Alleyway, or アレイウェイ, was developed by Intelligent Systems and distributed by Nintendo itself, released back in 1989.
The game is a clone of the classic "Breakout", which I believe you all know and which is often found in minigame collections of 1000 games in 1. However, Alleyway, despite being a "clone", is very well designed and thought out.
The game doesn't have a story; you control Mario, yes, Mario, although it's actually a little ship that serves as a barrier for the ball that is used to destroy the blocks. The aim here is precisely that: to break all the blocks in each level.
Speaking of stages, that's where this game stands out. Despite not having power-ups like some more recent versions of Breakout clones, Alleyway doesn't become repetitive. This is due to the care taken to maintain variety and challenge in each stage. It has 24 normal stages and 8 bonus stages that only serve to accumulate points. In each of the 24 normal levels, there is a difference; some are ordinary, in others the blocks go down over time, some blocks move, your little ship can get smaller making it harder to control, some levels get faster over time, and so on. So the game never gets boring and always keeps the player engaged until the end.
This is a perfect game for a console like the Gameboy. It's practical and quick to pick up and play in small doses on a daily basis, just by taking the console out of the bag and playing a few levels.
And that's all I had to say about Alleyway, it's very good, even in its simplicity they've managed to balance everything very well.
My rating for it is: 3 stars.
The game is a clone of the classic "Breakout", which I believe you all know and which is often found in minigame collections of 1000 games in 1. However, Alleyway, despite being a "clone", is very well designed and thought out.
The game doesn't have a story; you control Mario, yes, Mario, although it's actually a little ship that serves as a barrier for the ball that is used to destroy the blocks. The aim here is precisely that: to break all the blocks in each level.
Speaking of stages, that's where this game stands out. Despite not having power-ups like some more recent versions of Breakout clones, Alleyway doesn't become repetitive. This is due to the care taken to maintain variety and challenge in each stage. It has 24 normal stages and 8 bonus stages that only serve to accumulate points. In each of the 24 normal levels, there is a difference; some are ordinary, in others the blocks go down over time, some blocks move, your little ship can get smaller making it harder to control, some levels get faster over time, and so on. So the game never gets boring and always keeps the player engaged until the end.
This is a perfect game for a console like the Gameboy. It's practical and quick to pick up and play in small doses on a daily basis, just by taking the console out of the bag and playing a few levels.
And that's all I had to say about Alleyway, it's very good, even in its simplicity they've managed to balance everything very well.
My rating for it is: 3 stars.