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Krypton Egg: The Ultimate BreakoutPosted in Arcade on 05 Feb 2009 |
 Reviewed by Steve Litchfield |
   (12 votes, average: 3.92 out of 5)  Loading ... |
Editor’s rating: 
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In the parlance of the age, “OMG”. Forget most of what you learned about ‘Breakout’ when video gaming in your younger years. This is Breakout with knobs on. And bells. And whistles. And laser sights. From simple block and ball gameplay to firing lasers at end of level bosses, Krypton Egg transcends the genre and will provide you with the toughest iPhone gaming challenge you’ve ever had. And in the process, will give you RSI in your index finger…
At some point in Breakout’s evolution, someone had the bright idea to release power-ups when you hit certain bricks. For example, a falling power-up that extended your bat size. Or which gave you an extra life. As time went on, extras appeared on various platforms and under various titles: unstoppable balls, extra balls (of course), power-ups that turn your bat into a space invader laser shooter. And so on. And at some point in the late 1980s, Krypton Egg appeared, with every power-up under the sun, with 60 levels, and with action that veers on the unplayable frenetic every now and then.
And this is the port onto the iPhone and iPod Touch platform. The graphics and sounds have been kept authentically circa 1990, which is either good or bad depending on whether you’re old enough to have seen the game the first time around. Game speed is much as it was, i.e. quick. Bat control is now either via ‘Tilt’, using the iPhone’s accelerometer, or via ‘Touch’, in which mode you drag the bat from side to side using your finger. Tilt mode is novel, but nowhere near quick enough for use once you’re past level one, so best stick to ‘Touch’, in which the main hazard is finger pain from the constant pressure and general stress!
The bottom of screen dimmed panel causes confusion at first, but then you realise that this solves the ‘can’t see the bat because my finger’s covering it’ issue – you simply slide from side to side in the dimmed area to control the bat above, a system which works very well. As with all good versions of Breakout, a ball impact at the corner of the bat changes the angle of ‘reflection’, meaning that you can vary the flight of a ball to finally hit the last block remaining, a common problem in this type of game.
The extras just keep on coming in Krypton Egg, too. ‘Enemy’ sharks(?) enter the playing area and disrupt the course of any balls you have in play, but you can ram most (but not all) of them with your bat, to get them out the way. Giant balls are a particular highlight, as are the shooting sections of the game. After dying, you can choose to restart from the last level you cleared, but you only get 5 lives in this case, making you rather more vulnerable. All things being considered, the sixty levels will take you getting on for as many hours of play before you finally win out, making this game excellent value for money.
It’s very hard to fault Krypton Egg – it’s immensely playable, needs little by way of manual or help screens, and is very customisable (sound levels, orientation – ), but I have to take issue with the game’s startup speed. A thirty second delay is painful – and, because of the iPhone’s lack of third party app multitasking, you have to sit through the delay every time you switch to a different application and then come back. AND you have to restart the current level, even if you’d nearly finished it.
Still, even these gripes can’t stop be awarding the full five stars to a slick and enjoyable arcade game.
