I recently came across an announcement on Twitter about a new Breakout type game called Radial 50 that was just released in the Appstore.  I figured I would give it a spin and see what new twists it has added to one of my favorite games.  So what is Radial 50?  Here is their description from their website:

A new spin on an arcade classic – Radial 50 features fifty intense rounds, challenging gameplay for both beginners & arcade veterans, and a location based leaderboard to track your scores against friends.

Radial 50 definitely offers a new “Spin” on this classic game since your game board is now round.  The objective of the game is the same though, control your paddle so that you direct the ball at the bricks and break them up so they are removed from the game board.  As the game pieces are removed from the board, your goal is to get to the middle of the board and hit the diamond to finish the level.  The game offers 50 levels of game play and starts out slow so that you can learn the controls and figure out the rules of the game. The developers did a really good job at offering some good tutorials at the start of the early levels to help teach you the rules of the game.   As you proceed through the various levels, the game play really starts to pick up and the help will start to go away.  As you learn the game, you can also go into the options menu and disable the help all together.

The first challenge with the game will be learning how to control your paddle. You control the paddle by sliding your finger up and down in the control paddle area.  The paddle area is controlled by user preferences and can be set to right or left.  This takes a little bit to get used to because you easily find yourself dragging your finger horizontally around the panel to rotate it.  From what I can tell the paddle will still move, but the farther you get away from the control paddle area the less the paddle will move.

Once you learn how to control the paddle, you primary objective is to project the ball towards the targets.  Striking the targets will eventually unlock the center defense, allowing you to strike the inner most diamond and advance to the next round.  As you break down these targets, you begin to accumlate points.  Points are also accumulated by collecting particles as well as completing the round in a timely manner.  You also have to make sure that you don’t let the ball strike the wall too many times which will eliminate your health. Health will regenerate over time, but once you lose all health the game is over.    Whats is also nice is that the game offers some feedback as the ball hits the wall.  This is helpful for times when you are using your paddle to collect particles, and you lose track of the ball.  When the ball hits the wall, your iPhone will vibrate a bit and you will know that you need to move your paddle to block the ball so it won’t hit the wall anymore.

You also have the ability to earn various bonuses throughout each round, or as the round completes.  You can get bonsues based on time and health, but you also get bonuses on the number of particles you collect.  For example, you can get a bonus if you complete the level without losing any health.  You can also earn some bonsues for the number of particles that you collect throughout the round.

The game also offers an extensive list of achievements that you can try to complete.  There are 20 different achievements available to you, but some of them do not unlock until you reach other achievements.  I should also note that achievements don’t give you extra points that would affect your ranking in the leaderboard, they are just their for your own personal goals.

Radial 50 also offers a nice social aspect to the game.  The game offers the ability to post your various scores to their leaderboards.  The leaderboards have various categories broken down by by your device and your city, all the way up to a global leader board across everyone who has registered with the community.  The registration process was simple and you can easily post your latest score to the leaderboard, as well as Twitter and Facebook.

The only real gripe that I have with the game has to do with a side effect that is caused by the fast game play at times.  The ball will easily get lost in the mix because of how fast it can move at times.  I would also like to see them expand on various game modes that are available.  This would give you more exposure to all of the levels in the game.

Overall, I was very suprised about how fun this game is.  The game play is fun and addicting, and I think people will really enjoy the various challenges that the game provides.  For $1.99, I would highly recommend this game, but be prepared to get hooked.  Make sure you visit the website link below and check out the “First to 50″ Contest link.  They are giving away some great prizes to the people who can complete all 50 levels.

Enjoy, and don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Radial 50 [iTunes Link]
Radial 50 Website