Nervous Brickdown
Developer: Arkedo Studio
Publisher: Eidos Interactive
Platform: Nintendo DS
Release Date: June 26, 2007
Posted: September 6, 2008
Break Out is a classic title that consists of little more than a ball and a paddle with which the player hits the ball with. Traditionally, the paddle is at the bottom of the screen and the ball bounces off the paddle to hit blocks in a certain formation at the top of the screen. If the ball passes by the paddle, the game would be over. However, Nervous Brickdown is everything that is not traditional about Break Out, and that only makes it worse.
In the Ghost area, the player must “pop” blocks on the lower screen, “blow” on transparent blocks to make them appear, and keep an eye on the ball. Too much is going on here.
I had requested the game from Gamefly and thought I would check out GameFAQs, just to see if there was anything special to unlock or any secret goodies. Pulling up the entry on GameFAQs it appeared to be quite sparse. Actually, so sparse there is not a single topic on the forum, not even one to say “First!” Could the game be that bad? After all it is a Break Out clone, I would think that guarantees some sort of excitement. Following my last encounter with a game that had less than no content on GameFAQs I should have noticed the giant red flag planted in front of my face.
Fast forward, the game arrived and it was time to take it for a spin. Upon loading rented Nintendo DS games I usually clear the previous data before playing, I forgot briefly and chose to begin with Arcade Mode. Whoever had the title before me, had only managed to get to level 4; “Seriously?” I thought to myself, “Wonder why that could be.” Returning to the main menu screen I cleared the saved data and began my own adventure.
The levels of Nervous Brickdown are divided up into 10 areas, each of which consists of its own take on Break Out: Pow, Paper, Ghost, Water, Speed, Switch, Shoot, Curve, Retro, and a final “Boss” area. At the start, only the first two, Pow and Paper, are available for play while the others are locked. Within each area there are 10 puzzles, the last is considered a “boss” level which if defeated will unlock more areas.
In Water, the lowest portion of the bottom screen was filled with water, and the paddle resembled a submarine. When the ball passes through the water it slows down, as it should, and as time progresses the rest of the screens slowly become filled with water. On the top screen there were platforms on which multiple stickmen were standing, and as the ball would hit the platforms they tilted causing the people to fall. Each person had to be bounced twice with the submarine to save them. If 3 or more people were killed or the ball bounced beyond the submarine the level was over. Sometimes it would seem as if there was too much to pay attention to, but in general it was the most bearable of the 10 areas.
This game encourages failure with its awarded specials for breaking a certain number of blocks. Each area has a different limit to reach, varying from 60 to 500, and once the limit is reached a bonus will be applied to that area. There is no way to attain the block limits without failing and replaying several levels over. The first bonus tier is an extra life, the second is the ability to “blow” on the DS to change the ball’s path, and the third is an extra save point. Where is that save point? Good question.
As you can see, level 5 has a curvy set of bumpers through which the player must aim the ball. This is not an easy level like those that should be at the start of a game.
And now I come to just exactly why the previous player of my rented cartridge only made it to level 4. Dying repeatedly would not be such a big deal if you could restart on the level that you died at, but with this game there is a checkpoint only every three completed levels. It turns out that level 5 in Pow is a notoriously designed level created only to make players hate the game. Why it was placed so early in the game, I will not understand, but it is there and it deters players from continuing.
I greatly encourage, and generally require, Nintendo DS games to utilize the stylus and I recognize this game for attempting to do so. Considering that the only control necessary to play a Break Out game is moving a paddle, one would think that mechanic would be simple and perfect for the DS. However, Nervous Brickdown still managed to fail absolutely miserably in that department. No matter what area you are playing in, the paddle moves more slowly than your stylus does, and this lag will get you killed time and time again.
This title does nothing to support all that makes Break Out a classic game, and exists only to frustrate gamers and insult the puzzle game genre.
TLDR: Jardinains! is light years ahead of this title, and it has been out for years as a downloadable game. I recommend supporting Jardinains! instead.
