This design's gone by a number of names over the years -- Arkanoid, of course, but also Breakout, Alleyway, Block Breaker and a handful of others, created by several different developers for several different systems. It's been so prolific because of its simplicity -- it's basically Pong, for one player only. You've got a paddle, you've got a set of obstacles, and you've got a ball constantly bouncing between the two. You just have to follow it.
Arkanoid, developed by Taito, has always been the most well known and popular of the many different takes on this same idea. And since Taito's been diving back into its catalog of classics recently to develop WiiWare updates, it was only a matter of time before this franchise reappeared to line up in the Wii Shop alongside Bubble Bobble Plus!, Bust-a-Move Plus! and Space Invaders Get Even. It's Arkanoid Plus!.
The gameplay is essentially the same as it's always been, taking inspiration from the game's original arcade edition from the '80s and updating it with some new features, new music and the like. This is very much a download in line with the "Plus!" updates given to Bubble Bobble and Bust-a-Move -- not a total reinvention like Space Invaders Get Even was.
And it didn't need to be -- Arkanoid works very well in its original form, 2D bouncing ball design completely intact. You'll take command of the VAUS, a horizontally-oriented, rectangle-shaped spaceship with rounded edges trapped at the lower end of a series of brick-filled arenas. A ball launches from the VAUS at the beginning of each round, and it's up to you to move your ship left and right to keep the ball in play as it bounces up, down and all around the screen smashing through and ricocheting off of the bricks it touches. If you manage to keep the ball in play long enough for it to smash all the bricks, you've won the round -- and a pair of portals appears on either side of the stage, giving the VAUS two paths to use in escaping the current level.
It's straightforward, pretty addictive, and much tougher than it sounds. Though you've got the option to choose a fairly mild Easy mode, the Normal and Hard settings fill up the screen with trajectory-altering enemies, bricks that can't be broken and a wealth of different power-up items to keep things feeling frantic.
So you shouldn't have to worry about things getting dull in Arkanoid -- unless you find yourself in a stage with only one little brick remaining, and the ball seems unwilling to bounce at just the right angle to make contact with it. That's an unfortunate occasional reality with this design, and one that get a bit frustrating. It's fun when there's lots to handle all at once. Not as much fun when it takes five minutes just to get the ball to move at precisely the right angle to tag one last little area in the arena.
Arkanoid Plus!'s enhancements as a "Plus!" game seem to come foremost in presentation and sound -- this game is energetic and in your face from the start with fast, pulsating techno music and a menu design that's much more intense and interesting than most other WiiWare titles bother with. The excellent music continues to pump throughout each stage of gameplay, flowing seamlessly from one stage into the next -- it's very nice.
The core visuals aren't quite as impressive, as there's not really much you could do with Arkanoid's basic brick blocks and bouncing balls to make them much different graphically than they first were back in the '80s -- there are some fresh effects added in here and there, but most of the new visual flare is kept contained to the menus and backgrounds. You'll sometimes come across stages where the brick pattern has been laid out to recreate some notable hero or enemy from another Taito game, though, like Bub from Bubble Bobble -- so there's been a bit of special effort applied to the graphic side of things.
This Arkanoid edition also seems to employ a non-linear level progression, which should be especially nice for players looking for added extra value in their WiiWare purchases. I mentioned that a pair of portals appears when you clear a stage. Well, it seems that which one you pick to enter determines what your next level will be -- if you've just cleared Stage 12 and enter the left portal, you'll get Stage 13L. Go right, it'll be Stage 13R. Different levels and layouts in each one, and you'll be able to ultimately build a custom path through the game that allows you to avoid the levels you like the least, and focus on the ones you're best at.
Multiplayer makes an appearance with head-to-head two-player versus options that set themselves up a lot like the two-player challenges in puzzle games -- you've got your playing area on the left, and the opponent's on the right. You try to blast through all your bricks before he can do the same, attacking him with items that add extra bricks to his arena or slow down his ball's speed.
It works pretty well, though some of the inherent randomness of the Arkanoid design creeps in to frustrate you in a more focused way in two-player than when you're playing alone. In most games that offer a head-to-head option like this, you can attribute your losses to your own lack of skill and accept defeat more humbly. Here, it sometimes feels like you lose and win through no fault of your own.
Arkanoid Plus! rounds things out with some downloadable content, keeping itself in line with most of the past Taito WiiWare releases -- this bit of DLC isn't quite as money-grubbingly greedy as the arrangements offered in some of their other titles, though. For 200 Wii Points you'll get access to Zone 2, a fresh set of 61 new single-player stages to play through and conquer, capped off with a unique boss battle at the end.
That's a reasonable enough value, and it also doesn't feel like Taito intentionally left that content out of the standard release just to try to get more cash -- the normal price tag is 600 Wii Points, and there's certainly enough included by default to justify an investment of six bucks. Then, if you want to slap down two more dollars, you get more. Again, that's reasonable enough -- and maybe even a nicer arrangement than it would have been, had the Zone 2 content just been included up front and the base price tag increased to 800.