''Hyperball'' is a clone of the 1986 arcade game ''

Arkanoid is a 1986 block breaker arcade game developed and published by Taito. In North America, it was published by Romstar. Controlling a paddle-like craft known as the Vaus, the player is tasked with clearing a formation of colorful blocks by deflect ...

'' created for the

Acorn Electron The Acorn Electron (nicknamed the Elk inside Acorn and beyond) was a lower-cost alternative to the BBC Micro educational/ home computer, also developed by Acorn Computers Ltd, to provide many of the features of that more expensive machine at a ...

and

BBC Micro The British Broadcasting Corporation Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers in the 1980s for the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Designed with an emphas ...

. It was released as part of the compilation ''Play It Again Sam 13'' in 1990. It is not to be confused with the Williams arcade machine of the same name.

Gameplay

''Hyperball'' follows the '' Breakout'' gameplay of a controllable bat used to keep a bouncing ball on screen and destroying blocks. When blocks are hit, an assortment of capsules occasionally drop. These include an infrared view which allowed the player to see otherwise "invisible" blocks, a laser cannon, a ball detonator which splits the ball into eight separate balls and a diamond cutter which allows the ball to travel through anything. An alien also sometimes falls, with detrimental effects including biting a hole in the bat, magnetizing the bat (making control difficult) or speeding up the ball. There are six sets of twenty screens. Each set is loaded in individually due to memory constraints. These can be tackled in any order. Following each screen is a bonus screen to earn extra points before the "system upgrade" level where it is possible to use points accumulated to "buy" weapons to help with the next level.

Development and release

The game was developed by Steve Parkinson from his home in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

, UK and took nearly two years to complete. Development was completed in 1989 and submitted to

Superior Software Superior Software Ltd (also known as Superior Interactive) is a video game publisher. It was one of the main publishers for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers in the 1980s and early 1990s. It currently releases games for Microsoft Windo ...

. As Superior only issued full price games, they occasionally released games directly onto their compilations. ''Hyperball'' was released on ''Play It Again Sam 13'' in 1990 along with three previously released games: '' Barbarian II'', ''Percy Penguin'' and ''Pandemonium'' (although the Electron version of ''Pandemonium'' was also exclusive to this compilation).

Reception

Electron User ''Electron User'' was a magazine targeted at owners of the Acorn Electron microcomputer. It was published by Database Publications of Stockport, starting in October 1983 and ending after 82 issues in July 1990. Initially it was included as a 1 ...

'' gave the "Golden Game" title to the ''Play It Again Sam 13'' compilation containing ''Hyperball'' with an overall score for the collection of 9/10. ''Hyperball'' was given only praise in the review (although its high level of difficulty was noted) with reviewer Jon Revis concluding "''Hyperball'' is one of the biggest and best versions of ''Breakout'' on the Electron, and a most worthy inclusion on this compilation"."It's Lucky Thirteen"
Jon Revis, Electron User, Database Publications, June 1990, Page 14

References

External links

at Acorn Electron World {{Superior Software 1990 video games Acornsoft games BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games BBC Micro and Acorn Electron-only games Breakout clones Single-player video games Superior Software games Video games developed in the United Kingdom