Cocoto Alien Brick Breaker (Nintendo 3DS) Review

Games like Breakout, Arkanoid, and even Kirby's Block Ball, are all great time wasters, drawing players in with the simple Pong-like paddle and ball setup, and not letting go until every brick/block has been smashed from the various areas. Cocoto Alien Brick Breaker takes that idea of bouncing a ball upwards, rapidly trying to manoeuvre the platform at the lower part of the screen into the correct position to catch the spherical object perfectly as it tumbles back down at different trajectories each time, and adds a slight twist.

Cocoto, a little devilish character, must travel across five planets - each with nine regular stages (containing special challenges), two bonus levels, and several encounters with the nefarious Xillian Emperor - in order to prevent an alien invasion that threatens to destroy the universe. To do this, Cocoto has a special shield that can deflect Xillian fire back at them in the form of small blue balls, abolishing their wicked ways once and for all by knocking them back from whence they came. The shield can be upgraded to adapt to new situations and aid in the fight for good; widening, becoming magnetised to weapon fire, allowing for constant shots, gluing balls to it so they can be fired off at will rather than merely bouncing away, and nine other inventive ways that keep the gameplay fresh throughout.

In a way, Cocoto Alien Brick Breaker almost feels like Space Invaders thanks to how the enemies come down from above in waves, sometimes floating around the screen instead of the normal Breakout row-after-row of static bricks to clear. Enemies come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, from regulars that require just one hit to those hiding behind cloaking shields that must be hit several times, and even some that need to be struck from above, leading to clever use of angles being necessary when returning fire, as well as good use of the jump feature to dodge holes in a planet's surface, return shots quicker, and dodge hazards on the later planets. Whereas lives are normally lost if a ball is missed in this sort of title, here the balls of fire slowly break the ground beneath Cocoto's feet, and the whole world is destroyed if the same spot is struck repeatedly. Powerful crystals are collected along the way that help place a protective force-field around a planet once all levels have been finished, with Cocoto moving onto the next planet once one has been saved.

When a separate section of a planet is cleared, Cocoto can run either left or right to the next round, collecting items and piecing together keys with locks for intriguing extras along the way, all against the clock so as to avoid the temptation to dilly-dally too much and break the flow of the action. It can take several hours to work through the Story's five worlds, and proves to be great fun, helped by the cute visuals and animated cut-scenes, surprisingly good use of depth when the 3D slider is on full, and the delightful other-worldly music. With an Arcade (endless) mode and Classic play (a bit more true to the Breakout source material, with lives lost rather than the planet's surface cracking and no jumping allowed) to be unlocked further into the game, for a mere $4.99 it is very hard to resist Cocoto Alien Brick Breaker. The only aspects that could have made it even more enticing would have been a two-player battle and perhaps online rankings for those eager to chase high scores. However, for the price, who can really complain?