My interest in the Arkanoid
series piqued after reading a Retro Gamer article chronicling the series. I’d
never played a game in the series, although like most everyone else, had played
a game like it. So, when the Oklahoma Video Game Exhibition came around and I
found what I believed to be a reasonably-priced complete copy of Arkanoid: Doh It Again, I snagged it.
Since then, I’ve played the game a great deal, enough to beat it, even. There
were interesting touches to differentiate it from other similar games, although
I eventually grew bored of it. The bulk of my time was enjoyable, but the times
that weren’t, were tortuous.
The game consisted of 99 rounds with each one featuring a
unique arrangement of blocks. Most were easy, usually requiring no more than a
handful of attempts. However, there were a few, particularly rounds 95 and 99
that took me upwards of fifty attempts; seriously, like fifty attempts. These
were awful and truly tested my determination to see the end. Generally…