Arkanoid Returns
Manufacturer: Taito
Year: 1997

round one

In a controlling mission Vaus is intercepted by Dimension Controlling Force Doh, the huge entity with the semblance of the big Easter-Island head floating in space. Doh and Vaus find themselves in front of each other, and suddenly Doh wide open its enormous"mouth" and suck up the Vaus ship making a big whirl, taking him into another space temporal dimension. Our aim now is once again to escape through 50 rounds from Doh's trap an bring things back.
Once you have inserted your coin you have the possibility to choose between the red and the blue Vaus, or, if you choose the two player mode, you'll have both. At the beginning you have three lives. On the left we have three indicators of the game status, one of which shows the round number, score and available lives. On the right side we have an indicator with the highest score.

Background topic changes once you pass a certain number of rounds: from 1 to 9 you have Greek temples; 10-18 The City; 19-27 the Pyramid; 28-36 the Dolphin; 37-45 Planet covered by water; 46-50 Rocks coming out from water; 50 is the last round to pass, afterwards game ends. In this version new music has been added during the whole game; aside from that, game is mostly the same as the previous ones.
There is a mixture of powerups from Arkanoid and Revenge of Doh such us: Laser, Capture, Expand, Break, Disrupt, Slow, and Player up, plus some new ones: T, G, and M. Powerups are given by certain hit blocks that take the form of capsules with a letter on that descend towards the bottom of the screen; touch one with your Vaus and you get that ability. You can use one only ability at a time.

Aegyptian background
a dolphin....

Here you find a description of the capsules with a letter on and their related powerups:L (laser): Press the fire button and the Vaus is now a shooting machine: you can now destroy enemies and destructible bricks. C (capture): When the Vaus touches the ball it get stick on the Vaus so it can be re-launched. The Vaus now has an electromagnetic arc over it. E (expand): The Vaus gets wider, making it easier to deflect the ball. B (break): Two doors will open on the sides of the screen: choose one and Vaus can go straight into the next level. This is the only time where side doors can open, contrary to Arkanoid Revenge of Doh, where they opened at the end of each level. D (disrupt): Splits the ball into lots of balls. S (slow): Slows the ball down. P (player up): 1UP G: The ball becomes a glowing red sphere and destroys a wide path of bricks, except for the undestructible ones, without stopping. M (missile): Ball becomes a green streak that ploughs through all bricks in its way. Like in G power, the missile cannot destroy indestructible bricks. T: Creates an energy barrier underneath the Vaus which will reflect any ball that hits it, afterward one ball it will disappear..

Compared to previous versions there are some new kind of bricks: there are transparent bricks that show the color of the capsule inside and special gold and silver bricks; you have two types of silver bricks, they need 2 and 3 shots to be destroyed, and the brick shows visible damage when it gets hit but not destroyed. There are also two types of gold bricks: they are both indestructible, but they look different (one has a white gem in it), and they make a different tone when hit.
Do you remember the UFO coming down from the top of the screen in Arkanoid? If the Vaus or the ball touched them, they were destroyed and the ball had its course altered.

hmm.... where did I already see it?
sunset on the sea

Well, in this game there are four different enemies with distinct effects on the gameplay: the blue segmented cone has the same effect as the UFO in Arkanoid: if the ball hits it, it is destroyed and the ball bounces away; the green saucer explodes and on its impact it destroys nearby bricks; the cluster of colored balls breaks apart when hit by the ball and the three balls then bounce around like your ball, destroying bricks, but, if they hit the Vaus they are destroyed. Finally, there is a new enemy unique to this game: the sparking S; it shoots off sparks in four directions periodically and makes an annoying buzzing sound. If the ball hits it when it's not "buzzing" it is destroyed.

 

Ratings

PRESENTATION: 63%

GRAPHICS: 53%

SOUND: 42%

ORIGINALITY: 50%

HOOKABILITY: 58%

LASTABILITY: 47%


OVERALL: 59%

Zaxxon1In Arkanoid Returns, using F3 Taito system, you have at first glance a different and better graphics compared to the previous ones. In fact presentation screen is suggestive. New look also for Vaus, bricks and game layout. Negative note: backgrounds, some of which are definitely ugly. Uncomfortable the score and hi-score indicators, they are in a bad position. More than usual sound effects and short music already found in previous versions, a music that go throughout the game has been added, and that would be a positive aspect, except for the one in rounds from 19 to 27 (Pyramid) the music is badly made. To find a good music you have to get to the end to listen to a remake of the Arkanoid's theme.
Playability seems better, difficulty is well distributed through the many rounds, and you won't get stuck in too difficult schemes. On average a nice game, but not on a par with the other Arkanoid.

Roy JonesTypical demo so in fashion in the past... it hasn't got practically nothing new, neither graphics and sound, which isn't so good: a few effects and a beginning of soundtrack is all we have. Concerning graphics I must say that the not many effects are good, not for the backgrounds or the scheme layout, but more for the explosions and for bricks dissolution... But, without any doubt the main feature of this game is the fact that you won't be on your own: you can be together with a friend who'll play simultaneously on a second row, avoiding, in case of lost, to do again the whole level. Seeing the scarce innovation in the game organization, hookability doesn't get to high levels, such as the feeling to carry on until the end. To sum up, I advice it if you liked the previous chapters, especially if you are a couple of friends it gives a new experience, but, if it's your first time, I guess you won't get a big satisfaction...
 

LilianaThis game doesn't make me change my mind about the Arkanoid. Always the same, this time even worse than ever. Even backgrounds are awful...
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