Action Ball Review

Written by: Keith Durocher Published: November 30, 2005 I'll never forget the first time I plunked a quarter into the slot of an Arkanoid console. I was 13-years-old, and I was dreadful at it. At the time, the circular controller one spun back and forth to move the paddle on the screen was so alien to me, I couldn't affordably master the nuances of the game. That didn't change my interest in the style, though, and to this day, I hold a special place in my heart for titles that capitalize on the single-player Pong format. With that in mind, how could I possible resist the allure of a shiny little game called Actionball? The short answer is, "I can't." This scrappy offering is unabashedly an Arkanoid clone (also referred to as Breakout clones). In a nutshell, you move a small paddle back and forth across the bottom of the screen, bouncing a ball at a collection of squares and rectangles. Each object struck reduces the number of bricks until none are left. Actionball sports a paddle that resembles a futuristic bi-plane. It bounces a metallic ball around an area sealed off by what appears to be an industrial art student's idea of a fence. The objects that need to be cleared away are a mixed bag of squares, rectangles, triangles and stars. Some need to be struck only once, others many times. Still others are indestructible short of special power ups. Thankfully, these obstacles frequently contain power-up goodies to assist you in your efforts. Items like a widened paddle, an explosive charge that imbues your ball with the capacity to remove several bricks at a time, a magnet that sticks the ball to your paddle so you can choose where to launch your attacks and a mini-gun that temporarily allows your paddle to directly shoot out all objects in your path! There are other surprises I'll leave up to you to discover. Of course, there's the other side of the coin, too, in the form of "power-downs". These range from an automatic repair of any half-damaged bricks to a blinking semi-invisibility that makes it difficult to reflect your sphere. Also, small robots stream out of the top of the screen, programmed to do little else than repair damaged bricks and bring out replacements. It's in your best interest to eliminate them as quickly as possible. Occasionally you'll need to deal with much larger versions of these mechanical pests. Giant robot boss craft that zig, drop bombs, zag, and hurl rockets at you with wanton abandon, these test your resolve 11 times throughout the 100 levels of Actionball. Let's move on to how well all these things come together. Graphics: Visually, Actionball is quite simplistic at first glance; however, if you look closer, you'll see the developers used some elegant tricks. For example, the color palette is based on warm primary shades accented by complimentary hues; reds, blues and yellows with purple, orange and pink highlights. The combined effect is inviting and pleasing to the retina. This is a fully 3D game, but thanks to the unsophisticated nature of the design format, each model has a very low polygon count. This means Actionball never lags or chops; it's as smooth as glass to play. Even in those rare instances when a more detailed object is on screen (such as a boss ship), events are liquid. Only once did I witness a single hiccough in performance, and that was as much fluke as anything else. Inadvertently, I spawned several hundred balls on screen at once, which for a brief second caught my video card unawares and the screen stuttered. I wish I'd had time to grab a screenshot of that; it looked fantastic! In all, I can't think of a single visual element that deserves rebuke. Actionball's graphics are detailed without being over-thought. Best of all, the developers pushed things far enough to be visually engaging without ceding a single inch to performance. Ease of use: A Breakout game like Actionball is about as easy to pick up and play as you can get. There are no arcane button combinations to learn, no detailed instructions to master or cryptic manuals to pour over. It's simple: you move your mouse back and forth to move your paddle, or you can use your left and right arrow keys on your keyboard. This is the essence of ease, in digital form. In all honesty, it would be quite impressive if developer Rionix and publisher Alawar had managed to get this wrong. They didn't, and so they get a perfect score! Gameplay: Actionball does little to defy the standards of this arcade classic format. However, the creative power-ups and handicaps that help or hinder your progress help set this game apart from the pack. Not since Reflexive Arcade's superb Ricochet have I seen such entertaining possibilities. The flame thrower is an inspired little addition, and the targeted magnet is the first of its kind. On the flip side, the blinking ball is a nightmare to cope with, as is the uncontrollable swaying of the Drunken Bat. Also, the endless robotic drones that stream out of the top of the display are a nice touch, helping to fill out the personality of Actionball. They also provide a steady source of free lives. Rionix knew better than to try to re-invent the wheel, trusting instead the addictive nature of the Breakout format. The polish they've given the gameplay, however, adds just enough to keep things interesting from start to finish. Difficulty: This is the one aspect of Actionball with which I take issue. The game is just too easy. You can choose from one of three levels of difficulty when you start a new game, but the only effect these have is how fast the ball moves. This does set a prerequisite for hand-eye coordination, but even on the hard setting, Actionball is hardly a handful. This is not to say an attempt wasn't made, however short of the mark it might be, to diversify the degree of challenge. Actionball has an option you can turn on that allows you to use the wheel on your mouse (if you have one) to tilt your paddle left or right. This gives you another element of ball control, which can be quite handy. Sadly, it can also backfire on you from time to time when it confuses the collision detection. Several times, I lost a life because the angle of my paddle let the ball through instead of banking it in the direction I intended. Sound effects: The sound effects are functional and comprehensive, if somewhat subdued. Explosions carry a decent degree of crunch, but pretty much everything else has a light and chirpy feel to it. This might seem like a shortcoming, but when you factor how often the audio effects are repeated, the minimalist approach was a wise choice. The wet popping sounds that play as bricks are eliminated are as pleasant as they are understated, an elegant balance that precludes the possibility of the effects growing tiresome over the course of the game. Music: The music falls under the auspice of "muzak", sadly. By that, I mean it's unassuming and forgettable. There is only one song on repeat, and it sounds pleasant enough when you pay attention to it, but like the flavor of an unsalted cracker, it fails to capture one's attention for any length of time. Thankfully, you can turn it off and run your favorite media player in the background, if the mood strikes you. Final analysis: Actionball stuffs a ton of fun into a familiar package, serving up equal measures of creative amusement and ease-of-play. Anyone who hasn't tried out this particular type of game would do well to begin here, whetting the appetite for more challenging titles down the road. Long-time fans of the genre (like me) will find plenty to occupy their time as well, just don't expect to take very long to wrap all 100 levels.