Game

Arkanoid

1986 · Arcade · Arcade

80IGDB player score
112 ratings

Previously Take

A respectable 80 average that never found its audience. An arcade game with science fiction running through it — straightforward about what it is, good at being it. Just you and the game. No lobbies, no teammates, no excuses. A 1986 original that still holds up — they don't make them like this anymore, literally.

About this game

Arkanoid is an arcade game developed by Taito in 1986. It expanded upon Atari's Breakout games of the 1970s by adding power-ups, different types of bricks, and a variety of level layouts. The title refers to a doomed "mothership" from which the player's ship, the Vaus, escapes.

The player controls the "Vaus", a space vessel that acts as the game's "paddle" which prevents a ball from falling from the playing field, attempting to bounce it against a number of bricks. The ball striking a brick causes the brick to disappear. When all the bricks are gone, the player goes to the next level, where another pattern of bricks appears. There are a number of variations (bricks that have to be hit multiple times, flying enemy ships, etc.) and power-up capsules to enhance the Vaus (expand the Vaus, multiply the number of balls, equip a laser cannon, break directly to the next level, etc.), but the gameplay remains the same. At round 33, the final stage, the player will take on the game's boss, "DOH", a head resembling moai. Once a player reaches round 33, he must defeat DOH with his remaining extra lives because there are no continues on the final round.