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Ababall Color
October 2, 2001
Now you may be thinking that Ababall is just another “Breakout”-style clone, and in many ways you would be right. You control the paddle at the bottom of the screen and use it to bounce a ball that heads up to the top of the screen to break all of the bricks. Once they’re all gone, you proceed to the next level for a little more brick-breaking action. We’ve all played that kind of game before, though probably not so often as we’ve played Solitaire on the computer at work.
But Ababall is quite a bit different from that. For starters, the graphics and colors are simply amazing on a color Palm OS device. Don’t fret if you don’t have one, as there is a greyscale version of Ababall available as well— but you will be jealous once you see what you’re missing. As you can see from the screenshot samples below, iambic really has done a first-rate job of making a beautiful game.
You can use either the four main buttons on the front of your handheld, or you can use your stylus. And the gameplay itself is also very challenging—I see now why you are given the option to continue after the game is over. Thankfully though you don’t have to put another quarter in to keep going, like you would at the arcade. This gives you a better chance of seeing some more of those thirty-two levels. There’s a lot of variety too- special items appear that give you large point bonuses if you can hit them. And when you break certain bricks on each level other powerups float down to you. If you can catch them, you can get the opportunity to get an extra paddle or make your paddle bigger; you can make it sticky which gives you a better chance of hitting the last couple of bricks on the level by giving you the opportunity to catch and then aim the release of the ball. Some powerups speed up play, while others slow it down.
My favorites are the ones that split the ball into three parts, enabling me to really clean up a level fast (assuming that I can keep them all going) or that turn the ball red and enable it to go through any brick without bouncing on impact. Watch out though- there are powerups that really power you down, by making your paddle smaller or even by taking away a life.
Of course if you’re good enough, there’s always the Ababall Hall of Fame. There’s one on your handheld, and if you think you’re really good, you can post your high scores on the web and see where you stand amongst other iambic gamers. If you’re ready for the challenge, head on over to the Ababall web site and get a free trial. Ababall Color costs $14.95 and takes up about 600K of space on your Palm OS device, while Ababall Greyscale costs $11.95 and needs about 400K of room. Just remember though that I warned you— get your work done before you start playing, because you won’t want to put Ababall down.
PocketGoddess Rating for Ababall Color: 
