bricks4ever

Overview

Released on February 17, 2009, bricks4ever is an arcade style block breaking game developed by Running Pixel for the Xbox Live Marketplace. An Xbox Live Indie Game, bricks4ever is available for 80 Microsoft Points, or $1.00. bricks4ever is similar to Breakout and Arkanoid, although it does have a variety of new modes and features to differentiate it from these games. Well-received by fans, bricks4ever was praised for its simplicity, graphical style, and musical style.

The game's plot revolves around the creation of "Neons" during the Big Bang. The game puts the player in the role of Lumen Prox, who is the first explorer to visit the Neon star. This is the premise to bricks4ever, although it is never expanded beyond that.

Gameplay

A traditional block breaking game, bricks4ever differentiates from other games of the genre by including several modes and styles. There are four available play modes, two of which allow two players to play cooperatively. Additionally, the options allow for graphical tweaking, which is especially notable for its "psychedelic" options. This option allows players to changes the soft glow of the graphical style.

The first mode, Classic Mode, is available in both single and cooperative play. Essentially a career mode, Classic Mode gives players 10 stages of five levels each. As the player progresses through the progressively difficult Classic Mode, more and more levels will be unlocked. Classic Mode also gives players a Fast Play option, where players will get launched straight into the game.

Zen Mode is a mode unique to bricks4ever. Available as both a single player and cooperative mode, Zen Mode is a timed mode granting players unlimited lives, fewer power-ups, and eventually disappearing blocks. The point of this mode is to destroy all of the blocks as quickly as possible, although the Zen Mode was designed with relaxation in mind, not intending to stress the player.

The game also includes the titular 4ever mode, which is essentially an endless survival mode. In 4ever mode, the player is given an everlasting amount of randomly generated blocks. Although lives are limited, the time limit is nonexistent.

The last of the four modes is Bipolar Mode. In this mode, players are given control of two paddles and two balls, requiring them to balance between these in a dual-stick mode. According to developer Running Pixel, this mode was intended to be the most difficult mode in the game, and only for experienced players.