Review: Breakout Beyond for Nintendo Switch

Oh boy, let’s dive into this. Breakout Beyond is doing this wild twist on a classic formula. It’s like they took the regular game and just… tilted it. So, you’ve got these longer playfields, and you’re smashing bricks left and right. Kinda fun, but also—everything’s locked! Like, seriously, you gotta unlock most of it. Some folks might just be like, nah, I’m done. But others—maybe the thrill-seekers or the eternally bored—pick it up again and again. Especially if they’ve got a buddy.

Honestly, the two-player mode is where it’s at. Forget the tilted gameplay; playing with someone is the bomb. I was yawning when soloing, but then my wife jumps in and bam, it’s a different story. She’s on her own paddle, doing her thing, and suddenly it’s game on. There’s something about this leaderboard business too, but let’s circle back to that. First, you gotta tackle this “voyage” mode.

So, voyage mode. You get these bombs and power-ups. You can even slow everything down, which, yeah, costs you points, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Things get crazy hard after those first few levels, more so if you’re on your own. Still, it’s got that “just one more round” pull to it. Anyway, fiddle with your paddle sensitivity; if it’s whack, your run’s toast. Somehow, 72 levels later, my inner completionist is yelling ‘finish them all!’ But, meh, you don’t have to. It’s still a linear grind—you beat a level, then a few more open up. Standard stuff.

Now, about how it looks and feels. Breakout Beyond keeps it old-school but fresh. There’s this procedural audio-visual craziness—like, the game rewards your skills by turning into a sensory overload. Thanks, Choice Provisions, I guess? You hit these combos, and suddenly it’s like a light show with sounds. You can tweak music and sound options, which is alright by me.

But let’s backtrack—unlocked content drama. What were they thinking? Some stuff, like the leaderboards, infinite mode, and the original arcade thingy, aren’t there from the start. Why? It’s really baffling. Would’ve been way cooler if they just let us have at it from go. For real, it would add practice chances and just make the whole thing more varied. At least the leaderboards are a bit organized—global, friends, different modes. As it stands, my wife and I are top dogs in co-op mode. Not sure if that’s awesome or if it shows most people prefer playing alone.

In the end, it’s hard to screw up Breakout—been fun forever, really. But dang, Choice Provisions almost did it with that content lock nonsense. Still, the game stands strong despite this weird call. Talent wins, I guess, alongside that dependable classic charm.