''Break 'Em All'', known as ''Brick 'Em All DS'' in Europe, is an ''

Arkanoid is a 1986 Block kuzushi, 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 blo ...

'' clone released in 2005 for the

Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...

. The game features several single-player modes, as well as single-cart multiplayer for up to 8 players. The game utilized the system's

touch screen A touchscreen (or touch screen) is a type of electronic visual display, display that can detect touch input from a user. It consists of both an input device (a touch panel) and an output device (a visual display). The touch panel is typically l ...

to control the paddle, as well as activate power-ups. Power-Ups can be activated by pressing up on the

D-Pad The D-pad (short for directional pad) is a compact input method developed for video games, designed to translate thumb movement into directional control through a flat, cross-shaped surface that rests on four internal switches. Each switch corres ...

or by pressing the X Button. The game was originally released on October 27, 2005, in Japan as part of the "Simple DS" line of products.

D3 Publisher is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher founded on February 5, 1992. The company is known for the ''Simple (video game series), Simple'' series of budget-priced video games. Their games have been released for the G ...

released a localized version of the game in North America under the name ''Break 'Em All'' in 2006.

Game modes

Tokoton Mode

Tokoton mode is one of the two single-player modes in the game. It has two play options: "Standard Play" and "Random Play". Standard play consists of fifty stages. As the player progresses through the stages, they begin to gain levels. The player begins at the "

amoeba An amoeba (; less commonly spelled ameba or amœba; : amoebas (less commonly, amebas) or amoebae (amebae) ), often called an amoeboid, is a type of Cell (biology), cell or unicellular organism with the ability to alter its shape, primarily by ...

" level and slowly works their way to the "superior being" level. In "Random Play", the game randomly generates each level, with a total of over 3,000,000 different combinations. In Tokoton Mode, the player is given three lives at the beginning, and can earn more as the game progresses.

Quest Mode

The game's second single-player mode is Quest Mode. Quest Mode consists of twelve levels, with each level having three regular stages and one special boss stage. To defeat the boss, the player must find and exploit its weak point. Quest Mode can also be played multiplayer, with up to four players connecting to the host via

DS Download Play The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...

. The host selects the stage, and the player completing it fastest is crowned the winner.

Survival Mode

Survival Mode is the game's multiplayer mode. Up to eight players can participate via

. At the beginning of the round, they each chose one of four unique paddles to play as. Each paddle is shaped differently from the standard flat paddle found in most Breakout-style games. This mode chooses to forego the normal

brick-breaking mode of play. Instead, players must protect their central core from balls flying at them. When hit, the core changes from green to yellow, then to red, before destroying the player. After some time, one of the flying balls will change into a "Lucky Ball", granting invincibility to the first player that hits it. After the Lucky Ball is hit, it immediately changes into a "Life Ball", reverting the hit paddle's Core to its original green state. The last player to survive the round without their core being hit while red is the winner.

Regional differences

The Japanese version has an option to turn on/off the backlight, which is missing from the Western releases.

Reception

The game holds a 68/100 rating at

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

Weekly Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the form of special top ...

scored the game a 23 out of 40.https://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title&title_id=4124&redirect=no

Notes

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website (Japanese)
Nintendo DS games Nintendo DS-only games Breakout clones D3 Publisher games 2005 video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Video games developed in Japan Simple (video game series)