Arkanoid DS

Arkanoid DS brought the core of the classic 1980s Taito arcade game to the Nintendo DS without major changes: the player uses a paddle to bounce a ball, destroys bricks, and collects falling power-ups that enlarge or shrink the paddle, slow the ball down, split it into multiple balls, or add laser shooting to the paddle. The handheld version added a Quest mode with a simple story structure and gradual unlocking of abilities alongside the traditional Clear mode, made up of twenty-eight worlds arranged into a pyramid of five levels each, so the player could choose their own path through the pyramid instead of a linear progression.

The game was developed directly by Taito, the owner of the brand, and released in Japan in December 2007 with a bundled Paddle Controller - an add-on rotary controller that slotted into the Game Boy Advance slot on the underside of both contemporary DS models and mimicked the classic dial control from the arcade cabinet, just with a somewhat smaller plastic wheel. Outside Japan, the game was released for the North American and European markets in 2008 by Square Enix, and players could choose between controlling it with the stylus on the touchscreen, the d-pad, or the bundled paddle itself, which gave Arkanoid DS control options that no other contemporary version of the game had, not even the arcade original. The Paddle Controller also worked with several later Taito titles on the Nintendo DS, gradually turning into a small family of games controlled by the same add-on device.

Why play: Arkanoid DS is a good choice for genre fans who want to experience the brick-breaking classic with touchscreen controls or a special rotary paddle, while also appreciating the added Quest mode, thanks to which the game offers more than just plain repetition of the same levels from the arcade original.