Arkanoid II

STORY / GAMEPLAY
The mysterious enemy known as DOH (from the first Arkanoid) has returned to seek vengeance for their previous destruction. You must once again take control of the "Vaus" (your space ship paddle) and go through different and challenging levels (64 in total) in order to destroy the DOH empire once and for all. There are some differences compared to the original Arkanoid and especially on the power ups section. By hitting and breaking certain blocks, capsules drop down and they provide bonuses from making your paddle larger to running a multi-ball sequence. To add a bit of spice there are also some little space invaders to hinder your progress. These alien "things" tend to deflect balls and send them in multiple directions. Arkanoid 1 is surely a great game, but this time, Arkanoid II: The Revenge of DOH is the definite blockbuster game of all times.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The ZX Spectrum conversion has some good visuals. The details look cool considering the machine's hardware, with nice coloring based on a color-dithering technique, in order to offer more colors than its hardware limits. Vaus and all alien sprites move fast and quite smooth unless too many of them occupy the screen (as expected), but the gameplay remains great. This conversion feels a bit more playable than the CPC version really! The ZX conversion has cool sound as well, offering a few nicely composed short tunes (on the 128k version) at the main menu and a few at the beginning of each stage. The sound effects are also nicely done (as in all the other 8bit conversions)!