the touchscreen as a joystick and shoot button. Overall, Ice Rage is a game well worth 99 cents if you enjoy arcade style games and Ice Hockey.
The cutesy artwork has drawn me into researching this arcade game called Kick Through Racers. In the game, you control a scooter that resembles a razor scooter, one of the hottest selling items about 10 years ago. The game is brought to us by Taito, a developer that has brought us some great games over the years. Taito released a similar game a few years ago called Hopping Road where you race along on pogo sticks. But this time it’s scooters and after viewing the trailer for Kick Through Racers, it may not be a game that blows anyone away graphically but it does looks like a fun concept to try for all ages. Kick Through Racers arcade game is currently available in Japan for about $9,600.
More @ Taito and view the trailer.
For fans of Space Invaders comes Radiant HD, a game from Hexage available on WebOS along with Android and iOS. Hexage has been very supportive of WebOS and has released many other games for the Touchpad including Totemo, Robotek, and Quell. Think of Radiant HD as a mash-up of a bunch of classic space shooter games combined into one.
The controls in the game are fantastic because instead of using awkward touch buttons that are difficult to locate, you simply tap the screen either on the left side or right side to control your spaceship. Firing is super easy because it’s automatically done for you. At first this may seem crazy but it actually works great because it lets you focus on where your bullets go. The graphics are also well done with vibrant neon colors and pixelated character shapes to bring that old-school game feel. The music is nothing special but suits the game well with its spacey way.
You get points for upgrades after killing certain enemies during level play. At the end of the level, you get to choose from upgrades that give you things like double guns and missiles which help you to perform better in the next levels. These weapons do well against the larger enemies and bosses throughout the 100+ levels of the game. The weapons include a Vulcan Cannon, Bio Blaster, Plasma Gun, Disruptor Laser, Seeking Missiles, and Smart Gun. If you are into classic arcade shooters, then I recommend Radiant HD. It is another game that will help build up your library of games on your Touchpad, a device with not a lot of support app-wise compared to Android and iOS.
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This New Super Mario Bros. arcade cabinet looks awesome although I doubt we’ll ever see at out local Dave & Busters in the states. It’s actually being developed by Capcom, probably because Nintendo doesn’t do much in the hardware side of arcades these days. It’s being called a “medal game” which is actually a series of Mario-related mini-games where players earn medals as they make their way to take on Bowser and try to win the jackpot. Up to four players will be able to play at a time. See a video of the game in action by clicking here and clicking the bottom link: 映像紹介.
Yum Yum Matt 