Wall Breaker 2 Deluxe
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| Wall Breaker 2 Deluxe

Back in the day, Breakout could have been considered a ‘hardcore’ arcade title, as it combined cutting-edge graphics with cutting-edge gameplay.

That was 1976, though, when ‘cutting-edge’ was Pong. The same sort of repetitive, basic actions just won’t cut it into today’s world of mobile phones, the internet, and hover-boards (weren’t they meant to be out by now?)

Wall Breaker 2 Deluxe tries to spruce up the old girl by taking the now-traditional route of piling on the glitter and throwing around the confetti, hoping that amongst all the bits of multi-coloured tissue there’s that little something extra to push it above its many rivals.

Paddling pool

The setup should be familiar to everyone who isn’t already retired. You move a paddle at the bottom of the screen, hitting a ball around the playing area so it clears all the blocks. The position the ball lands on determines the angle of the rebound, with the edges of the paddle forcing the ball off at unnaturally sharp angles.

As with Super Breakout and pretty much every single one of the billion clones that followed, WB2D has a whole gamut of powerups which drop down from destroyed blocks that can help or hinder progress

Most of these are from the traditional stock, like larger bat and slow-down ball, but I don’t think I’ve seen the strange ‘Sea Sick’ one, which sends your bat careening, before.

Paddle power

In fact, come to think of it, I haven’t seen character selections, boss-genies, or a strangely moreish unlockable objective-based mission structure before either.

The two characters – a boy and a girl – come with their own set of lives and their own special paddle, each imbued with a special power that either helps before the ball hits the paddle (fireball) or just after (lightning).

Cleverly, these powers take a second or two of holding down the ‘8’ key to activate, meaning there’s this extra element of risk and timing that overcomes the generally slow and frustrating parts of Breakout.

If I ever meet the person who came up with the idea that the player could just zap that final block in every level with the lightning power, I’ll buy them a drink, as that removes my main issue with the Breakout gameplay in a heartbeat.

Padded

Not all the problems associated with the Breakout format are gone, sadly. There’s still the odd love for levels that deliberately force the player to make one exact shot past a host of indestructible blocks to get things started, which naturally takes a lifetime to hit.

There’s also very little reason why anybody who’s played Wall Breaker 2 Reloaded before should check this version out, as the Deluxe in the title merely refers to a few fixes and tweaks to the balance of the gameplay.

Nevertheless, if you’re one of the many people who missed Wall Breaker 2 when it was originally released, you’ll find Deluxe to be a worthy entry in the long-line of Breakout-inspired titles.

Wall Breaker 2 Deluxe

A fresh and fun take on a well-established classic, but not one to pick up if you’ve already played the original
Score
Will Wilson
Will Wilson
Will's obsession with gaming started off with sketching Laser Squad levels on pads of paper, but recently grew into violently shouting "Tango Down!" at random strangers on the street. He now directs that positive energy into his writing (due in no small part to a binding court order).