Block Breaker Deluxe

Block Breaker Deluxe follows the principle of Arkanoid and Breakout: a paddle at the bottom of the screen bounces a ball that breaks bricks above, and in 2005 Gameloft dressed this classic up with more modern graphics, power-ups, bosses at the end of levels, and clear effects. It was one of the arcade games Gameloft really got a handle on - several more entries in the series came out under a similar name in the following years, suggesting how well the game did on the market.

The paddle was controlled with keys 4 and 6, or the numeric keys depending on the phone's layout, which for a game built on fine left-right movement worked surprisingly well even without analog input or touch controls. Power-ups falling from broken bricks changed the paddle size, ball speed, or added special abilities, so the game didn't stay purely mechanical bouncing but offered a bit of tactics in deciding which bonuses to catch and which to let fall through. The bosses at the end of level sets were a welcome change of pace from pure brick-breaking and gave the game a sense of progression.

The game was sold through carrier stores as a paid download, the typical model for mobile games before smartphones, and today, like most of Gameloft's catalog from that era, it's officially unavailable - J2ME app stores disappeared long ago, and the game can only be found in archives or through emulation.

Why play it: A solid choice for fans of arcade paddle-and-ball games who'll appreciate that Gameloft added power-ups and bosses to the classic formula instead of just copying Arkanoid.