Super DX-Ball
| Super DX-Ball | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Michael P. Welch |
| Publisher(s) | BlitWise Productions |
| Platform(s) | Windows, OS X |
| Release date(s) | November 10, 2004 |
| Genre(s) | Breakout clone |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Super DX-Ball is a one-player PC shareware game by BlitWise Productions, released on November 10, 2004. With similarity in style to games such as Breakout and Arkanoid, it's the latter of two direct sequels to the original DX-Ball, the first being DX-Ball 2 by Longbow Digital Arts. Among new features since the original, Super DX-Ball introduces refined graphics, irregularly shaped blocks, board pack selection, board selection, board shuffle, difficulty settings, and in-game music featuring original tunes by DNA Groove.
The shareware version comes with six different board packs: DX-Ball, Super Boards, Challenge (demo), Surprise (demo), Fun (demo), and Retro (demo), and features a total of 77 boards. The game also features a tribute to Megaball for the Amiga, including a hidden Megaball board pack, which contains the 20 boards from the original game. This easter egg can be discovered by clicking on the Mega Ball power-up icon on the title screen. Notably, the DX-Ball board pack also used to be an easter egg, prior to version 1.1, in which it could be obtained by clicking the grey Amiga Ball on the title screen, between the words "DX" and "BALL".
The full version of the game, referred to as Super DX-Ball Deluxe, features a total of 230 boards, expanding the demo board packs to their entirety of 30 boards for Challenge, Surprise, and Fun, and 75 boards for Retro. It also adds support for additional board expansion packs, of which there are two available, as of June, 2012:
- Bonus Pack: 15 new levels (Free)
- Treasure Pack: 10 new levels (Free)
Trivially, there is a secret message encoded (via binary code) into the final board of Treasure Pack, which reads "DX-Ball 1996 to 2006 and still the best ; )".[1]
References
- ↑ "Treasure Pack Hidden Surprise". Blitwise Forums. August 15, 2006. Retrieved June 22, 2012.