BrickBlast U!

4.5 Overall Score
Gameplay: 4/10
Graphics: 4/10
Sound: 6/10

3D Brick Breaking Genre

Low Res Graphics| Shotty Physics | Repetitive

Game Info

GAME NAME: BrickBlast U!

DEVELOPER(S): Isaiah White

PUBLISHER(S): Nexis Games

PLATFORM(S): Nintendo Wii U

GENRE(S): Brick Breaking Game

RELEASE DATE(S): June 26th, 2014

I’ve always been a fan of the brick breaking genre.  From titles like Arkanoid and Alleyway, there was something just fun and simple about the concept that made it entertaining.  As with all 2D to 3D game conversions, sometimes things just are better left in 2D.

 

BrickBlast-U2

If you aren’t familiar with the brick breaking genre, basically you have a pong-like paddle that you move from left to right and you have to keep a marble-esque ball in play and in the process destroy blocks while bouncing the marble into them.  BrickBlast U! takes the genre into the 3D realm but it never really realizes it’s full potential.  The levels themselves are very similar with maybe a block moved from here to there or the color has just changed.  This is a real big missed opportunity as with 3D, they had the ability to make some cool level designs.

Another issue I had with the games controls were the physics when bouncing off of walls.  Sometimes it would shoot up or down in an angle that you weren’t expecting and it causes you to miss the ball frequently.  Also the start placement of a multiball or when putting you ball back in play is always dead center which causes a lot of missed chances.

BrickBlast-U3

There are also your normal power-ups such as making the paddle or ball bigger or smaller and some really cool power ups such as a nuke, which will blow up the area or lasers and rockets, which can be launched by either pressing the L or R buttons.  There are also instadeath power-ups which will be game over if you touch them.

The main focus of each of the 14 levels, is to clear out all the blocks before your 5 minutes are up and you have 5 lives to do this.  Sometimes clearing all the blocks becauses impossible as a block near the wall will randomly float in the middle of the air and becomes unhitable.

Graphically I was expecting a whole lot more and was disappoint when I was greeted with lo-res graphics, unattractive menus and boring backgrounds.  Thankfully the soundtrack comes in for the save and features some impressive beats, absolutely one of the higher points for the game.

The Recommendation

I would recommend this game only if you want a 3D brick breaking game and you are willing to put up with some shotty physics and some drab graphics.  With a little tweaking and some HD crisp graphics this could have been a really good game, but as it stand could use a little more love.  With a busy week in the eShop BrickBlast U! will probably get passed by, but I hope the developer puts a little more into the title and we can see an improved game soon.

 

 

 

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Author: Anthony DeVirgilis View all posts by
Managing Partner / Editor for Sony/Nintendo I prefer Indies to AAA titles... unless it's Nintendo or Sony Google+ Author

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