The first thing that caught my eye was the very well designed stages. One stage would be hard to master, and others would be a very uniquely made to look like a certain object (IE. Personal Computer). There are several different types of blocks, such as metal, normal, and ice. The normal ones take one hit, the metal ones several depending on the color, and the ice ones are huge and each take three hits.

These blocks also look very nice. They're very detailed, especially the ice blocks. The titanium blocks looks hi-tech, the metal blocks look shiny, and the normal blocks look dull. In other words, they all look like what they should. There are scrolling backgrounds that look just as nice, especially the space background. It was just plain amazing. The power-up effects were very detailed, as well.

Oddly enough, the sound was great! What do you think a metal ball hitting a brick would sound like? What you are imagining is precisely what this sounds like. The music was techno-dance stuff, but guess what? It was good! Yes, that's right. This is proof that techno-dance music can, in fact, be good. I didn't believe it at first, but this game made me a believer.

No matter how cool all of the above is, the best aspects lied in the game play (as they should). Like most breakout games, you control the paddle with your mouse. Most of the power-ups have been seen before, but not with such great execution. It's hard to explain what I mean by this...but just play it. You'll get the "feel" of what I mean. However, those aren't what makes the game as cool as it is. What makes this game just great and different from any other breakout game I've ever played, is the very well implemented ball rotation. DX-Ball tried to do this, but it ended up just being what side of the paddle you use to hit it. This game is much cooler though, in that respect. Depending on the angle and speed that you hit the ball, you can make the ball reverse its direction completely. It's a really awesome feature, but you'll have to play the game to see what I mean (NOTE: You can turn the ball rotation off, but I don't recommend it. In fact, I discourage it.)

The Bottom Line: BeatBall is my favorite breakout game, and a nice breath of fresh air in the stagnant world of breakout games. And, with 120 levels, it should keep you busy.

Note 1: Although this game is labeled as adware, (1) it has no spyware, and (2) the only ads are those advertising the author's music CDs. He can hardly be blamed for that.