Shatter Remastered Deluxe Review 9/10 ⛔️ @PikPokGames #IndieGames #GameDev

Brick-breaking games have been around for ages. AGES. I mean, in gaming terms, they were probably what the dinosaurs were playing just before they got too busy for gaming on account of a massive asteroid wiping them out. Were joysticks invented to address the problems T-Rex’s had with reaching a mouse and keyboard? I suppose we’ll never know. 

For the unfamiliar, brick-breaking games kinda do what it says on the tin – you’re in control of a  paddle, which you use to bounce a ball against bricks until they break. A bit like one-player ping pong. But that’s where the similarity ends as they’re a lot more fun than Forrest Gump’s favourite Olympic sport. 

Shatter Remastered Deluxe takes the old premise set up by the likes of Arkanoid, Breakout et al and rather than giving it a fresh coat of paint, it calls in Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen, Nick Knowles and a number of other British daytime TV construction show stars to strip it back, add new features, and give us something genuinely innovative to have a go at. 

The biggest addition to the game mechanic is… well, blowing and sucking balls (for the last time, stop sniggering at the back, please). Shatter Remaster Deluxe’s paddle gives you the ability to not only bounce the ball in different directions based on physics but to blow or suck the ball, collectable items and some brick types in the direction of the paddle, giving you the opportunity to pull off some rather more complex trick shots in the endless quest to break all the bricks the game throws at you. 

And what bricks! There’s a multitude, each needing different approaches to destroy them. Ranging from the standard bricks that channel Reggie Strickland’s boxing career (hit them once and they go down) through to those that are laser-proof, the ones that exhibit the hydra effect (hit them and they multiply), and many more, there are plenty here to keep you challenged throughout the 70+ levels on offer. 

Level design is varied, too – sure, there’s the standard fayre of “paddle at the bottom, bricks at the top”, and yes, that gets rotated 90 degrees so that it’s vertical. But how about circular levels? Throw in the wind mechanic and boss battles at the end of each of the 10 worlds, and you get something that really is elevated above the standard brick-breakers of old. 

Shatter Remastered Deluxe is a perfect example of the old “easy to pick up, hard to master” mainstay of gaming. The difficulty is pitched just right, encouraging “just one more go” even though it’s past bedtime and there’s work in the morning. It’s challenging in just the right way.

As for the sights and sounds, well, there’s a lot to like there, too. PikPok’s graphical overhaul brings Shatter Remastered Deluxe bang up to date. For those of you who are fans of the original game, the frankly excellent soundtrack is still there (although they’ve created a remastered and remixed version which is now in 5.1 surround).