Windows Phone Game Review: 3D Akranoid

3D Akranoid is a Windows Phone game that brings the classic arcade game Akranoid to your Windows Phone but with a slight twist.  Akranoid is an arcade game where you have layers of bricks or tiles that you have to destroy before they reach the bottom of the screen. That's the game premise of 3D Akranoid but instead of a two-dimensional screen, you play the game in 3D.

You face the wall of bricks and they slowly advance across the gaming field towards your position. Armed with a bouncy ball, you tap the screen to send it towards the bricks. Unlike the 2D versions, you lack a paddle to keep the ball in play. If you miss tapping the ball on it's return, the ball simply bounces off what would be the back wall of the game screen.

Controlling the balls direction is a little challenging and takes some time to get used to. Basically, you tap the screen in the direction you want the ball to head towards and it will eventually bounce that way. You can speed things up by striking the ball directly and the faster you tap, the faster the ball bounces.

Along the back wall of the playing field colored bonus dots will appear that if hit will give your ball special abilities, slow the movement of the bricks and back them up a bit.

The goal of 3D Akranoid is simple. Smash all the bricks before they cross the playing field. Once you eliminate all the bricks, you advance to the next level. 3D Akranoid has infinite levels, offering plenty of gaming and with each level the game becomes more challenging. The pace of the brick's advance quickens and you run into bricks that take multiple hits to eliminate.

Graphics and animations are nice and once you get the ball controls down pat, game play is fun. I would have liked to have seen a Help/How-to Section and there is no way to pause the game.  You can hit the back button to return to 3D Akranoid's main menu but when you return to the game, you return to the starting point of whatever level you are currently at.  The game really needs a traditional pause function where you can return to the game where you left. Regardless, all in all, 3D Akranoid is a decent game for your Windows Phone that has potential. 

3D Akranoid is a free, ad supported game that you can grab here at the Windows Phone Marketplace.