Arkanoid

Arkanoid is a 1986 block breaker video game developed and published by Taito for arcades. It was released in North America by Romstar. The game revitalized the concept established by Atari, Inc.'s successful Breakout from a decade earlier and established the model for numerous games to follow. Arkanoid was ported to many home systems, including the Commodore 64, Nintendo Entertainment System, and ZX Spectrum. Controlling a paddle-like craft known as the Vaus, the player is tasked with clearing a formation of colorful blocks by deflecting a ball towards it without letting the ball leave the bottom edge of the playfield. Some blocks contain power-ups with various effects, such as increasing the length of the Vaus, creating several additional balls, or equipping the Vaus with cannons. Other blocks may be indestructible or require multiple hits to break. Created by Taito designers Akira Fujita and Hiroshi Tsujino, Arkanoid was part of a contest within Taito, where two teams of designers had to implement a block breaker game and determine which was superior to the other. The 1982 film Tron served as inspiration for the game's futuristic neon aesthetic. Early location tests for Arkanoid surpassed Taito's initial expectations. It became a major success in arcades, becoming the highest-grossing table arcade cabinet of 1987 in Japan and the year's highest-grossing conversion kit in the United States. The game was commended by critics for its gameplay, simplicity, addictive nature, and improvements over the original Breakout concept. Arkanoid spawned a long series of sequels and updates over the course of two decades.