Collection essentials #23: Super Breakout (2600)

The original Breakout was a very early popular arcade title, taking the concept of Pong and giving it a single-player twist, as the player hits the ball around to eliminate a series of blocks at the top of the screen rather than trying to get the ball past an identical opponent. It was a very influential and significant title. Breakout has had many imitators, but Super Breakout here is the official sequel. This is a great example of why I like to do projects like this one where I go through and thoroughly sample games in my collection; I remember Super Breakout feeling a little boring and dated. But giving it a spin recently, I realized that my memory was very wrong! There are fun modes of play that keep things challenging and fun, such as modes where you have multiple balls in play or when the wall of bricks is slowly descending upon you to keep the pressure on. The Atari paddle controller is perfect for controlling a game like this. My only real complaint is that there is no simultaneous multiplayer, as the only 2-player modes involve the players taking turns. I think I do prefer future games of the Breakout lineage a little more, but this is still an essential game for sure.