BASICS
You control a cannon on the ground at the bottom of a well. It moves left and right, and normally shoots beams in 6 colors to cycle through.
If the cannon crosses a horizontal zapper, initially at the top of the well, the game is over.
You shoot at falling bricks of various types and colors. Levels are completed by destroying the goal number of bricks.
A beam hits only the first brick of the same or white color it meets. If a beam does not hit anything, the shooting percentage is impacted negatively and the zapper moves down by 1 step. Hitting bricks increases the percentage and might cause other effects depending on their types and on the currently active bonuses/modalities.
If a brick lands on the ground, it merges and creates a bump in the place of the contact.
GAME MODES
Each level is played in a certain mode.
Generally, in all the modes, speed, goal and disturbances frequency increase progressively with the levels.
NORMAL
Bricks fall at the same speed.
types: no HEART
colors: no white
WILD
Bricks fall at different speeds.
types: no HEART
colors: no white
RUSH
Bricks fall at the same speed. The goal must be reached in 60 s.
types: NORMAL
colors: no white
WALL
Bricks fall at the same speed, in wall formation.
types: no NUKE, BRAKE, CHAIN, SLIDE, HEART
colors: no white
WHITE.wind
Bricks fall at the same speed and move sideways at variable speed. When bricks are destroyed, extra points are awarded in proportion to the horizontal speed.
types: no 8-BALL, SWEEP, BEAM, CHAMELEON, HEART
colors: white
WHITE.gravity
Bricks fall at increasing speed.
types: no 8-BALL, SWEEP, BEAM, CHAMELEON, HEART
colors: white
WHITE.mayhem
Bricks fall at the same speed. Disturbances are very frequent.
types: no 8-BALL, SWEEP, BEAM, CHAMELEON, HEART
colors: white
BOSS
A boss shoots RAISE bricks from the top of the well, while moving and changing color. The goal is always 1 and is achieved only by hitting the HEART brick.
The overall percentage remains unaffected.
types: HEART, NORMAL, RAISE
colors: no white
FACE-OFF
???
BONUSES
Handy prizes and/ or points are awarded when you achieve a sub-goal.
The higher the level, the more the points.
ALL TYPES
Extra points are awarded when all the types of bricks are destroyed.
ANNIHILATION
Extra points are awarded when all the bricks a boss is made of are destroyed.
AREA
Extra points are awarded when a level is finished, in proportion to the area between the zapper and the ground.
BRAVERY
Extra points are awarded when a CHAMELEON brick is hit from close distance.
CLEAR
Extra points are awarded when all the currently falling bricks are destroyed.
This bonus is disabled in WALL mode.
GROUND
Extra points are awarded when a level is finished with the ground in the initial state.
HIT STREAK
Extra points are awarded and the zapper is raised by 10 steps when 10 distinct bricks are hit without misses in between (white beams and bricks do not count).
This bonus is disabled in BOSS mode.
IMPROVEMENT
Extra points are awarded when a level is finished with a percentage higher than at the beginning. The gain is such that it is as if the previous level had been finished with the new percentage.
This bonus is not enabled in the BOSS mode.
PERCENTAGE
Extra points are awarded when a level is finished, in proportion to the percentage.
QUICKSHOT
Extra points are awarded and the ground is lowered everywhere by 1 step when 5 consecutive shots hit each time another brick of a different color within 2 s (white beams and bricks do not count).
This bonus is disabled in WALL and WHITE mode.
RESTORE
The ground is flattened to the initial state when you request it after completing "RESTORE".
SPEED
Extra points are awarded in proportion to the time left after a RUSH mode level.
ZAPPER
Extra points are awarded when a level is finished with the zapper at the top of the well.
DISTURBANCES
Occasionally some negative factors affect the bricks in play.
BADLINES
The well is altered by intermittent lines and then the colors of the bricks are changed.
SPARKS
The well is ran through by electric sparks and then the types of the bricks are changed.
WAVE
The well is swept by an arrows wave and then the bricks are shifted left or right according to the direction of the wave.
BRICK TYPES
NORMAL
Must be hit repeatedly.
hits: 1-5
points: 5-40
BALL
When hit, releases along a random direction a ball that bounces around for 5 s, destroying the bricks it touches.
hits: 1
points: 5
8-BALL
When hit, changes randomly color and position. when hit once more, releases along the 8 main directions 8 balls that bounce around for 1.25 s, destroying the bricks they touch.
hits: 2
points: 25
BLADES
Comes into 15 sub-types, given by the combination of the 4 main directions.
When hit, releases 1, 2, 3 or 4 rows/columns of blades that destroy the bricks they touch.
hits: 1
points: 5
SWEEP
Comes into 2 sub-types: clockwise = left or anti-clockwise = right.
When hit, changes color cyclically, including white. When all colors have cycled, the bricks in the well area at the left or right of the brick get destroyed.
hits: 7
points: 100
REGION
When hit, sets a flashing pointer. When the next brick is hit, the bricks included in the rectangular area that has this last brick and the pointer at its opposite corners will be destroyed.
hits: 1
points: 5
NUKE
Must be hit repeatedly. The required number of hits depends on the percentage: the lower the percentage, the higher the number of hits (and vice-versa). On the last hit, destroys all the bricks in play.
hits: depend on %
points: 25
BRAKE
When hit, enables the BRAKE modality for 6 s or until the well is cleared of all the bricks.
While the modality is active, the speed of the bricks in play is halved and the spawning of more bricks is halted.
The modality is cumulative.
hits: 1
points: 5
CHAIN
When hit, enables the CHAIN modality for 6 s.
While the modality is active, bricks hit indirectly (f.ex. by a ball) do not get destroyed immediately, but behave just as if they had been hit by a beam.
The modality is cumulative.
hits: 1
points: 5
BEAM
When hit, changes color randomly. On the third hit, enables the BEAM powerup for 8 s.
While the powerup is active, the cannon shoots white beams, which can hit bricks of any color.
The powerup is cumulative.
hits: 3
points: 75
SLIDE
Comes into 2 sub-types: left or right.
When hit, slides to the left/right column and its points value increases by 1. When pushed out of the sides of the well, the points are assigned, the zapper is raised by as many steps as the hits that were required and some letters of "RESTORE" are awarded in proportion to the hits (the letters are kept through the levels).
hits: 1-16*
points: 25-400*
*or more due
to disturbances
RAISE
When lands on the ground, raises it uniformly by 1 step.
hits: 1
points: 0
CRUSH
When lands on the ground, lowers it uniformly by 1 step.
The goal is not affected by its destruction.
hits: 1
points: 0
EATER
Must be hit 4 times in 0.4 s. Spawns a character that sweeps the ground for 10 s, destroying the non-CRUSH bricks that are about to land.
hits: 4 in 0.4 s
points: 20
SPAWN
When hit, splits into 2 bricks of the same color and random types.
hits: 1
points: 50
CHAMELEON
When hit, changes color and type randomly.
In case of BRAVERY bonus, the points are multiplied by 10.
hits: 1
points: 50 (x10)
HEART
When hit, the boss is defeated.
hits: 1
points: 250
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
For every second the ground remains untouched, extra points equal to the current level number are awarded. This feature is disabled in BOSS and FACE-OFF mode.
The brick types are introduced gradually in the first block of levels.
At times, bricks are generated in clusters forming various shapes (lines, triangles and a few other familiar forms).
The ghosts moving in the background correspond to the bricks currently in play.
