BipBop II

The Good
BipBop II, another simple paddle/Breakout game. This one had a twist, each block had a Roman numeral on it, you had to hit that block that many times before it dissapeared. Each level added more blocks with a higher number on it, i.e. level 5 had blocks with numbers up to 5 on. Each level was not packed full of blocks like normal Breakout clones but had only a limited number so the arena was quite sparse. This feature made it more fun to me than the average Breakout clone which plunged you in with a level with millions of blocks you had to hit at once, where you simply bounced the ball to stop yourself from dying as you were bound to hit a block unless you were down to the end of the level. This game, with less blocks to hit, was more about good aim, especially as there were walls placed in odd positions and especially annoying, the walls which switched open and close. Another feature was that you could fire huge missiles which didn’t destroy the blocks but rebounded the ball, so you could keep a ball up in the air using missiles only instead of your paddle if you did so choose. Remarkably for such a simple arcade-style game, it had a sense of humour. The strange pictures which appeared every now and then and that odd clock delivering weird messages between levels.

The Bad
The worse part of this game was the backgrounds, excellently created but they were so harmful to the eye. Moving bright, flashy images. It was sure to induce epilepsy. You had to play this game with the contrast and brightness of your monitor way down if you wanted to keep your sanity.

The Bottom Line
An excellent paddle game which is recommend to anyone who still has interest in this ancient genre.