DX-Ball
| DX-Ball | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Michael P. Welch |
| Designer(s) | Michael P. Welch |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release date(s) | 1996 |
| Genre(s) | Breakout clone |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
DX-Ball is a freeware computer game for the PC first released in 1996 by Michael P. Welch. The game, an updated version of an earlier series of Amiga games known as Megaball, is patterned after classic ball-and-paddle arcade games such as Breakout and Arkanoid. It became a massive cult classic in the Windows freeware gaming community during the late 1990s. A level editor was made available as well.
Gameplay
The game is basically a Breakout clone: you bounce a ball off a paddle at the bottom hitting different colored blocks on the top of the screen. Hitting all the blocks results in completing the level and going to the next. There are 50 levels to complete. Unlike Breakout, however, is the inclusion of powerups other than extra balls. When you hit a brick, there is a chance that a powerup will float downwards towards the paddle, and can be picked up by touching it with the paddle. Certain powerups have positive effects, while others have negative, making it important to try to collect the beneficial powerups while avoiding the detrimental powerups. There are 18 power-ups, four of them being either good or bad. For example, if you were to get the fast ball power-up. the ball will simply gain speed. The ball also gradually speeds up as the game continues. Some good power-ups include the Zap Brick which reveals the hidden bricks and also makes the unbreakable bricks breakable, the grab paddle, which is able to catch the ball and aim it at any brick that you want to hit, and also the Extra Life, whose powers give you an extra life at the cost of most of your power-ups, and Level Warp, which lets you advance to the next level.
If only a single breakable brick remains on a level and it continues to be untouched by the bouncing ball for a minute or so, an electricity sound begins to build and the brick is eventually "zapped" away by a sudden bolt of lightning.
In certain levels, the layout of unbreakable bricks may allow the ball to become "stuck" in a bouncing pattern between the unbreakable bricks without touching the paddle. If this occurs, all unbreakable bricks will eventually become breakable after a minute or so of the ball being stuck in a bouncing pattern.
Sequels
DX-Ball has been followed up by two direct sequels: DX-Ball 2 by Longbow Digital Arts in 1998, and Super DX-Ball by Michael P. Welch himself in 2004. While DX-Ball 2 was later succeeded by Rival Ball in 2001, the latter merely relates as a spiritual successor to the original DX-Ball, being developed on the branch of Longbow Digital Arts. Unlike DX-Ball, these games are not freeware.
External links
- Homepage of DX-Ball - The game and level editor can be legally downloaded here.
- DX-Ball Online - web version.
- DX-Ball at MobyGames