Manufacturer:
Year: 1997
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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.
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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.
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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..
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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.
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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.
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Ratings
PRESENTATION: 63%
GRAPHICS: 53%
SOUND: 42%
ORIGINALITY: 50%
HOOKABILITY: 58%
LASTABILITY: 47%
OVERALL: 59%
In 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.
Typical 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...
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