BreakThru! (USA)
BreakThru! (ブレイクスルー) is a tile-matching puzzle video game released for the Windows and DOS in 1994. It was created by the Japanese company Zoo Corporation and published by Spectrum Holobyte, exclusively for the North American market.
In the same year the game was ported for the Super NES and the original Game Boy. These two versions were developed by different companies and published by Spectrum Holobyte in North America.
A year later, Shoeisha ported/published the game in Japan for the Sega Saturn and PlayStation.
In the game, the player must move the cursor amongst a grid of different colored squares. All squares must be "removed", and squares can only be removed if they are directly touching two or more squares of the same color. Once squares are removed, blocks then shift downward and either to the left or right, to fill in the blanks. The game ends when either all blocks are removed, or time has run out.
If the player comes to a point in which none of the remaining square match, a few options remain. A few "special items" help clear out blocks that don't necessarily match, such as an airplane block that eliminates a full line of square in the direction it is pointed in, or a block of dynamite that blows up every square touching it. Additionally, the player can also chose to drop new, randomly generated squares into the equation.
In the same year the game was ported for the Super NES and the original Game Boy. These two versions were developed by different companies and published by Spectrum Holobyte in North America.
A year later, Shoeisha ported/published the game in Japan for the Sega Saturn and PlayStation.
In the game, the player must move the cursor amongst a grid of different colored squares. All squares must be "removed", and squares can only be removed if they are directly touching two or more squares of the same color. Once squares are removed, blocks then shift downward and either to the left or right, to fill in the blanks. The game ends when either all blocks are removed, or time has run out.
If the player comes to a point in which none of the remaining square match, a few options remain. A few "special items" help clear out blocks that don't necessarily match, such as an airplane block that eliminates a full line of square in the direction it is pointed in, or a block of dynamite that blows up every square touching it. Additionally, the player can also chose to drop new, randomly generated squares into the equation.
BreakThru! (USA)
Technical
CPU
- maincpu 5A22 (@ 21 Mhz)
- soundcpu SPC700 (@ 1 Mhz)
Chipset
- SNES Custom DSP (SPC700)
Display
- Orientation Yoko
- Resolution 255 x 225
- Frequency 60.098476 Hz
Controlers
- Number of players 2
- Number of buttons 6
- Kind of controler
- joy (8 ways)
- joy (8 ways)
- joy (8 ways)
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BreakThru! (USA) Screenshots
Development
The game is commonly attributed to being designed by Alexey Pajitnov , who also originally designed Tetris, and published by Spectrum Holobyte, the company who first published Tetris outside of Soviet Union, Pajitnov's home country. However, despite Pajitnov's name and face being on the game's title screen and box art, the PC version of the game clearly states that he only "endorses" and his only actual credits for the game is a "Special Thanks".
After being released for the PC, DOS and Super Nintendo, the game was later ported in black and white to the original Game Boy. Because the game's original concept is so heavily based on matching same colored squares, the squares in this version of the game have different patterns within them to distinguish between different square types. Another version of the game, identical to the Super Nintendo version, was made playable on the Sega Genesis exclusively through the Sega Channel subscription service, which allowed subscribers to temporarily download games to their Sega Genesis system for as long as the system was left on. Additionally, ports for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn were released exclusively in Japan by Shoeisha.
After being released for the PC, DOS and Super Nintendo, the game was later ported in black and white to the original Game Boy. Because the game's original concept is so heavily based on matching same colored squares, the squares in this version of the game have different patterns within them to distinguish between different square types. Another version of the game, identical to the Super Nintendo version, was made playable on the Sega Genesis exclusively through the Sega Channel subscription service, which allowed subscribers to temporarily download games to their Sega Genesis system for as long as the system was left on. Additionally, ports for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn were released exclusively in Japan by Shoeisha.
Reception
Reception for the game was mixed. Allgame gave it a four out of five rating, stating that while the graphics and sound effects were "less than dazzling", the gameplay was praised, stating that it had "...that special Pajitnov mix of simplicity and strategy that makes for a compelling, addictive experience."Honest Gamers appreciated the initial concept of the game, but criticized how it frequently degrades into slow and frustrating gameplay once none of the remaining squares match each other.
