Arkanoid (game)

***Arkanoid*** is a 1986 block breaker arcade game made by Taito. In North America, it was published by Romstar. Controlling a paddle known as the Vaus, the player is tasked with clearing a formation of bricks by deflecting a ball towards it without letting the ball going down of the playfield. Some blocks contain various power-ups that have various effects, such as Extend, Disrupt, or Laser. Gold bricks cannot be destroyed and silver bricks takes multiple hits to destroy. Its plot involves the carrier Arkanoid being attacked by a mysterious entity from space named DOH (Domain Over Hour). A small paddle-shaped craft, the Vaus, is ejected from the Arkanoid.

The player controls the Vaus paddle, moving from side to side in order to hit a ball into an pattern of bricks and destroy them. After all bricks have been destroyed, the player advances to the next level and faces a new pattern. Colored bricks could be destroyed in one hit; the silver ones require multiple hits, and the gold ones cannot be destroyed at all. Some bricks release various power-ups when collected, such as Catch, Slow, or 1UP. Floating enemies/obstacles emerge onto the screen at times and can be hit for bonus points.

On the final stage (33 on most versions, but 36 on the NES), the player takes on the game's boss, "DOH". Once this point is reached, the player no longer continuing the game after lives are lost, making this segment more difficult. The game will immediately end regardless of the outcome.

If the player manages to defeat DOH, the game rewards them by showing the ending, in which time starts to flow reversely, and Vaus escapes from the distorted space just in time to return to thhe Arkanoid carrier, which has also reversed back to perfect condition. The game's text warns, however, that the journey has only started, and that the player hasn't seen the last of "DOH".

*Arkanoid* was followed by some various sequels. *Tournament Arkanoid*  was released in 1987 exclusively in the United State. It was developed by Taito America rather than Taito Japan, it has the same gameplay as the original *Arkanoid* game but adds and changes new levels, and the Arkanoid carrier is now colored red instead of blue. *Arkanoid II: Revenge of Doh*, is a sequel with new gameplay mechanics that were released in arcades in 1987, *Arkanoid: Doh It Again* (SNES) and *Arkanoid Returns* (Arcade and PlayStation consoles) were published in 1997, followed by *Arkanoid DS* in 2007.

*Arkanoid Live!* was published as on May 6, 2009, for Xbox Live Arcade. The WiiWare game *Arkanoid Plus!* was released in the same year in Japan on May 26, PAL regions on August 21, and in North America on September 28. A version of *Arkanoid* for iOS was released in 2009.

The mashup *Arkanoid vs. Space Invaders* was released in 2017 for iOS and Android.

A modernized version of the game, titled *Arkanoid: Eternal Battle*, was developed by Pastagames and published by Microids. It was released in October 2022 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The original 1986 arcade version is included in this game.

An SS772020 fanmade game *"Raid Invaders"* that uses some Arkanoid elements in the game such as the entire soundtrack, Vaus, etc.