In the world of breakout style games I haven’t really found one that’s completely won me over yet. Some have been interesting, like Ball Rush Aqua from HeroCraft and Bricks Of Camelot from Donut Games, but in the end it seems like a breakout game is still just a breakout game. Then along came Radial 50 and I was hoping things might be different. Alas, while the concept of breakout in 360 degrees is one of the cooler modifications I’ve seen, in the end it still boils down to just another breakout game. Plus, controlling the paddle can be a bit frustrating sometimes. Maybe I’m just not meant to like this genre.
If you’ve never played a breakout style game, the basic idea is that you have an area full of bricks that you are trying to destroy. Normally this would be a rectangular section at the top of the screen, but in Radial 50 your target area is a circle in the center of the screen. Your weapon is normally a paddle at the bottom of the screen that you use to bounce a ball up into the bricks, but in this case it’s a curved surface that travels the circumference of a bigger circle surrounding the main playing area. You still have to hit a ball into the bricks in the center to make them go away, but in addition you have an ultimate target, which is a diamond at the center of the inner circle. You also have a larger “area of destruction”, as you get hurt if the ball hits anywhere on the outer circle. Thankfully you have a life meter that initially gives you five hits before the game is over, and the health meter will slowly replenish over time.
Follow The Yellow Brick Road
If a brick turns white it will give you a power up or power down when you hit it. There doesn’t seem to be as great a variety of power ups as most other breakout clones that I’ve played. Some that I’ve encountered so far include making the paddle bigger or smaller, speeding up the ball, and giving the ball the ability to plow through bricks instead of just bouncing off of them. As long as you’re quick enough to get to the other side, this last power up is my favorite. To control the paddle you simply slide your finger up and down the right side of the screen. For the most part this works, but if you get really caught up in the game and aren’t watching your finger, it’s easy to start sliding around the screen to where you’re out of the acceptable range of motion, at which point odd things can start happening. I personally find the control scheme a bit awkward. I think I’d prefer a scheme where I hit two buttons, one to rotate clockwise and the other counterclockwise.
Radial 50 looks pretty cool. There are odd little machines in the background, and the space surrounding the machine changes according to the theme envisioned by the title of the level. The playing field itself is kind of simple but still looks decent enough, and as you break bricks little sparkle stars coming flying towards the outer circle. The sound effects are pretty standard for this type of game, but the music sounds good. There seems to be several different tracks that are toggled through as the game progresses, and they are all pretty easy to listen to.
Overall Radial 50 is not a bad game, but taking the breakout genre into a 360 degree arena apparently wasn’t enough of an evolution to catch my interest. I’m also a bit disappointed that there isn’t a greater variety of power ups. However, I would suggest checking this game out if you’re a fan of the genre, because 360 degrees of playing field certainly adds a new element to the strategy of the game. The game looks and sounds good, so it has that going for it as well. Maybe some new feature or gimmick will finally suck me into the genre, but I’m not quite there yet.
Final Verdict: On The Fence
App Store Link
App Shopper Link
[...] Radial 50 [...]