New-Age Arkanoid?

What happens when you take the concept from Arkanoid that seemed to be resident in every arcade in the 80's, and bring it to the Pocket PC? The result is Bust'Em. The question that remains is, is this title as good as, if not better than, the original? Or is this just a simple clone?et's get to it!!

Gameplay

For those who've never heard of Arkanoid, or have yet to play a breakout-style game, you're missing out. The basis of the game is that you are presented with a block design, a paddle, and a ball. Your mission is to "bust through the blocks" with the ball, and to try and keep the ball in motion without it dropping. During the game, you'll come across powerups that will either help or hurt you during the game. As an added bonus, the Digital Concepts version has included 100 levels from which to play. If you want to make your own levels to share with friends, you can make them within Bust'Em. You also have four modes in which you can play, ranging from easy to hard.

Two areas that seem to be different than any other breakout title that I've ever played are:

• Particle effects
• 2-Dimensional paddle movements

Particle effects were originally showcased in their first title, Rocket Elite. In Bust'Em, the particle effects add to the game when you're busting up the block on the screen as particles from those blocks will pile up at the bottom of the screen. Thanks to a few powerups though, you may not get stuck with no room to move in the game. This then leads me over to the second area which is 2-dimensional paddle movements. Unlike in Arkanoid, and other breakout titles, Bust'Em offers up a unique playing area. During gameplay you can obtain powerups that will increase or decrease your vertical area of movement. So with those on mind. At one point I had almost the entire screen to move my paddle up or down.

The only downfall in the game becomes apparent in the later levels with the number of powerups that seem to be laced with every block you break. The problem is that the game slows down when there is too much happening on screen. But with that in mind, let's take a look at the engine that powers Bust'Em.

What kind of engine powers this type of game?

The engine that powers Bust'Em and Rocket Elite is called 2Dream Game Engine. This engine was developed by Douglas Beck. It is the latest engine that could take the PocketPC to the next level in handheld gaming. Similar to when the Quake engine was first introduced on the desktop PC. The 2Dream Game Engine is a platform, CPU performance, and resolution-independent gaming engine providing commercial quality products for both Desktop PC and Pocket PC devices.

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