Gert Lush Gaming

Review: Beautiful Bricks (Steam)

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Beautiful Bricks is the ultimate 4 player brick breaker. Restoration of an arcade great with awesome improvements like physics-based ball behavior, more paddle control, 4 simultaneous players and boss battles. All presented in a consistent retro ‘8-bit’ aesthetic.

Pros:

  • Chunky pixel art graphics.
  • 193mb download size.
  • Arkanoid inspired gameplay.
  • Own in-game achievements.
  • Controller support.
  • Graphics-scale and menu line spacing.
  • Customize screen-Wallpaper and border art.
  • Control mode-slick or stiff.
  • 3 modes- Main game/Vs/special game mode.
  • How to play section.
  • Unlocks-visualer/hardcore/EDFI/max firepower.
  • 3 difficulties-easy/medium/hard.
  • Special modes-endless/boss rush/invader/marathon.
  • Vs-competitive/volleyball can set rules and length.
  • Local leaderboards.
  • Bar-can does light/hard or even jump when hitting.
  • Power-ups plenty from multiball to the sticky ball.
  • Boss fights.
  • 2-4 local play.
  • Simple concept.

Cons:

  • No fullscreen option instead you have to alt+enter to do it.
  • Clunky user interface.
  • No online leaderboards.
  • No steam achievements.
  • Have to unlock many of the modes.
  • Way too many power-ups to remember.
  • Mouse cursor stays on the screen.
  • Music.

  • 7/10
    Graphics - 7/10
  • 6/10
    Sound - 6/10
  • 7/10
    Accessibility - 7/10
  • 7/10
    Length - 7/10
  • 7/10
    Fun Factor - 7/10
6.8/10

Summary

Wh have had many Arkanoid breakout type games over the years and for a game to make a dent in its legacy it needs to build and expand the experience. Beautiful Bricks takes a stab at it and OK the gameplay is still the same it does try to introduce more mechanics like power-ups and the different strengths of hitting the ball but it has clunky menus, modes locked off and the bar movement is still not that smooth. I managed to get a few hours done and it was a mixture of nostalgia and frustration with frustration winning and me wishing the controls were tighter and that I could get some help with memorizing the many many power-ups. Basically it kind of half does the job it set out to do but for me, I still prefer the originals.

Tags:

Jim Smale

Gaming since the Atari 2600, I enjoy the weirdness in games counting Densha De Go and RC De Go as my favourite titles of all time. I prefer gaming of old where buying games from a shop was a thing, Being social in person was a thing. Join me as I attempt to adapt to this new digital age!

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