![]() ![]() It often devolves the action into hacky-slashy button mashing just to clear the enemies out in front of you or batter the ball back and forth trying to keep it in play. But as enemies close in, you have less room to play the ball. Ultimately, this is still a brick breaker and your primary survival objective is to keep the ball in play. While this assures that even if your ball is caught in an unplayable trajectory, you won’t be stuck waiting forever to finish stages, it also results in some of the worst crowding I’ve seen in a brick breaker. All enemies are wired to march closer to the the character (who functionally serves as the paddle). STEP BACKWARDS: The action can be too intense at times. It’s a very clever mechanic that assures stages retain intensity even as the screen starts to clear, and finishing levels feels satisfying and cathartic. Instead, enemies constantly respawn until the last brick is broken, at which point the respawning stops and stages end when the last enemy is defeated. Also, stages in Strikey don’t end when you smash the last brick. DYA Games also confirmed to me they rigged the physics a bit so that the ball couldn’t get caught in repeating loops, like many brick breakers before it. ![]() Almost all the items are useful to some degree in any given situation. There’s more enemies, and the enemies always drop items when killed. Strikey Sisters is about the action, with the brick breaking being the framing device to deliver that action. And the physics were married to that of Breakout’s. Items of actual value were rare (especially the highly desirable laser that lets you fire upon blocks and enemies). Arkanoid wanted to actionize the foundation laid by Breakout, providing paddle upgrades, unique brick layouts, and weapons. STEP FORWARD: Strikey Sisters realizes the potential Arkanoid strived for and, in my opinion, failed to achieve in 1986. It provided me with a unique way I can explore why Strikey Sisters worked for me while also underachieving. The steps Strikey takes forward are larger strides than the relatively tiny steps it took backwards. But, as my “best brick breaker I’ve ever played” label already spoiled, not in a way that’s a deal breaker. For every moment of jubilation, there was a moment or two of annoyance and rough design. Not since Dead Cells has an indie taken me on the type of ride it has. Then again, Strikey Sisters does a lot wrong too. Because I look at videos of Firestriker and can’t imagine it must have been as good as Strikey Sisters is. One that presumably improves the mechanics of the original. That’s what I love about indie gaming: even the most seemingly forgotten games can be honored with a modern homage. ![]() I’d never even heard of it, though judging by the amount of people who pointed this out to me when I first started playing Sisters, it must have a cult following. Like seriously, that’s how it works in Bubble Bobble, right? Enemies die via an extreme case of the bends?Īctually, Strikey Sisters is based on an obscure 1994 SNES game called Firestriker. Then popping them, which presumably kills baddies via some kind of drop in pressure. You’re going to LOVE IT!”Ĭan we please phase out “lethal bubbles” in games? They’re only acceptable if they involve dinosaurs capturing enemies in them. Like how I think people who take their first kitten home from a pet store should have their cars keyed, with the shop owner saying “this is going to be your couch from now on. I just want to make sure people know what they’re getting with it. The best brick breaker I’ve ever played, in fact, and one of 2019’s very best hidden indie gems. This is a one-level-at-a-time, white-knuckle-action brick breaker. So, don’t let the facade of Strikey Sisters lull you into believing it’s deeper than it really is. The one Zeldaish mechanic is that the paddle is replaced by slashing at the ball with a sword, but that doesn’t mean the game is essentially Linkanoid. People, myself included, might look at pictures or clips of Strikey Sisters and assume it crosses Zelda-style adventures or RPG-style games with Arkanoid-inspired brick breaking. ![]()
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