Strike Ball 2
Score: 78% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Alawar Developer: Owl Studios Media: Download/1 Players: 1 Genre: Puzzle
Graphics & Sound: Strike Ball 2 is generally a good game. Unfortunately, it has quite a few technical glitches that can't be ignored by anyone who plays the game for any length of time. However, where the game doesn't have any problems is in the visuals. Colorful levels and bright graphics are abundant in Strike Ball 2. Since each level's blocks form a unique picture, I always found myself wanting to make it to the next round just to see what new features the game would throw at me. These pictures are everything from shooting tanks to three-headed dragons to water mills to boxing rings and beaches. Audio-wise, the game has fairly good background music and sound effects, but aren't really anything special. The explosions when blocks are destroyed and the sounds played when shooting guns and firing missiles aren't spectacular, but they get the job done.
Gameplay: Strike Ball 2 is a blockball style game where you bounce a ball all over a board trying to destroy all of the variously colored and shaped blocks. This game bears more than a slight resemblance to another Alaware title I reviewed a few months ago, Magic Ball 2. The general gameplay feel is the same (right down to a lot of similar power ups and gameplay mechanics), but with a few added features. Some of these differences include a Bomber pickup that has a plane fly over the field and drop five or six bombs. This same plane will periodically drop payloads of various power ups at regular intervals (this is something else that the other game doesn't offer). Though these and other differences should make the overall experience better and more dynamic, this game also has quite a few technical issues that just can't be ignored. The main problem that came up over and over again was the ball going through my paddle. At first, I thought I just wasn't getting to the ball in time and it slipped past my area, but when the ball actually passed me when it came right up my center line, I started paying even more attention. There were plenty of occasions when I clearly made it to the ball in time, but the game let it fly out of bounds anyway. Like I said, this was the main issue, and had I not seen it pass by me when it was very obvious that I had made it, I wouldn't have mentioned it and just chalked it up to less-than-optimal reflexes -- but that wasn't the case. The other major problem, which was much more rare but harder to miss, was the occasional lock up. While in the middle of a game, the screen would freeze and the picture would become very distorted. Not only would the game lock up on these occasions, but I would ultimately have to reboot my computer.
Difficulty: Strike Ball 2 isn't really a tough game. It is meant to be more of a distraction for your work computer, or something to play when you have a few minutes of spare time. Because of this, it isn't meant to get you frustrated, in fact each level is fairly simple to figure out and there aren't ever any deep puzzles in them. If anything, you will find yourself faced with a new type of block that doesn't get destroyed in the normal format and you will have to figure out what makes this new block special, but these never cause much frustration. The many different modifiers will do everything from grow or shrink your paddle, make your ball explosive or large, or even cause two weapon towers to shoot at the highest blocks on the field. Which pick-ups you grab (whether by choice or accident) can drastically change how easily or quickly you take blocks out. If anything, these modifiers make the game easier, but like I said, this game isn't designed to keep you stumped, just to let you have fun.
Game Mechanics: Strike Ball 2 has simple mechanics: a ball bounces back and forth on a field, destroying blocks one at a time. What makes Strike Ball 2 (and similar games) different than your basic blockball game are the modifiers that you can pick up when you destroy a block. These modifiers can change the ball, the paddle, even the field. One modifier, "Crazy Ball", will cause the ball to have a spin on it, forcing it to curve more than normal. Another modifier changes the paddle into a magnet (for a limited amount of time), allowing the ball to get stuck to the paddle until you release it where and when you want. One of the field-modifying pick-ups sends a wave out from the bottom of the screen, destroying a lot of blocks in its path. Strike Ball 2 has a lot of potential, the levels are layed-out nicely, and the different pickups help to add a bit of strategy to the game, but the frequent glitches pull you out of the gameplay experience way too often.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
Minimum System Requirements: Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Me, 64MB RAM, DirectX 9.0, 3MB 3D Video Card, Pentium 600   Test System: Windows XP Professional Ed., AMD Athlon XP 2400+ 2GHz, 2 GB RAM, DVD-RW, Radeon 9800 Pro, DirectX 9.0c
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