Arkanoid

About Arkanoid

Taito released Arkanoid in April 1986 as an arcade title that modernized the Breakout formula from the previous decade. You pilot the Vaus, a spaceship fleeing a mothership called DOH, to clear screens of colorful bricks. The game launched exclusively on arcade hardware before appearing on various home consoles later. It introduced power-ups and varied level designs that kept the simple concept fresh for years. This classic arcade hit defined a subgenre where timing and precision matter more than story or complex systems.

Gameplay

You control the Vaus horizontally at the bottom of the screen to keep a ball in play. Hitting bricks makes them vanish while you avoid letting the ball drop below the paddle line. The game offers single player and multiplayer modes with distinct level layouts that change brick patterns frequently. Power-up capsules fall from destroyed blocks to expand your ship, add extra balls, or equip a laser cannon. Round 33 introduces DOH, a massive boss you must defeat using only your remaining lives since continues are disabled there. Every session demands intense focus as enemy ships fly by and brick types vary in durability.

What Players Think

The PlayPile community rates Arkanoid highly with an average score of 80.5 out of 100 based on 108 ratings. Most players finish the game within a standard arcade session, though reaching the DOH boss requires significant practice. Community moods lean toward nostalgic satisfaction and frustration when lives run low during the final stage. Review snippets often mention the tight controls and the satisfying sound effects when bricks break. Players frequently note that the difficulty spike at round 33 creates a memorable challenge that separates casual attempts from true completionists who master the pattern memorization required.

PlayPile's Take

This title is worth playing if you enjoy pure arcade challenges without modern hand-holding. The price varies by platform but remains low for most retro compilations. Achievements exist for beating specific levels or defeating DOH, which adds replay value for completionists. Do not expect a deep narrative since the focus stays entirely on skill and reflexes. You should play this if you want to experience how arcade games used to test your patience against a relentless ball physics system.

Storyline

The player controls the "Vaus", a space vessel that acts as the game's "paddle" which prevents a ball from falling from the playing field, attempting to bounce it against a number of bricks. The ball striking a brick causes the brick to disappear. When all the bricks are gone, the player goes to the next level, where another pattern of bricks appears. There are a number of variations (bricks that have to be hit multiple times, flying enemy ships, etc.) and power-up capsules to enhance the Vaus (expand the Vaus, multiply the number of balls, equip a laser cannon, break directly to the next level, etc.), but the gameplay remains the same. At round 33, the final stage, the player will take on the game's boss, "DOH", a head resembling moai. Once a player reaches round 33, he must defeat DOH with his remaining extra lives because there are no continues on the final round.