Ultimate Brick Breaker

The problem with most Breakout clones – and there have been a fair few – is that they try to add various knobs and bobs to what for many is already a fairly heady, charged setup.

Such is the pace of play that attempting to keep the ball in motion as it darts around the board is enough for most people to contend with, let alone with the added hoipolloi of power-ups and bonuses.

Ultimate Brick Breaker, however, manages to wrap up all such treats in a nice little package that keeps you on the edge of your seat without tipping you off it in the process.

How does it manage such a feat, you might ask? In truth, it's simply a little bit slow.

Not slow as in dense, of course, but rather, Ultimate Brick Breaker delivers Breakout style play at a more manageable pace.

The theory is much the same, with the idea being to break down a series of bricks at the top of the screen using a small ball that darts around the map, bouncing off a paddle at the bottom that you control.

As such, your only input is to slide said paddle left and right, keeping the ball in play for as long as you can and picking up the power-ups that filter down whenever you smash open a golden brick.

Such gifts can do everything from widening the paddle itself to flooding the screen with balls. The standard set of power-ups is made more enjoyable for slow coaches simply because Ultimate Brick Breaker doesn't rush by at 100mph – it's entirely possible to pick up scores of power-ups and keep several balls in the game, all in one move.

Of course, by tempering play somewhat Ultimate Brick Breaker runs the risk of leaving more established Breakout players a touch uninterested.

Likewise, the fact the game comes with just one mode – the standard career setup taking you through five 'phases' populated by ten levels each, plus bonus stages – means that those looking for a fresh take on a well trodden path are likely to be disappointed.

As such, Ultimate Brick Breaker is less the all-encompassing Breakout clone its name hints at, but rather a tolerable take on a classic, playing as the perfect fit for newcomers.