Publisher: Beatshapers
Developer: Nurium Games
Genre: Puzzle
ESRB rating: Everyone
Release date: Available now

In these days when a high premium is placed on innovation, face-melting graphics and cinematic plots, it’s oddly comforting to spend a few hours with a good, old-fashioned gaming concept. Developer Nurium Games has provided us with just such a respite with BreakQuest: Extra Evolution, a shout-out to the long-gone days when all you needed in a game was a fire button and a joystick (and a stack of coins).

Remember Breakout? That vaguely Pongish game that had you bouncing a ball into a wall of rectangular blocks until the screen was cleared? This is basically what you get with BQEE, a remake of the original BreakQuest published for the PC in 2004, later ported to Mac and the PSP. BQEE features 100 colorful levels, each of which is completely different from the others. Your mission is the same as before: clear the screen of breakable objects. But this time there are a few little wrinkles. A shield gradually builds in strength at the bottom of the screen. Once activated with a press of the shoulder buttons, a replacement develops underneath it, which you can bring to the front should your original shield be destroyed (two hits from the ball are enough to wipe it out). Powerups drop from the top of the screen, some of which do more than just lengthen your paddle or divide the ball into three. Some change the shape of the ball, some add missiles and firearms to your paddle, and some do you more harm than good. And after every 10 screens there’s a boss battle, which offers new, sometimes frustrating challenges.

BQEE was originally a Playstation Mini, and it shows. No alterations have been made to the game to take advantage of the Vita’s advanced technology, so there’s no touchscreen or back touchpad integration. Controls are very simple: move the paddle with the analog sticks, launch the ball (and weapons) with the X button. Pressing Square or Circle alters the trajectory of the ball to help you get to those hard-to-reach targets, which is an excellent addition. Also, the ball never bounces in exactly the same direction off the paddle, avoiding the possibility of getting caught in a loop, as you could with the original Breakout. The levels don’t really increase in difficulty as you work your way through them. Instead, they increase in complexity, and sometimes they can be misleading; targets (and your paddle) can blend into the background, making it difficult to tell when the ball is going to bounce back at you, and at what angle. However, once you get into the habit of activating the shield and keeping it fully implemented, you can cruise through all 100 levels in a couple of hours.

BreakQuest: Extra Evolution is the kind of game that’s perfect for the handheld market. You can play it in short sessions when you only have a few minutes to spare, and it makes your commute or your visit to the laundromat feel shorter. Yet there’s a tremendous amount of creativity to be found here. It’s hard to take such a simple concept and make so many levels that are so individual in their look and character. It’s disappointing that no attempts were made to take advantage of the Vita’s abilities, and not being able to see targets or the paddle in certain levels led to a bit of frustration. But if you’re hankering for a bit of nostalgia with a modern wrapper, then this is the Mini for you.

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