Reaxxion - Retro Style Puzzle Action for the Windows PC

Reaxxion is a very fun puzzle type game that takes the basic ‘Breakout’ style of gameplay and greatly expands upon it. With over two hundred levels, this is a game you could sit and play for five minutes or an hour, and it is always challenging. If you like action puzzle games, I highly recommend this one. It is rated E for everyone.

The basic gameplay mechanics of this game are very simple and easy to learn, but what is fun and challenging is the amount of variation among the over 200 different levels available in the game. All you do is use the mouse to move a sort of paddle across the bottom of the screen, and the size of that paddle can get big or small depending on power-ups, missed balls, and so on. Your goal is to bounce a ball or multiple balls around and clear the board from all the objects in the way. Your targets come in various shapes and sizes, which can make for some interesting chain reactions as you send the ball into the mix.

The only parts of this game that I didn’t care for were the boss battles, where you have to beat the AI in hitting the ball. There really isn’t any strategy or method to winning, since it seems like the AI is pre-programmed to randomly miss from time to time. All you have to do is hang in there long enough for that to happen a couple of times, and you win. I would rather these battles have been left out of the game, since they aren’t even that much fun or challenging – just time consuming.

The graphics in this game are good as far as puzzle games go. It uses a futuristic setting with liquid metal, so you get a lot of shiny metallic colors and textures. Nothing is in 3D or anything like that, so it all takes place on a flat surface with some animation. This game is more about action than visual appeal, but it still looks pretty decent. Because it doesn’t have any major graphical system requirements, you don’t have to worry about needing the right kind of video card to run this game. It should work on most any computer.

Another selling point of the game is that it sports over one hour of original music, which is mostly made up of techno tracks that are as fast-paced as the gameplay. Like many puzzle games, you’ll soon get used to hearing the same handful of sound effects over and over as your ball hits the various objects on the game board.

Reaxxion is available from Steam.com for just $9.99, and the site also offers a free downloadable demo if you want to try before you buy. A Steam account is required to get the download. For the amount of fun and content it delivers, I think this would make a great addition to the library of any casual gamer.