Break 'em All (DS) Review

A clone is a clone is a clone. Granted, a clone of an original game can be fun, but, really, you still can't shake the fact that a clone is a clone. Take Arkanoid for instance. Taito's long-running paddle-ball game is, in fact, a futuristic take on Atari's own Super Breakout, where you had to knock blocks out using a paddle and power-ups. It was a nice twist on the clone, mind you, but you still couldn't shake the fact that this has been done before, and originality is not one of its fortes, if you will.

Now we have Break 'Em All, a Nintendo DS release that is, in fact, a clone of Arkanoid- a clone of a clone of a clone. But, like Taito's arcade masterpiece, it too is fun in its own little way, although only a few of the gamers out there will see any point to playing it. Oh, well, perhaps simple fun is always the best kind, and Break 'Em All us at least courteous enough to be fun at all, unlike some other budget-related DS releases on the system right now.

You control a paddle with the help of the Nintendo DS touch-screen, moving back and forth with your stylus and you continue to keep a ball in play as it knocks out a series of blocks that stand between you and the next level. To keep things interesting, the developers have added a series of power-ups that help you move along, ala Arkanoid, so that you can take advantage of them, such as one that splits your ball into three, or a "laser" ball that manages to cut through everything in its path. There's nothing original about these power-ups, but they do come in rather handy.

The game has a typical presentation to it that looks like it could've easily been done on the Game Boy Advance. The graphics fail to push the hardware, instead opting for a simple 16-bit look with the kind of backgrounds that could've been done on a Turbo Grafx or a Genesis. They still hold up, and the backgrounds don't deter you from the on-screen antics of your paddle and ball, so that's good news. The music is something out of the old-school Genesis library, almost to the point that it sounds like it was taken from a shoot-em-up like Gaiares or any other given WolfTeam effort. It's not too shabby at all, and makes up for the miniscule sound effects.

The game does have solid gameplay, although some may find it tiring moving a paddle back and forth with a stylus. There are manual controls, but they too might grow a bit mundane if this isn't your style of game. Fortunately, there are some modes available that will keep you busy, including a Quest mode (where you can unlock new levels), the regular Tokoton (aka Arcade) mode, and a Survival mode, where you can pit yourself against a friend ala Warlords and see who's king of the paddles. I would've preferred a full-on rip-off of Warlords to invest my time with along with three friends, but this certainly beats having nothing but yourself to play with.

The game does have budget issues, such as poorly translated text and that lack of flair that would've pushed this into every single DS library out there, but it does have one big advantage going for it- a $20 price tag. Some may see this as a quickie release as a result, but don't be fooled. Where Dino Master failed in this category, Break 'Em All surprisingly succeeds, even with its simplistic presentation and gameplay. It's great for small bursts of play, and Survival is more fun than you might expect. It may not have the longevity of other DS titles, but for quick, easy arcade fun, this is one clone you may want to invest in.