Breakout: Recharged

Genre: Arcade Brick Breaker

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local), Online Leaderboards

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in the physical-only Atari Recharged Collection 1 bundle, along with Asteroids: Recharged. It is also included in the physical-only Atari Recharged Collection 1 + 2 Dual Pack Edition bundle, along with Asteroids: Recharged, Centipede: Recharged, and Black Widow: Recharged. It is also included in Atari Recharged: Volume One, along with all of the above named games plus Quantum: Recharged.)

Breakout: Recharged is a family-friendly Arcade-style Brick Breaker released in 2022 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. As with other games in developer Adamvision Studios’ “Recharged” line of games, Breakout Recharged is a re-imagining of an Atari classic, in this case taking one of the first Arcade Brick Breakers ever made and updating its gameplay and presentation..

While most other games in the series retained the core style of the original while updating it to a modern era, there wasn’t a lot of style to Breakout in the first place, so this game just goes with simple 3D visuals that vaguely resemble the original, backed by an energetic but forgettable synthesized soundtrack. It’s not in any way memorable, but it works well enough for the game, I suppose.

The gameplay here is at its core pretty faithful to the original game, but this version smoothly transitions from one level to the next, and players can also get temporary power-ups from some blocks, such as various guns and improved ability to catch the ball. As fans of the genre may notice, this sorta’ brings this game more in line with the Arkanoid series than Breakout, but in any case these mechanics work well enough.

However, another new element here really keeps this game from being a simple but fun romp in this genre, and that is the regular occurrence of blocks that drop bombs that will kill you if they touch your paddle. This can be particularly frustrating when a bomb is dropped at a time when you need to catch a ball right at the same location, making it virtually impossible not to lose a life.

Due to the frustrations caused by how the game forces you into no-win scenarios, it’s hard for me to recommend Breakout: Recharged, especially when there are multiple better games in the genre on Nintendo Switch. While this game certainly has moments that are fun, this fun is far too frequently shattered by frustration.

tl;dr – Breakout: Recharged is an Arcade Brick Breaker inspired by the Atari classic. This version improves the presentation, makes progression more fluid, and adds temporary power-ups, but otherwise leaves the original formula mostly intact. Unfortunately, one of the new elements here can lead to occasional no-win scenarios, a needless frustration that makes it hard to recommend this game. Get another Brick Breaker instead.

Grade: C-

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