Super Breakout is an arcade game which was released by Atari in 1978. It utilizes a Motorola M6502 (running up at 375 KHz), and, as the name suggests, it is the sequel to Breakout, which was released two years earlier. There are three different modes to choose from: Double Breakout, the playfield for which contains in fifty-two orange blocks (5-14 points), fifty-two green blocks (1-6 points), two paddles and two balls, Cavity Breakout, which contains in forty-four orange blocks (7-21 points), and fifty-two green blocks (1-9 points), one paddle, and three balls (the second and third of which have to be freed before they come into play) and Progressive Breakout which contains fifty-two blue blocks (7 points) and fifty-two green blocks (5 points), one paddle, and one ball – and the blocks shall be lowered down towards the paddle, at a rate determined by the number of times the ball lands on your paddle, but as the ball destroys them, additional rows of blocks shall appear at the top of the screen and be lowered down towards the paddle at an increasing rate. This is also the only mode for which it’s possible for a player to receive an infinite amount of points by playing, but the score display shall roll over at 10000.
Super Breakout features similar gameplay to the original, but with several new game variations. Your goal is to earn as many points as possible by destroying the bricks at the top of the playfield. To do this, you need to use the paddle at the bottom of the screen to keep a bouncing ball within the playfield. There are four different game variations included. The first is ‘Breakout’, and plays the same as the original game.
This leaves three new gameplay concepts. In ‘Progressive’ the brick walls will slowly drop towards the bottom of the screen and the ball moves progressively faster and faster. When there’s room, a new layer of bricks will appear at the top.
The other two games add a second paddle. In ‘Double Breakout’ you have two balls to keep in play and score with. In ‘Cavity’ there is a single ball in play when you start, but two additional balls trapped within the bricks. These are freed when their surrounding bricks are destroyed.
Overall, an enjoyable game that does become a bit repetitive after a while: 7/10