Review: Silver Ball
Score:
79%
Version Reviewed: 1
Buy Link | Download / Information Link
Prologue:
Silverball, your typical Arcanoid game in spaceage jacket. The game combines the classical success and gameplay with modern demand of great graphics and sounds. Silverball uses the Magic 101 engine which focuses especially on those great sounds and graphics.
The game:
Like said before Silverball is your typical Arcanoid game, successfully ported to the 9210. The game also includes extra features extra to the classic gameplay. Those extra features come as different power-ups trough the game, from increasing the paddle length to firing those suckerz (bricks) down. Of course where there is good there is bad, and just to make it easier they've marked all the nice ones blue ;)
In the game:
The game runs in the Magic Game Station which functions as a launcher for games made with the Magic 101, at the moment only full games which are available are Cuteblocks and of course Silverball.
The launcher is free to download.
OK enough, now let's play :)
After starting up MGS (Magic Game Station) I navigate to Silverball and lift off.
The game first shows some cool fading authors brand logo before entering the game's slight futuristic mainscreen. Not many functions here except a start, register (if you haven't done it allready) and of course the exit option.
Since we want to play ... start ;) Silverbal displays now all the available level sets.
The Magic Game Station interface.
And off we go:
Chose a levelset that sounded cool and off I was. The game plays like you've played it all your life, the controls are easy, the symbols in the game for the power-ups explain themselves. At least the red or blue color will give you a fair hint of wether to run or chase. Like in every game running Magic 101 the audio level can be easily adjusted by pressing ctrl-8 and ctrl-9 or by just using the controls on the leftside screen ;) The graphics are a pleasure to the eye and gives the game that extra fun level.
Available level sets, only the first (demo sets) will be available in the demo version :) Rather obvious of course ;)
The power-ups:
The power-ups are a big part of the game, they keep a game like this from becoming boring. Like mentioned a couple times before we have red (bad) power-ups and blue (good) power-ups. There are 3 different kinds of power-ups those who affect the paddle, those who go for the ball and those who affect the bricks themselves. Your paddle can for instance grow until it embodies more than half of the field, it can get a force field which will hold the ball at every bounce until you release it with the spacebar and finally you can give them hell with your laser shooter :) Your ball can be sped up, slowed down and even cloned.
All power-ups (source:Noumena Productions)
Good items:
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Gun mount upgrade: If you receive this power-up, your paddle will be able to fire laser beams at the bricks. This is one of the most helpful items to clear a level and thus it doesn't come by often. |
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Sticky paddle: Makes your paddle sticky, balls no longer bounce when they hit the paddle but sticks to it.You need to press the SPACE-BAR to launch the ball manually. |
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Fireball: Bricks are destroyed by one hit from the fireball; the ball also will go through the bricks rather than reflect. This item is especially powerful for levels that contain a lot of multiple hits blocks. |
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Slow ball: Slows down the ball and making it easier to catch, but also will makes the game a lot less exciting. Pick this one up if you feel that the level is too difficult. |
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Bonus life: Also known as 'one-up', this item gives you one additional life (ball) in reserve. Always helpful (and don't you want one of these in real life). |
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Next level: Bypasses the current level. This one will help you complete the set faster, but with less score (since you skipped levels). Pick this one up if you just want to win and don't care about scoring. |
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Hardened Ball: SilverBall goes heavy metal. The ball now destroys all bricks with one hit. |
Neutral items:
Neutral items are neither good nor bad. They provide special abilities: depending on your current power-ups and level, they may either help or distract you. Think before you go for one of these.
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Extend paddle: Makes your paddle bigger. You are much more likely to catch the ball and the items you want, but your chances of being hit by a bad item will increase also. Choose carefully. (This item becomes a must-catch if your paddle has been shrunk). |
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Double Ball: Probably the most exciting item, it doubles the balls on screen, if you have one, you will end up with two, if you have two, you get four, etc! However most people tend to be trying to catch every ball on screen and ended up losing all, thus this item is made natural. |
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Shrink paddle: Makes your paddle smaller. Most times this item is harmful, but when you received too many extend paddle power-ups and your paddle became too big, you may want to obtain one or two of this. |
Bad Items
You'll never want these!
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Instant Death: By far the most destructive item, it will kill you! Avoid this one. |
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Block invader: Like in the classic arcade game Space Invaders, the blocks will start moving towards you, avoid this item since there is no way to reverse the effect. |
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Speed Ball: Speeds up the ball. The only time you want this item is probably when your ball has been turned too slow by receiving the slow ball item. |
Oh yeah bring out the guns!
*evil grin*
Who said size doesn't matter?
Mmmmz, Should I take the blue one or the red one?
Level sets:
On top of the demo you get 5 extra levelsets, every levelset containing its own highscore list, which is good if you don't want people to beat your highscore when playing a easier level ;) Here you'll also find the one negative aspect of the game; the highscore lacks a name field. It's nice to keep track of your score, just a damn shame you can't tell who actually did it.
The Pinball level set (Registred)
The Cosmic level set (Registred)
The Insects level set (Registred)
The demo:
The demo only consists of 2 levels but it's a very good demonstration of the game. If you are just trying to pass as many levels as possible, you'll run trough the demo very quickly but for those who rather like to attack the topscore, the demo already provides fun for a good amount of time. Of course nothing compares to the many extra levels that you get in the full game.
Technical:
The game requires Magic Game Station to run which requires:
- storage: approximate 800kb
- memory: 492kb
- storage: approximate 600kb
- memory: 632kb (total) so that means 632-492=140kb for the game itself
- Price:$20.00
- Based on the successful gameplay of the ultimate classic Arcanoid.
- 6 level sets which gives us about 27 levels of pure fun
- Great graphics and sound
- Lots of power-ups
Judgement:
This game is so much fun :)
Who says that a simple game can't entertain the new age gamer?
This game stands out from the other various clones by its graphics and sound.
The power-ups give the game that extra level of fun :)
To buy or not to buy? I can say without a doubt that this is the best arcanoid clone out there for the 9x10.
You won't be sorry if you buy it :)
Negative:
It's a pitty that we can't enter our name on the highscore board.
Reviewed by Dazler Dazler at