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Game SitesI’m going to be totally honest here. I put off reviewing Breakdown at BugleGames because I thought it was just another version of Collapse. *^_^* And it pretty much is, but it’s also (unexpectedly) much, MUCH harder.
For brevity’s sake I’m going to assume that you’re familiar with Collapse already. If you aren’t, click the link to Collapse and go read it. ^_^
Now, here’s how Breakdown is different.
1. It’s a lot faster.
Right from the start, Breakdown is much faster than Collapse. There’s no time to waste!
On the upside, the speed doesn’t seem to accelerate quite as quickly as in Collapse. So you have quite a few levels before you get to the pants-wettingly-fast stage.
2. It’s easier to die.
Aside from the increased speed, it’s flat out easier to die here. Why? Well, the point of death is when you hit the top of the screen. In regular Collapse you can hit the top of the screen and be just fine. It’s only when the next line pushes you above that point that kills you.
Not here! If you reach the top you’re D-E-A-D!
3. There are more colors.
In regular Collapse you start with red, green, and blue blocks. At level 4 white blocks get tossed into the mix. And that’s it. With Breakdown you start with red, green, and blue blocks. But then it starts getting more complicated.
- Level 3 – White blocks are added.
- Level 6 – Cue the yellow blocks!
- Level 9 – Aqua?? Wtf?
Judging by the pattern, I’d say you get a new color every three levels. But I never got to level 12, so I can’t say for certain. *^_^*
No matter what, it’s a heck of a lot harder to find groups of three same-color blocks when you’re dealing with 5+ colors!
4. No area bombs.
Area bombs are “regular” bombs that occasionally crop up in new lines. When clicked, they take out a wide area of blocks. Woohoo!!
Except that Breakdown doesn’t have them. Instead you get three “killer bombs” to the side which are sometimes AWESOME and sometimes they totally suck. You can launch one at any time and it’ll bounce around the top, taking out a block here and there. If the block is part of a group, it takes the whole group out.
I had one bomb bounce around until the timer ran out, taking dozens of blocks with it. And I had another bomb hit one (1) block before it bounced away. >_<
So! Don’t rely on killer bombs to save your butt. And remember, those three bombs have to last your entire game!
5. Extra time at the end!
One of my pet peeves of this type of game is that once the last line loads, your time is up. It doesn’t matter if there’s a bomb on it or anything. You can’t click it!
Breakdown finally changes that. (SWEET!) After the last line loads, you have 5 seconds to click and clear whatever you can!
This makes me extremely happy. ^_^ Those last 5 seconds are a godsend, so use them!!
Final Rating
The graphics on Breakdown are a little rough, but the more I played it, the more I *got* the game. ^_^ And quite to my surprise, I think I might like this more than the original!
With regular Collapse, the challenge is to keep the board clear (and make big matches) as the game gets faster and faster. With Breakdown the challenge is to keep the board clear (and make big matches) even though you’re dealing with more and more colors. It seems like a small change, but it makes a huge difference!
So, what would I rate this?
*Ponders*
I think I’ll go for 4.5 stars out of 5. The erratic nature of the killer bombs is the only strike against this one.
Try it and share your own rating! ^_^ What do you think of the additional colors? And if you get to level 12, is there another color added? (Seriously, I want to know!)
Similar Games
If you like Breakdown, you might also like some of these games!
- Spongebob Squarepants Collapse at IWON – This might be my favorite version of Collapse. ^_^
- Poppit! at Pogo – Untimed, unrushed, and addictive. Try it!
- Merry Poppings at Slingo – Pop balloons and play with oodles of powerups!
