This is a great game with hours and hours of retro entertainment. If you are a big fan of arcade-style games and ball puns then you should try this game out. Feel the nostalgia of an arcade right from your desk and let the good times roll.
Antonball Deluxe is a retro blast from the past. From the controls, visuals, and gameplay Antonball takes you back to the good ole days of Arcade style gaming we all know and love. It is a blend of brick-breaking and platforming. With three arcade-style games in one, Antonball Deluxe is a great way to relive the golden age of gaming.
There are three different game modes to choose from. There is Antonball, Punchball, and Vs. Anton. In the Antonball game, the character you chose (for me it was Annie), falls into a sewer and has to get home by breaking all the bricks in the way. As you progress you can get power-ups such as a gun to help you destroy all the bricks and enemies that spawn each level up. It’s much more difficult than I expected, if you don’t keep a diligent eye on all the balls it is easy to make a simple mistake and lose a life. The next game is Punchball. This is technically Annie’s game mode and the objective is to win the Punchball Tournament to win a lifetime supply of Ballble Tea (a play on words of Bubble Tea). In order to win the tournament, you must use the ball provided to you to eliminate all the enemies. This game mode reminded me a lot of the classic Mario Brothers game since it is just defeating enemies to get to the next level. The last game mode is Vs. Anton. In this mode, you are up against Anton himself to clear the bricks before he does. It is essentially just Antonball but you are battling him to win instead of trying to get home from the sewers.
There are four main characters that you start with. You can choose between Anton, Annie, Danton, and Nina to start with but as you continue playing you can unlock new characters such as Anton’s dog or Annie’s cat. The way you unlock characters in this game is unique and amusing. Throughout the various game modes, you are able to gather poker-style chips that you can spend on the “lottery”. The lottery is a gumball machine-style contraption where you spend chips for a mystery item. You can unlock music and characters that add countless hours of fun to the game. To listen to the music, you have to go to the Rec Room. The music is a bit odd and I am not sure if this is an homage to a different classic game or not but it is there if you want it, however, I didn’t quite see the point to it.
The visuals in this game are the perfect mix of modern retro. It feels as though you have been transported into an arcade even though you are in the comfort of your own home. The creators did a great job of adding in a lot of small details such as sound effects, sound bites, and arcade-style music to make it feel even more authentic to arcade-style gaming. Even the cut-scenes throughout the games are in the style you would see pop up on adventure arcade games. The cut-scenes are short and to the point but add a nice level of character development so you get to know the characters a bit better.
When looking at mechanics the controls were the most confusing part to me. This is a platform-style game so you use only your keyboard to move and interact. This proved to be very difficult for me and I was getting very frustrated with how the keys I would press wouldn’t register properly. I’m not sure if my keyboard is malfunctioning or if the game wasn’t registering it correctly. After doing some research I did find out that I could use my Xbox controller and that made it much easier. I suggest using a controller if you have one. The main thing that I love about this game is that you can play with your friends in a multiplayer setting. It makes it more interactive and adds a different dynamic to the newer arcade-style games that I have found and played.
This is a great game with hours and hours of retro entertainment. If you are a big fan of arcade-style games and ball puns then you should try this game out. Feel the nostalgia of an arcade right from your desk and let the good times roll.