Wizorb | Review

By: Ryan Seiler 

Posted: August 11, 2012

Someone over at Atari really dropped the ball when they didn’t maintain creative rights to Breakout. Granted it was 1976 and ripping off games – which consisted of Pong back then – was all the rage. Once a new game had released, everyone and their brother made their own version of it. And by version I mean clone.

“Look the Sears one has orange blocks!”

“Woah, the Radio Shack one has two paddles!”

Strangely, these first few games are still being reproduced today. Every piece of consumer electronics, from iPods to digital watches plays Breakout, in some form. Ever own a cell phone that didn’t have a version already built in? Hell, when aliens find the Voyager probe I’m pretty sure the first thing they’ll do with it is boot up Block Breaker.

Over the years, Breakout hasn’t witnessed its share of innovation. Even Pong could be said to have evolved into today’s tennis games, but not poor old Breakout who only survives thanks to nostalgia. And the fact that it’s super easy to make. However, some standout titles have implemented new gameplay mechanics -- for better or worse.  A few games started giving the paddle weapons to eliminate hard to hit blocks. MagicBall even gave us 3D structures to tear down instead of a 2D plane of bricks, as well as the now-standard array of weapons.  Breakout on the Playstation tried hitting up the then popular mascot market of Mario, Spyro and Crash Bandicoot by giving the blocks faces, personalities and storylines – it surprisingly didn’t do so well. Imagine Resident Evil 2, if you played the whole game as that unlockable square player, Tofu. And instead of shooting zombies, you’re slowly bouncing balls at frickin’ blocks!

The next logical step, obviously, was to implement RPG elements into the fray. That’s where Wizorb comes in. This little indie title first debuted as an Xbox Live Indie game and did what every good title there does: it got the hell out! But just how well do an RPG and a Brick Breaker mesh to form a cohesive game? And can Wizorb break out of the mediocrity the genre is known for.

Story

The Kingdom of Gorudo is under attack by all sorts of nasty creatures and monsters. Cyrus, a wizard experienced in black and white magic, arrives in Tarot village after the kingdom has already fallen. He must fight his way through five areas using the power of Wizorb, rid the kingdom of all wickedness, and restore Tarot Village to its former glory.

As far as RPG elements go, Cyrus didn't have all that many options. Between areas, you're encouraged to return to Tarot, fix up the place by using the money collected during gameplay and buy power-ups. The small town is quite pitiable with all of its inhabitants strewn about scared and upset over the destruction of their homes and businesses. It’s a clever tactic, and effectively persuades the player to fix the village instead of buying power-ups, unless it’s absolutely necessary. 

Story 7/10

Gameplay

Wizorb follows the tried and true gameplay its Breakout genre has perfected throughout the decades, albeit not as innovative as one would hope. There’s something instinctive about a ball bouncing. Without even thinking it through, you already know exactly where it will bounce. Throw this into a game alone and what you are left with is a subconscious test of reflexes where your mind is left to wander; in other words, boring.

Luckily, while Wizorb is simple, it manages to add to the formula here and there and set itself apart from the pack. As the paddle moves across the field, you can use black and white magic to break up the monotony of, bounce, bounce, repeat. Black magic is used for destruction and manifests as either a fireball, shot from the paddle or if used when the ball and paddle collide, to turn the ball itself into fire, slicing through blocks without ricocheting. White magic, however, is utilized to keep the orb in play; either to create a gust of wind horizontally, pushing the ball in a desired direction, or by giving the ball fairy wings and guiding it manually. Every magical spell uses, well, magic; depending on the spell’s power, a small or large amount will be depleted. A bar on the right keeps track of available magic and can be replenished by collecting magic jars or by failing to collide with a destructible block or enemy within so many bounces – so don’t worry if you can’t hit that one tricky brick.

Enemies throughout the stages vary and even have different effects. Some can be hit three times before being destroyed, others can only be hit from behind, deflecting all head-on attacks. I do stress the term ‘enemy’. You, the paddle, are in no danger of being attacked, making the enemies more like moving blocks. The only real danger comes from power-downs. These ‘power-downs’ can consist of blobs which slow paddle movement down or even shockwaves that dramatically speed the ball up. At the end of every area is a boss battle. Bosses can attack and will destroy your paddle given the chance. And that's where Wizorb shines. Having to avoid attacks while keeping the ball in play proves to be incredibly engaging and requires more than reflexes to be both defensive and offensive. If only the rest of the game had encounters such as these.

The one real pain in the ass is indestructible blocks. Occasionally to make a level more difficult, the developer, Tribute, decided that throwing a barrier between you and your square prey was a good idea. While I understand the need for this mechanic – making the player have to think two or three bounces ahead – it’s used often enough to be frustrating. Once you destroy every block except that one annoyingly impossible to hit brick behind a barrier, and having to wait until you can save up enough magic to guide the ball around the wall, is tedious at best and rage inducing at worst.

In most levels, the player can access stores and bonus stages by breaking through or unlocking doors placed behind all of the foreground blocks. In these areas you can either buy power-ups such as extra lives, and magic jars or collect a bunch of them in the bonus levels. 

The RPG elements in gameplay only really consist of fixing up the village and using power-ups. The game could have truly stuck out by implementing actual RPG strategies such as, you guessed it, buying permanent power-ups. A wider paddle or more magic could have gone a long way in making Wizorb much more strategic and personal.

I would suggest that anyone interested in Wizorb, play on their computer. Touchscreens and controllers don’t give you the lightning fast reflexive feedback one needs for this genre. Playing with a mouse gives incredibly tight controls and can be a joy to play.

Gameplay 7/10

Presentation

While most modern pixilated games look as if they’re on a Super Nintendo, Wizorb goes way out of left field and has a GameBoy Color aesthetic. The colors are crisp and the pixels are sharp and well defined. Each stage has its own theme, be it a wrecked town, dank cave or even a twisted underworld. Like its retro style, sprites are made to be instantly recognizable even if you haven’t encountered them before. Power-ups all have a particular red hue while power-downs feature a bright violet. During gameplay your eyes are following a blue orb around the screen, enemies and power-ups are often left up to your peripherals to catch. Having them match each other is invaluable.

Like its graphics, Wizorb’s soundtrack sounds like a love letter to the GameBoy Color. Every area has a corresponding chiptune theme -- one clearly being a nod towards The Legend of Zelda. Each song is fast paced, catchy and well suited to its particular area, giving the player an ‘on-edge’ feeling throughout as they try to keep the ball in play. After twelve levels of a certain song repeating though, you may not find it so engaging.

Presentation 8/10

Overall

Wizorb is an incredibly well made game that only suffers from its genre; a genre that hasn’t aged well through the decades and needs more than a few gimmicks here and there to get it out of the rut it’s been in for an entire generation. As for being a three dollar game, it more than makes up for its shortcomings, providing a great pick up and play experience that will test your quick decision-making skills as well as your sense of nostalgia.

Wizorb  7.3/10

Game Info

Platform: Xbox Live Indie Games, PC, iPhone, PSN
ESRB: E

Publisher:Tribute

Developer: Tribute
Release Date: September 28, 2011