Review: Breakout Beyond for Nintendo Switch

Sure thing. Here’s a rewritten version:

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Okay, so picture this: Breakout Beyond takes the usual game formula and, like, turns it on its head. Longer fields for breaking bricks – who came up with that? Surprisingly fun, though you gotta unlock a bunch of stuff first. Some folks might just toss it aside, getting bored, but others – yeah, like my buddy Tim – they’d keep coming back to smack those bricks, especially with a pal by their side.

Now, here’s where it gets real: two-player co-op. Honestly, it’s what makes this thing tick. Playing solo? Meh, gets kinda dull after a bit. But toss in my wife with her paddle cruising next to mine – suddenly, it’s a party. Look at leaderboards and sure, maybe I’m just an oddball here. But hang on, there’s this “voyage” thing to tackle first before you even see the scores. Talk about hoops to jump through.

So, in “voyage” mode, there are bombs and power-ups and slowing the ball – which feels like cheating but, hey, whatever helps. This game ain’t easy past the intro levels, trust me on that. Keep tweaking paddle sensitivity too; one little nudge and it’s game over, man. Seventy-two levels, and yeah, the completionist in me wanted to conquer them all, step by step.

Visually, Breakout Beyond sticks to the old school but jazzes it up. Says something like “Procedural audio and visual effects.” Not entirely sure what that means, but it’s like – the better you play, the cooler it looks and sounds. You can mess with music and sound settings, which folks like me appreciate since my ears are picky.

Content locked behind a gate, though. Who thought that was a good idea? Leaderboards and stuff like infinite play? Ugh, should’ve been there from the start. Would’ve added replay value for sure. But at least leaderboards split into global and friends; my wife and I top the co-op list – but maybe that says more about solo players?

A breakout game is timeless, right? Yet Choice Provisions nearly messed it up with content lock. But hey, still fun because of their magic touch and the core game nostalgia. Go figure.