Triple Breakout (Wii U) Review

Much like Pong, the goal in Triple Breakout is to score more than your opponent by deflecting a ball with a paddle and sending it horizontally across the screen at an angle and speed that might trouble them. However, rather than granting you any score, a goal costs your opponent some health points. In the centre of the screen are Breakout blocks blocking the ball, which causes its direction and speed to change, as well as granting points to the last player who hit the ball at them. This gradually becomes a game of clearing blocks to raise your own score, protecting your goal to prevent the loss of health, and finding a way through, with enough speed and angle, to challenge and ultimately hurt your opponent.

It may be a simple idea and a mix of mechanics, but it is one that enhances the competitive Pong style of play just enough to make the experience a bit more interesting. The Breakout blocks pattern changes depending on the level, offering different challenges to overcome, and the effect it has on the ball's trajectory adds another unpredictable element to the competition.

At other times it's obvious where the ball will go. This can add that extra bit of challenge and pressure as you try to break through a batch of blocks and score big, knowing that a miss can cost you health and pride in an instant as the ball bounces off the blocks and straight back at you. In addition, some of the classic power-ups from Breakout make an appearance. Some change the size of your paddle, and others introduce multiple balls, for example. All of this adds further challenge, unpredictability, and fun.

Indeed, tons of fun is precisely what Triple Breakout provides. Its simple core gameplay loop taps into and channels the player's competitive spirit for higher scores and more wins. Meanwhile, the sense of variety achieved through different breakout block patterns helps to keep the challenge fresh. Playing against another human opponent, also helps massively in terms of re-playability. On your own, however, the fun can soon be exhausted, even when sticking to short play sessions.

Triple Breakout certainly doesn't have the longevity of a more complex title, and as the novelty of the mechanics melding wears off, play sessions can become shorter as engagement wains. But this is an excellent title for immediate satisfaction, with a suitably low price point for what it is.

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