Game Spotlight: AlphaBounce

When the Nintendo DSi was released, Nintendo was kind enough to offer 1000 DSi points for free… though at the time there wasn’t anything WORTH buying from the DSi store. Luckily for me, I chose to bide my time long enough to find at least one game worth spending those free points on.

People who are old enough to remember games from the early 90s all the way back to the 80s will know of these kinds of “brick breaking” games. For those who don’t know, the idea is to use a paddle and a ball to break bricks on the screen until there are none left. It’s a pretty simple concept which is why it was so popular back in the day, however AlphaBounce takes some inspiration from Puzzle Quest by adding an RPG element to the mix.

I wasn’t aware of this until I took some time to write up the Game Spotlight, but it turns out AlphaBounce is a pretty popular web based flash game before it became a DSi title. From the footage I’ve seen of the web version, it looks like it’s not nearly as fun as the DSi version which features crisp visuals and some very crazy gameplay.

I won’t bother to go into the story since it’s inconsequential for the most part, however it does serve to set up the interesting space based gameplay and the many power-ups along the way. You’re encouraged to explore the surrounding space and planets in order to gain more power-ups that allow you to conquer the varying types of bricks and enemies you encounter. The more you explore, the more powerful you will become and the farther you can travel.

The game boasts 25 million+ levels and 100 upgrades/power-ups… of course, if you don’t want to go after everything, you don’t have to. In any case, it’s a very well made game for those who want to waste a little time while travelling on public transport on the way to work or school or on long trips to wherever…. I do wonder if anyone has actually come close to clearing all of those 25 million+ levels… it’d suck to be compulsive completionist and play this game.