Wizorb

Steam has offered a lot of classic indies over the past couple of decades, giving way to some especially fantastic experiences by indie developers who otherwise would never have been given the same spotlight back in the early 2000s and before. Wizorb is one of many early indies in this regards, recreating one of Atari's most famed games from the ancient era of the 70s, this being the iconic 'Breakout' that released almost half a century ago on the 13th of May 1976 in the arcade scene as the concept of video games was beginning to become a household name in the growing entertainment industry. Naturally then we have to ask what this game brings to the table as far as improving on the original that it is based upon. I should note here that I have enjoyed my time with it overall, but I've also came to recognize certain faults of trying to work with a game concept that, at its core, is too rigid in its gaming mechanics and arcadey in its general premise to expand the concept much further. This much I aim to explore in this review here though before I cover the gameplay of Wizorb, the first thing that most people glancing at this indie for the first time will notice is the artstyle th…

The debut from Tribute Games, who technically released this the year before (2011) as an Xbox Live Indie Game, and would go on to make quite a few retro classics over the next 15 years, including the widely acclaimed TMNT: Shredder's Revenge. They started out strong as this is a low key gem of a game, combining the old school brick breaker with the 8-bit RPG. But really it's only RPG in setting and dialogue, the game is a level-based Arkanoid clone with a couple replenishable powers and a few you can buy in the shops and use until you lose a life. It's not complex but adds enough of a twist on the old formula to keep things interesting. Controls well enough with gamepad or keyboard but mouse is the way to go here, moving from one end of the arena to the other can be about as fast as you want it to be, and it's much easier to make fine movements for aiming. Lovely NES style pixel art and music although I wish there was more music, it gets repetitive fast. The last stage can be a little tricky but I found the game easy, completed in 3 hours and with 15+ lives left when it seems others had a far tougher time, which I attribute to mouse vs. gamepad or keyboard. Use a mouse.

Apparently I could have visited the town and rebuild it but i just played the game from start to finish. It's breakout with some enemies and boss fights. It's fun if you like breakout.

Frustratingly stupid level design from the 1980s designed to eat quarters is not something to aspire to today. Decent graphics and soundtrack, but ultimately not worth the money and that is saying something as it currently sits at 2.99 Euros. You get 3 lives and 3 continues to pass the first 8 stage "world". If you miss the ball 3 times in a row you have to burn a continue or restart the world from stage 1. This kind of level design belongs in the late 80s, early 90s. This game was released in 2012. There is no excuse.

Wizorb is a fun mix of Breakout and RPG mechanics with charming visuals. Unfortunately, it feels very outdated, and the gameplay becomes repetitive and boring over time. Despite its charm, I can't recommend it unless you're a huge fan of classic brick-breaker games.

Great brick breaker! Solid gameplay Cozy story Cool music Nice artstyle Not hard to 100% all achievements