Arkanoid - Eternal Battle

For anyone who does not know, or probably wondered why that "mini-game in Life is Strange 2 got a full-sized game", a little gaming history lesson: Arkanoid is THE original power-up brick breaker. It started with Atari's Breakout, but the original Arkanoid took that foundation and made it better. That most brick breakers are "Arkanoid-likes" is not a coincidence, it is a fact. So, when the Arkanoid brand returns for another go, it should not be immediately ignored as "another brick breaker". Having said that, and being an expert on the series, it is hard to look on this game in its current state. There is a lag in general, not just on the controls, but also with the graphics. Trying this game on multiple PCs has not yielded any different results. Part of the problem is that a game this simple should not be drawing the amount of video RAM that it does, even in the lowest of resolutions and with the FX turned off. Even putting it into a window and resizing it to a teeny bit of the screen does nothing to reduce the demand the game places on the computer. On the other side of the coin is the inclusion of the original arcade Arkanoid with a remixed "Neo" mode, both of which are a lot of fun. There is no dispute that the original has a great level design, and those who have not played Arkanoid will appreciate the classic even more. Eternal Battle mode is also great on its own, even though it has a pretty steep last hurdle to overcome, but Neo mode is there to practice on. Versus is also a great way to bring a Switch-like party atmosphere to the PC (with four controllers, of course). In summary, do not pass this legendary series up or write it off. It still needs more work, but the core of a great game legacy is here. Is it worth $30? Not entirely, except to uber-fans. Give it time, but go play Return of DOH in LIS 2 or even Arkanoid DS if you have it. You will need the practice, and DOH is waiting...