Breakout, 1976 Atari (20 From The '70s Part 5)

Channel:

crazyclimber80

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Published on July 26, 2015 12:05:57 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWIJQRDoDH8

Game:

Breakout (1976)

Duration: 14:14

2,084 views

12

Super-influential take on Atari's own initial success PONG. Instead of bouncing the ball to another player, here you bounce it at a ceiling of colored blocks. Eliminate them all to make a new set of blocks appear.. I guess? Never got that far in this challenging ball and paddle game. By the way, this game is actually black & white, but has a color overlay to make the blocks and your paddle appear to be different colors. Rotate a dial controller to move your paddle left and right, trying to anticipate the ball's trajectory when it bounces off the walls and bricks on its way back to you. Letting it get past you 3 times results in game over! Striking the ball just as it passes you with the side of your paddle still counts as a hit, defying physics and sending it back up towards the bricks. The bricks are worth higher point values as you break through and reach higher blocks (yellow, 1; green, 3; orange, 5; red, 7) and as gameplay drags on or you reach higher blocks, the ball starts to speed up. Reaching the very top (striking the ceiling) cuts your paddle length in half! Crap-ola! If anyone knows for sure what happens when all the blocks are destroyed please let me know.. I'm guessing there's a short delay after they're broken before a new group materializes. BREAKOUT didn't get a glut of ripoffs and copycats until the 80s, including the runaway hit ARKANOID (which added power-ups to make the gameplay fresh and fun). But it sure was an important, innovative game nonetheless and is a worthy milestone in the puzzle game genre (at least, I'd classify it as a puzzle-type game). P. S.: if you use FRAPS to record your gameplay off the emulator DICE (or if another emulator comes along and does Breakout), use FRAPS' full screen option; the game will move MUCH slower and be TONS easier!

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