Standard Arkanoid clone
The original ball bashing arcade game of Breakout is the clear inspiration for Cyber Sphere (and its sequel CyberSphere Plus) with other games like the almost as famous Arkanoid (and Arkanoid 2) also having a major influence. For those unaware of this type of game, they form a genre of their own which involves smacking a ball against a series of bricks with the intention of getting rid of them all in order to advance to the next level. Mixing things up are the wide range of level designs with plenty of different types of block and which might require multiple hits to destroy them or which might even be invisible. A number of power-ups are also available and which include the obligatory multi-ball and the ability to hold the ball to allow you to target a specific area. There's not much else to the game than knocking out bricks, but like others in the genre it is strangely addictive. However, Cyber Sphere ranks somewhere in the middle of the list as it lacks the appeal of the best, like Arkanoid 2. Firstly, this doesn't really do anything new with the idea and is simply a standard retread of what has gone before. While visually slightly better than the original Arkanoid it is certainly not as pretty as the sequel but a greater problem is the game's speed. The action never really gets as fast as it should, thanks to the slow ball movement and which takes away from the insanity and challenge of the best such games, turning what should be a frenetic experience into an overly leisurely one. The finest example of the genre remains Arkanoid 2 and there is little reason to play Cyber Sphere when that is also available unless you are a diehard fan. The little known Batty is also worth a look, mainly because of its two-player mode.
