Nervous Brickdown almost completely flew under my radar. Nothing about the title really stood out at first blush; it would have been easy to mentally file it with the increasing number of cheaply-made DS titles flooding the shelves at any given retail establishment. It was, after all, just another Breakout-style game, evoking memories of Break 'Em All—or so it appeared. It wasn't previewed that I'd seen, and I certainly wasn't aware of its existence until it actually shipped; it was about as low as low-profile releases get.
After seeing the screen shots Eidos released for the game when it shipped, though, I decided I'd give it a spin. Viewing them I could see that the game absolutely oozed style. This was enough of a draw to get one interested in the first place—hence my purchase—but what really makes the game a lock is how it follows through.
Each of the different styles you see in Brickdown is a fully realized world of brick-and-bat gameplay. The common thread of hitting a ball with a paddle to keep it up the air runs through all nine worlds, but each has its own wildly creative spin. The worlds range from the simple starter world that's a bit like Arkanoid with a few things like curved bumpers thrown in to a set of auto-scrolling levels where you've got to keep plugging upwards, breaking bricks to clear your path; an art-based world where you draw your own paddle and keep paint stains from spreading; a highly unique and challenging cross between Breakout gameplay and a shmup; and finally a particularly challenging final world where you'll juggle several classic 70's Breakout games on the touch screen and commanding a character to jump to avoid death in a platformer on the top. (This particular world did something to me that few good games have—it made me nearly break down and cry, and still come back for more.)
The variety between the worlds is very nearly insane, and yet a common thread ties them together: through each you'll be doing the same basic thing—hitting a ball with a paddle through nine levels and a boss fight—in order to conquer the different challenges and be proclaimed victor. The structure makes Brickdown feel less like an arcade title and much more at home among modern adventure titles, especially as you're "powered up" uniquely to take on each of the worlds' challenges.
Regrettably, though this structure works so well when you're challenging the game for the first time, it's also responsible for the game's one key flaw: low replay value. Conquering all nine worlds and the final boss will get you 45 new extra-challenging levels. Each level also has a medal challenge specific to the world in question, such as getting a 15-brick combo without touching the ball with the paddle, or breaking all of a certain kind of optional brick before clearing the level. These give you at least a little more time with the game, but once you've played the extras and scored the medals, the game will challenge you no further. You're offered a mode that serves up a random selection of levels you've already played, but it's a rather weak offering. I would have liked to see a high score mode, time attack, or something—anything—to give me impetus to get back into playing the game and honing my skills.
The sheer novelty and creativity of each new world and the solid challenges presented in Nervous Brickdown made for an intensely fun experience; its single flaw was that I couldn't make it go on longer than it did. It makes me grateful to think that while I might have passed over the game entirely, I didn't; those stylish screenshots drew me in. Brickdown is definitely the kind of game that deserves more attention than it has received.
After seeing the screen shots Eidos released for the game when it shipped, though, I decided I'd give it a spin. Viewing them I could see that the game absolutely oozed style. This was enough of a draw to get one interested in the first place—hence my purchase—but what really makes the game a lock is how it follows through.
Each of the different styles you see in Brickdown is a fully realized world of brick-and-bat gameplay. The common thread of hitting a ball with a paddle to keep it up the air runs through all nine worlds, but each has its own wildly creative spin. The worlds range from the simple starter world that's a bit like Arkanoid with a few things like curved bumpers thrown in to a set of auto-scrolling levels where you've got to keep plugging upwards, breaking bricks to clear your path; an art-based world where you draw your own paddle and keep paint stains from spreading; a highly unique and challenging cross between Breakout gameplay and a shmup; and finally a particularly challenging final world where you'll juggle several classic 70's Breakout games on the touch screen and commanding a character to jump to avoid death in a platformer on the top. (This particular world did something to me that few good games have—it made me nearly break down and cry, and still come back for more.)
The variety between the worlds is very nearly insane, and yet a common thread ties them together: through each you'll be doing the same basic thing—hitting a ball with a paddle through nine levels and a boss fight—in order to conquer the different challenges and be proclaimed victor. The structure makes Brickdown feel less like an arcade title and much more at home among modern adventure titles, especially as you're "powered up" uniquely to take on each of the worlds' challenges.
Regrettably, though this structure works so well when you're challenging the game for the first time, it's also responsible for the game's one key flaw: low replay value. Conquering all nine worlds and the final boss will get you 45 new extra-challenging levels. Each level also has a medal challenge specific to the world in question, such as getting a 15-brick combo without touching the ball with the paddle, or breaking all of a certain kind of optional brick before clearing the level. These give you at least a little more time with the game, but once you've played the extras and scored the medals, the game will challenge you no further. You're offered a mode that serves up a random selection of levels you've already played, but it's a rather weak offering. I would have liked to see a high score mode, time attack, or something—anything—to give me impetus to get back into playing the game and honing my skills.
The sheer novelty and creativity of each new world and the solid challenges presented in Nervous Brickdown made for an intensely fun experience; its single flaw was that I couldn't make it go on longer than it did. It makes me grateful to think that while I might have passed over the game entirely, I didn't; those stylish screenshots drew me in. Brickdown is definitely the kind of game that deserves more attention than it has received.