Game details
| Name | Block |
| Published Year | 2000 |
| Companies | Kenta Sato |
| Genre | Arcade |
| Type | Arkanoid Clone |
Game Review
Well, this would be the first windows game I've ever added to BSOD. Well, Chango added BreakThru! once, but that wasn't me, so technically speaking, it's still the first I've added to the site. So anyway, what's this 'Block' thing we have here? Well, to be quite honest, it's nothing but a paddler. Of the breakout type. What? An Arkanoid clone. That's all there is too it. To be quite honest, all arkanoid clones are basically boring. They're remakes of the same game, and never add anything new. But this game, well, it does. Read on :)
Block is to Arkanoid what Manga is to comics and Anime to Johnny Quest. It is what Pringles are to potato chips. It's bigger, better, faster, and more insane. In its essence - it's breakout. You have a paddle on the bottom of the screen, which you control with the mouse. You can use the left mouse button to make it go down and when the button is released, it goes back up again, so you can 'bump' the balls if they're not going the route you want them to go. With the right mouse button, you can release a ball. With these balls, you try to hit blocks, and make them go away. When the level is cleared, you proceed to the next.
And this is where the differences come into play. At the start of a level, you get 10 balls. You can release one at a time, which is the way most other breakout games work, or you can release two, or maybe even five, or maybe all. At the same time. This means you can have 10 balls in play at the same time, meaning that you can break away blocks mucho faster. Of course, keeping them all in play is really hard, and you most likely will end up with a block or 10 less, and no backup balls, and only one you could save in play. And you HAVE to finish the game with that one ball. So while it adds something nice, it isn't smart to use it in its entirety. I usually use 1, with a maximum of 3.
But wait, what about the powerups and the blocks? There are multiple unique powerups. One of the nicest is the 'unlimited balls' powerup, which means you can release as many balls into the field as you want, because you'll still have the amount of balls you used to have before you got the powerup. This is really handy when you just want to get rid of a level ;) Also, there are some unique blocks. There are the regular blocks - the blocks with powerups (always have a different colour than the majority), there are blocks which can only be removed by hitting them from the top, there are gravity blocks which push the ball away from themselves, there are blocks which release a ball when you hit them and there are also blocks which release an UNLIMITED amount of balls when you hit them. Also, what I noticed first, was that the ball travels in an arc. No longer does it act like it did way back in Pong, no, it's under a slight gravitational pull, which means it slows down when it reaches its top, and then falls down again. All in all, pretty special ;)
Blocks is an awesome game. The only thing I found annoying about it was the fact that the levels with the magnetic blocks can be really difficult as sometimes you can't reach them at all. Also, the sheer insanity of having 300 balls on screen can be quite the shock to those of you who like nice and quiet games. This is an action game. And it's superb.
Screenshots & Backroom
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Windows XP compatibility
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External reviews
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Availability
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