Back to my Video Game reviews for this one! Actually, I wrote this review nearly a year ago and it still stand as my best ever review. Next time I'm uploading my worst, World of Goo, which I will be re-writing, because such a great game deserves a better review.
AlphaBounce is a twist on the classic game Arkanoid. Like Arkanoid, it consists of using a paddle to bounce a ball back and forth to destroy bricks. However, it also contains some elements of an RPG game. It was originally a free online game, and has transitioned to DSiWare with several changes made to accommodate the price.
This was the old logo.
First thing to talk about is the storyline. You play as a prisoner who has been forced to go to a mining colony in space, owned by ES-CORP. The punishment received is to find minerals using an envelope (Which is the same as the Arkanoid paddle) and different kinds of balls. The main goal is to escape the prison. You only advance square by square, though, and every square has level you must beat to move on. Thus, it will take quite a bit of time before you're finished. The storyline is progressed mostly during loading which are when you scroll through and read. That definitely was a good choice considering the, on average, 15 second load times. The plot adds a dry, deadpan sense of humor similar to Valve's Portal which mostly focuses on ES-CORP. One bad thing about the storyline is the translation. While it's definitely not as bad as some older games, the typos are here and there and are quite noticeable.
The gameplay in the mining corporations is very similar to an average arkanoid clone in many aspects. However, it still contains quite a bit of new, albeit mostly minor, additions to gameplay. The first thing different is the amount of different kinds of blocks and power-ups. Most games of this type contain maybe a few different kinds of bricks and power-ups. AlphaBounce, on the other hand, is practically filled with varying types. Some levels have a ton of power-ups while others have very few.
The level difficulty ranges greatly. During some levels, the amount of bricks and brick types is very high, while others may have only a few. However, due to the amount of power-ups, it can be said that sometimes, more bricks actually make the game easier. One thing that always helps the difficulty level is the permanent power-ups. These range from cannons to extra balls to envelope extensions. Unlike most aspects of drilling, these will always help if you use them. The map interface is rather simple. You can move your envelope around (only to places you've drilled or directly next to them) and decide to drill there or not. It is not required to drill all areas, but completionists will easily increase the gameplay by double, if not triple.
The graphics are only average, although a step above the original PC game. The amount of detail in the map and levels is small. Occasionally, you may mix up some brick types with others, although some stand out quite easily. The backgrounds, on the other hand, are quite nice. The detail in the planets is high compared to the rest of the game, and the ships also contain some detail. Still, the graphics are less impressive then they could be with a little more file size. The music is quite nice. It has a retro, spacey feel to it which fits the gameplay quite well. The amount of tracks is still somewhat limited, though. That is forgivable, however, considering the high amount of gameplay content.
Overall, AlphaBounce has its flaws, but certainly makes up for it with the high amount of content, black humor, and wide variety. For 500 points, it's certainly contains a large amount of content for the price and is worth the time if you are fan of games similar in style. It's certainly an obvious clone, but a good one at that.
SCORE BREAKDOWN (Not an average)
Graphics: 6/10 Simple and mostly boring. Could be improved
Sound: 9/10 Fits the game almost perfectly
Gameplay: 8/10 Very original, but long load times lower the score.
Lasting Appeal: 10/10 I would give this an 11/10 if I could. No game on DSiWare can beat this game in content.
Like I said, there is a freeware version of this game on the internet, but DO NOT judge the DSiWare version off of that, as the gameplay is far worse, there are high limitations on levels per day, and there's no music.
By @rayword45
