Wall Ball

#50030 (5003002)
North America NTSC, Uses the Joystick, Rarity 7 Very Rare, 1 player only.
Released simultaneously with Death Trap and London Blitz.
Was called "WallBall" in several official materials from Avalon Hill. "Sports Illustrated" appears on all the packaging. It is based on Avalon Hill's Breakthru by Britt Monk (originally called 3D-Brickaway). This game has several interesting technical quirks designed into it. The player may use either joystick to play but only the one that starts the game can control it. The COLOR/BW switch pauses the game when switched to BW.

Basically this is a type of 3D breakout with the paddle at the screen end of an open box. As usual, the ball bounces differently based on how close to center it strikes, and it reflects perfectly if it hits the center. But it does have a few unique moves. By executing a 'smash', the ball can be aimed exact straight head from the paddle no matter where on the paddle it strikes. Also, not just the paddle can change or preserve the angle of travel, but the bricks themselves send the ball away at different angles based on hos close to center the ball strikes a brick. Finally, there is a mode with mobile bricks. There are a total of 72 bricks in a single layer. There are eight levels to proceed through with each speeding up, adding bricks, lower maximum number of lives, higher score per brick, and the paddle shrinks. Destroying 15 bricks advances the player to the next level. Because its 3D, a well aimed hit can destroy 4 bricks at once (strikes the 4 touching corners of the bricks). The manual implies the game is easy because its only a matter of mastering "907 simple, geometric rules".

Controls:
← ↖ ↑ ↗ → ↘ ↓ ↙, moves the paddle perpendicular to the screen
BUTTON, Serves the ball to begin a game, also executes a 'smash' during play.

(Zerothis) - # 2009-08-30 21:16:36

display: raster

version of
3D-Brickaway (Tandy Coco)
Breakthru in 3D (C64)