Ionball 2: Ionstorm – Review
Everyone knows games like “Arkanoid” or “Breakout” or has at least played a game similar to it. Games with one simple mechanic and one goal: destroy the blocks without losing your ball. Ironsun brings these games back with Ionball 2: Ionstorm. This game is a renewed version of the older arcade classics.
Story
It is hard to find a storyline in an arcade game like this, but you could say that there’s a basic story. There is a monstrous tower and it is your task to destroy it. To do so, you must get past its defenses. Each part of the tower has multiple defense levels which you have to overcome to get to the middle of this stronghold. The central point is the weak spot and will give you the chance to destroy it! Smashing the tower isn’t an easy job, but you’ll get the opportunity to get stronger along the way.
Graphics
Ionball uses the same concept as the older arcade games, but it certainly has better graphics. With the use of multiple dimensions the game now has the possibility to utilize heights as well. Everything has been designed very well such as the background, the destroyable items, the ball and even the platform you are operating.
There are a lot of details in the design of the levels. They have a lot of small things that you would overlook when playing it just once, but after a few games you’ll notice the smaller yet still important details. The destroyable blocks aren’t like the standard ones you would find in other games, but have their own models that look like alien droids. Every action happening in the level causes its own reaction such as colorful explosions or lines following the ball.
Now that the ball has been updated with new abilities, these abilities need graphical effects as well. Ionball has done a very good job achieving this goal. When activating an ability you have a very clear view of what is happening with noticeable visual effects.
Sound
While Ionball did a very nice job both graphics and gameplay wise, the music could have been done a bit better. The game uses a small variety of tracks which aren’t very long and start repeating itself after a while.
Even though the tracks are repetitive, they are quite good. The game offers the best kind of tracks you could wish for while destroying a tower with huge explosions and visual effects. If you think about this setting, fast and loud music would do the trick and that exactly what they gave you in the form of electronic music.
Gameplay
Just like in the older games, the goal is to destroy all the objects before you run out of playable balls. In order to do this you must steer the ball with the moveable platform on the bottom of the screen. When the ball goes past the platform, the ball is destroyed and you either use a new ball or lose the game when you just ruined your last one.
You can choose which level you would like to do first since there is no fixed order. Every level shows you the set up of the droids before you enter the level itself. This gives you the opportunity to check if there are any moving parts. After beating 10 levels you reach the middle level of the part, rewarding you with a harder boss-like level. Finishing this boss level brings you to the next part of the tower, giving you more levels to enjoy and conquer.
At the start of a new game you have three lives and you’ll have to cope with that. If you lose lives during a level, they’re gone forever. You can earn one extra ball by beating a level though. If you lose all of your lives you must start a new game or trade in some points of your score to gain three more lives. Levels that have been finished stay finished, even when you lose all your lives.
During the levels the destroyed droids drop experience points, these points can be used to buy upgrades. These include both active and passive upgrades. Some active abilities are EMP’s that freeze robots, kamikaze which causes an explosion and a laser gun that burns droids in its path. Passive abilities include extra ball damage, an extended bat and a chance to cause an explosion if a droid comes in contact with the ionball.
Levels also have extra objects that have their own role. Examples of these are teleporters that teleport the ball from one teleporter to another, spinners that rotates and throws the ball in a different direction and respawners that summons more droids. These are used to make the levels harder, variable and exciting. A final feature is a super ray which get charged when the ball stays alive for a consecutive time. When this ray is full, the ball will cause an explosion and destroy droids instantly.
Conclusion
Ionball has done a very good job using and upgrading the already existing concept. The new graphics add a more interesting look to the game while the new objects keep it fresh and interesting. This game can be very addicting if you turn off the music after a couple of levels because this can get a bit annoying. Overall it is a very well executed game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJGr1sRhGnE#t=15 Ionball 2: Ionstorm - Review,
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