Arkanoid clones over the years have usually provided plenty of ball bouncing, brick crashing, power-up catching fun and Smash is typical of the breed, a very pleasant way to spend five minutes desperately trying to keep your glowing, pulsing ball in play. Production values are high and even the suspected freemium element turns out to be nothing more harmful than a dollar to get rid of the occasional banner ads. Phew! Not bad at all...
Discover the power of Smash today. Stunning music and stunning graphics for this new Arkanoid-like game. If you like brick breakers games, you will love Smash as it remains true to the best ones ever created while adding new bonuses and options.
You will have the choice between 2 amazing modes for 2 different experiences! If you want to work on being the best of the best by constantly beating your best score, try the Arcade Mode! You will also be able to play in Challenge Mode to progress over the packs and levels at your own pace.
Blocked in your progress? Have a look around the shop and upgrade your power-ups!
Ah yes, that last line might show why Smash is a free download - there could be freemium elements at work here. Let's investigate - here's the game in action:
Two different game modes mean that you either play level by level or in (potentially) never-ending 'Arcade' mode. In either case there's plenty of variation in brick formations to be clobbered.
Graphical effects, dropping coins to collect, pulsing balls, electrostatic bats, space-time-warped formations, a dozen power-ups and things to (ahem) avoid, sound effects and pleasant music, there's a lot going on in Smash - it's a cracking 2014 version of the classic arcade game; (right) after a game or level, there's an ad on-screen at last - very restrained of the developers. There's also a 'shop' icon, bottom-right....
... in which you can use the coins you've collected to add more power-ups (and their effectiveness) into the game. One pleasant surprise is that you have to use coins, you're not forced into paying real money for all this. In fact, the only commercial element is a one-off dollar 'remove ads' function, which seems very reasonable.
Good value, then, and well pitched. A recommended download for Breakout/Arkanoid fans. You can download Smash here in the Store.