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Alleyway
Alleyway boxart

Developer Nintendo Research & Development 1
Intelligent Systems
Publisher Nintendo
Release date JP April 21, 1989
NA/Canada August 1989
EU September 28, 1990
Genre Action
Platform(s) Game Boy

Alleyway (アレイウエイ) is a 1989 action game[1], released as a launch title for the Game Boy in all regions. It features gameplay resembling Atari's 1976 arcade title Breakout, with the player tasked with controlling a paddle, aiming to clear stages by destroying patterns of bricks. It was among the Game Boy's four Japanese launch titles, alongside Super Mario Land, Baseball, and Yakuman. It was later re-released on the Japan exclusive Nintendo Power download service in August 2000, as well as for the Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console service beginning in June 2011[2].

The protagonist bears a strong resemblance to Mario, however, was not explicitly stated to be so until a May 1990 UK Club Nintendo article previewing the game's European release.

Gameplay[]

Gameplay

A game of Alleyway in progress

The player uses the D-Pad to control a paddle at the bottom of the screen to rebound a ball; much like in Breakout, the aim is to destroy bricks, which vanish upon contact with the ball. When all bricks on the screen are destroyed (or in the case of the bonus levels, when the timer reaches zero, too), the player is allowed to progress to the next stage. Furthermore, each brick destroyed grants the player points; there are three varieties, which provide 1, 2 and 3 points respectively - higher value bricks are situated above lower value bricks. The first 2 and 3 point bricks encountered in each stage also increase the speed of the ball upon contact.

The player will use a life if the ball reaches the bottom of the screen; the player begins with 4 lives, but may earn a maximum of 9; bonus lives are granted per 1000 points reached, although no additional lives are awarded when an excess of 10000 are earned. The game is only capable of displaying up to 9999 points; any further will be represented through a symbol; for instance, if the player earns 11000 points, this will be displayed as 1000, with a flower underneath the score counter.

Beginning with stage 4, the player's paddle will shrink in size when the ball reaches the top of the stage, making survival more challenging.

There are a total of 32 unique stages in the game; 24 standard stages, and 8 bonus levels. Standard stages essentially come in sets of 3; with the first introducing the pattern of blocks, the second making them move horizontally, and the third having the blocks slowly shift downwards towards the paddle; these are followed by a bonus stage. The standard levels require the player to break all the blocks to clear, while the bonus levels feature a time limit; if the player is able to clear all the bricks within this time they will receive a point bonus. Bricks will simply pass through blocks in the bonus stage instead of rebounding off them as in the regular stages. When the player has cleared all the stages, they will receive a short congratulatory message: the game will then loop, with the player retaining their score.

Reception[]

Alleyway generally received negative to lukewarm reception from critics upon release. Famitsu scored the game a 19/40; with its panel of four reviewers rating it a 3, 4, 6, 6, out of 10; considering the game rudimentary compared to other Breakout-like games such as Arkanoid and Crackout, and noting that it became difficult to see when the ball reached high speeds. Mean Machines awarded the game 33% and similarly criticised the game's simple nature, considering it repetitive.

The game was also criticised by publications upon its 3DS Virtual Console re-release. Nintendo Life gave this release a 3/10, criticising the basic visuals and lack of music, although noting that the game's references to the Mario series increased the game's appeal. However, the game did receive some positive feedback, with Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman's book Rules of Play praising the game's level and sound design.

Trivia[]

  • The bonus stages feature designs based off the Mario series; Mario in Bonus Stage 1, a Koopa Trooper in Bonus Stage 2, a Blooper in Bonus Stage 3, a Piranha Plant in Bonus Stage 4, a Bullet Bill in Bonus Stage 5, a Goomba in Bonus Stage 6, a Cheep Cheep in Bonus Stage 7, and Bowser in Bonus Stage 8. Furthermore, standard stages 16 to 18 resemble Mario's face.
  • As journalist Jeremy Parish[3] pointed out, the game's Japanese subtitle of ブロック崩し (Block Kuzushi, lit. Block Breaker) may be a reference to the 1979 Nintendo Color TV Game[4] dedicated console of the same name.
    Bonus Stage 1

    Bonus Stage 1; the blocks are arranged to resemble Mario.


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