Fantastic! – MacBrickout Review

I was so excited when I saw this game would be coming to the iPhone! I must've played it about 10 years ago, and it's always been my favorite breakout-style game. It's a load of fun and wonderfully made. Tons of little easter eggs to find too (some of which I remember, and some which surprise me!). You can only get a good sense of the original graphics when you play it on a non-retina display, otherwise it gets smoothed out a bit. However, for best maneuverability and visibility I recommend playing it on an iPad at 2x size. That said, I have a few things of note and suggestions: - There are only two control modes: absolute and relative. With both of these, you still have to move your finger most of the way across the screen. And if your screen isn't immaculate, or if you have a screen protector on, it can be a very imprecise way of moving the paddle. I find it more difficult in general than using a mouse in the original version. I hope better options are added in the future. - This app only includes 1 of the 3(?) level sets that were in the original game. Hopefully those will be added in a future update...? And will we see support for the level editor as well? - There's currently no way to sync your progress between devices, or even export/import a progress file. This would be quite useful. - There is no support for the landscape orientation. I'm guessing this was a deliberate choice, but it seems like it might be a natural thing to add later. Especially on the iPad...
Review by jtbandes_ on MacBrickout.