Review: Breakout Beyond for Nintendo Switch

Alright, so here’s the deal with Breakout Beyond. You know those classic brick-breaker games? This one decided to take that and, like, flip it on its head. I mean, longer playfields? Who saw that coming? It’s a solid time-killer, alright, but you gotta unlock a bunch of stuff. I don’t know about you, but sometimes that’s a drag. Yet, some folks seem to be all in for another round, especially if they’ve got company.

Honestly, after messing around solo, I hit a wall. Maybe I just needed a change, because teaming up with my wife for a two-player session brought the fun back. Not sure if that’s a universal feeling, judging by the leaderboards and all, but hang on—we’ll get to that in a sec. First, there’s something called “voyage” you gotta try out.

This part of the game lets you snag special bombs and power up like crazy. Or, slow things down if you’re into that (though your score might take a hit). It ramps up the difficulty fast, especially if you’re flying solo. Still, it triggers that “just one more go” itch. Heads up: you’ll want to tweak the paddle sensitivity; if it’s off, your run might tank. Seventy-two levels to tackle—yeah, I wanted to conquer them all, because why not? But don’t worry, it’s sorta straightforward. Beat one level, move on to unlock more.

Presentation-wise, Breakout Beyond keeps things old-school cool but adds a modern twist. They talk about “Procedural audio and visual effects” that evolve with your performance. Sounds fancy, right? Basically, the better you play, the more eye candy and ear music you get. Plus, you can tweak sound settings to your heart’s content, which is nice.

But back to the unlocking bit—seriously, what’s up with that? Why keep things like infinite mode and the original arcade game locked at first? Makes no sense. It’d be so much better having them available right from the start. At least the leaderboards are split between global and friends, so that’s something. Right now, my wife and I are topping the co-op list—though maybe there’s more focus on solo players?

You’d think it’s tough to mess up Breakout after all this time, yet somehow, Choice Provisions pushed it with their weird decision to lock features, including those key online leaderboards. Still, the game’s a blast despite that hiccup. Guess that’s down to their skill and the classic vibes we can’t resist.