Shatter: Brick breaking madness at a price that won’t break the bank.

Shatter is a highly stylized game with all the solid concepts of a brick breaker, and it features some innovative and very refreshing concepts. Some game play elements are very similar to those found in many shmups.

There are three different stage layouts vertical, horizontal, and circular. The game has three other features, all available on the launching pad. The first is the suck ability, which causes the ball, points, and loose blocks to gravitate toward the pad. The second is the blow ability, which pushes any incoming objects away from the pad. Lastly, there is a shielding function, that destroys any objects coming your way at the expense of energy. In addition to these features, there are two ball upgrades, maneuverable and unbreakable. Maneuverable makes the ball become affected more by the suck and blow options as well as ricochets. Unbreakable makes it so that the ball can break through all blocks until hitting a wall. There are also other random power ups, including, 1 ups, double points, double multiplier, and bonus energy. There is also a shard shower, which is used by pushing triangle when the power bar is filled.

The core of the game is the Mission Mode. This mode consists of you playing 10 stages and there is a boss at the end of each stage. In between worlds, there is a bonus game where you have to keep 3 balls afloat for as long as possible for extra points. The game features progressive leaderboards, which keeps the game very competitive amongst friends. One problem with this mode is that when you break the last brick, you don’t have a chance to get any free floating points, so you have to stay diligent in collecting the points. Using power ups and perks will help you get a higher score. Also, if you use a shard storm, that nets you a million points for each time it is used. After beating the game, you unlock Boss Rush Mode, which is what it says it is. You fight every boss consecutively, and try to get the best possible time. Also, you unlock a bonus point mode after playing all three types of bonus rounds. This mode is frantically fun and can be extremely frustrating as well.

All in all, Shatter is definitely a fun game to play, and it can be picked up any time and will still be enjoyable. I am extremely satisfied with all three modes of play, and for $7.99 it is one of the better purchases you can make. I am going to score this game an 8 out of 10, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone.