By Ned Jordan
Super Newtronic is a Breakout style game with a big twist - you have no
paddle. However, you have two alternatives at your disposal for keeping the
little brick-busting pinballs in play and breaking bricks. The first is the
ability to create little explosions by tapping the screen. These explosions
don't affect the bricks, but their shockwaves will propel a ball in the opposite
direction. The other alternative is the ability to draw a line of any shape on
the screen. These lines then become temporary barriers that the balls will
bounce off of. With a creative use of curves and angles, you can set-up directed
ricochets and bounce-backs that will clear clusters of bricks in a flash. There
is one thing preventing you from drawing lines and setting off explosions
everywhere, though, and that thing is energy. When you create an explosion or
draw a line it drains energy from your energy bar, and the bar takes a short
time to recharge. There's not quite enough energy available to draw a single
line all of the way across the screen, so you'll have to be smart and judicious
when creating lines and explosions.
There are two modes in the game. One has you holding out as long as possible
against a slowly descending array of blocks. If the blocks reach the bottom or
you lose all of your balls by letting them fall to the bottom of the screen,
your game ends. The other mode is a challenge mode in which you're given a
brick-filled level and challenged to wipe it all out before the timer expires.
Both modes include a variety of brick types, including ones that contain extra
balls or change the direction of gravity when hit.
I like the concept and design of the game, but the execution leaves a lot to
be desired. Explosions are difficult to use, and more than half of the time you
try to create one you get a short line instead. You're supposed to be able to
create a large explosion by holding your finger down for a second before
releasing it, but there doesn't seem to be any benefit for doing so since the
resulting explosion looks pretty much the same. You can't lose your balls in
challenge mode, but if they get stuck on the bottom of the screen you need to
try to 'bounce' them back into the air with explosions, which is an exercise in
frustration. And the time limits are so tight in this mode that all of the time
wasted trying to get the balls airborne again inevitably leads to failing the
level. Accurate control and touch detection are such issues in the game, that
even the tutorial levels can be frustrating.
Final Rating: 60%
