0 to Z of Playstation 1 Games - Ball Breakers

        

Ball Breakers also known as Moho in Europe is a 3^rd person Sci-Fi action fighting game developed by Lost Toys Ltd and published by Take-Two Interactive. The game released in North America and across Europe in late August 2000, the game also released on Windows and the Dreamcast in 2000 as well.

The game is made up of seven different events for your synthetic prisoner to face in their quest for freedom, these are pursuit, Last Man Rolling, Race, King of the Hill, Run the Gauntlet, Tag and Powerball as you face off against fellow inmates and guards.

The game has a total of six playable characters to choose from these are Benny, Lockdown, SO-PH-IE, Angel, Apostie, and Benny, these characters each have their own stats which cover strength, speed, agility and stamina.

Ball Breakers has a total of 80 levels to play through plus seven games modes with an additional two bonus modes which can be unlocked. These modes include Run the Gauntlet has the player trying to make it to a specific location within the time limit that has been set, this is made harder for the player with obstacles such as flame throwers, spikes and gun turrets trying to slow you down, as well as enemy warriors.

 

Pursuit is pretty much the same as Run the Gauntlet but with one major change with the stage slowly crumbling away behind you making enemies and obstacles much more of a danger to the player with slow downs in progress having the potential to be costly.

Powerball has the player collecting balls throughout the arena, once collected the player throws them at a goalpost before the games times runs out. Tag has you collecting a set number of tokens that have been scattered throughout the arena, the player must collect these within the set time limit.

 

King of the Hill mode has the player taking control of a hill and defending it from attacking inmates, to fight off the encroaching inmates the O button is used to attack, while blocking is done by hitting the triangle button, the player can also throw using the square button, while moving around you can brake using the R1 shoulder button. In addition the game offers a 2 player split screen mode.

The game is set in a universe of human and synthetic life forms, the synthetic life forms are considered second class citizens by the humans, taking place on a prison colony called Alpha Prime, a world with only one purpose to hold the criminals of the galaxy.

The player takes on the role of a synthetic prisoner sentenced to spent all eternity on Alpha Prime for a crime you did not commit, in order to earn your freedom you must compete against other inmates in competitions across ten different facilities in the prison complex, to compete however you must have your legs removed and replaced by a rolling sphere as you compete against some of the most hardened and savage humanoids in the galaxy.

Critically while receiving a few low scores the game on the whole scored pretty well with critics, with reviews ranging from very good to good and to above average scores, as usual we will start with the best which comes from Playstation Illustrated with an 88 review score.

 

They had the follow to say on the game, while Ball Breakers may not be genre busting and at times it may be too damn hard for its own good, but in the end it is a decidedly entertaining little title that will supply you with quite a few hours of cheap enjoyment. The review said they had more enjoyment from this $10 game than some $50 epics they have played.

German Publication Video Games were up next with an 83 rated review, games xtreme also scored the game at an 83 as well they called the game original and colourful as well as being compelling and leaving you wanting more. While being a little apprehensive at first the reviewer thought the game was a little strange, but after sitting down for a few hours and playing it the review realised first impressions and aren't always the right ones. The review concluded with if you’re looking after something a little bit different, this game could be exactly what you’re looking for.

Absolute Playstation also scored the game at an 83, they opened by saying this game is the first in the ultra cheap range of games that they have been truly impressed with. Not only does it provide amazing value for money, but it plays better than mode full priced games out there. They concluded with the hopes that this is the first of many quality budget tiles to be released.

A small drop in review score for the next with a 75 score from three reviewers, Game Revolution, Gaming Age and IGN. Starting with Game Revolution who called Ball Breakers a new and fun approach to a sports/ action game, calling the action fast paced and the variety of arenas making it perfect for killing some time. Even if it doesn’t deliver the most rewarding gaming experience the $10 bargain bin price makes it pretty easy to buy.

Gaming Age called the game the best of the current $9.99 line up, calling the game a fun little action title that’s inexpensive, making it an easy impulsive purchase. IGN said overall Ball Breakers is a pleasant surprise, while not amazing by any stretch, there are enough pluses to stop the game from sinking into value priced hell. They concluded with the reviewer hoping the game sells well, not because it is amazing but because for $10 you’re not going to find a better new game and for a first time effort developer Lost Toys have got something genuinely fun on their hands.

Dropping to the other end of the review scale we find one truly abysmal review score for the game which comes from French publication Joypad, who said they found not attraction to the game and in short players should avoid the game under the penalty of being disgusted at themselves (google translation probably wont be right).

After the games reviews dipping to a dismal level the next lowest review score is a little better with a below average score of 43 from GameCola.net. The review felt that the game seemed unfinished and was released too early, with the review sad on this, with the review comparing the game to Powerstone levels of success had it had more time.

GameSpot were next up with an average score of 53 with the reviewer saying if you look past the painfully weak back story and painfully simple graphics you’ll find there is an enjoyable game to be played. Heading back over to France and Jeuxvideo.com who scored the game at an average 55.

This is the part of 0 to Z where is visit four online retailers and see what the availability of the title is, and what price you would be looking at if you wanted to pick this title up, the sites that I will be using for this are Amazon.com, eStarland.com, retrogames.co.uk and Gamedude.com I know the last one is very location specific, but from a podcast I listen to, I’ve heard they have a huge stock of older games, Ebay has now been dropped unless the game is unavailable at other retailers.

So lets get down to business with Gamedude where this game seems pretty common, with Gamedude paying just 5 cents if you are looking to trade in your copy of Ball Breakers. On the other hand if you are in the market for a copy of the game, then one can be picked up pretty cheaply at $2.

Retrogames.co.uk have one copy of the game currently available, this copy is the PAL version of the game so is titled Moho. This copy is priced up at £5 and is a complete used copy of the game, with a disc in excellent condition with a disc  quality rating of 9/10.

Moving on to eStarland.com we find the game listed with two copies available, the first copy is a complete used copy and is priced up at $3.75. The second copy available is a new copy of the game, this can be picked up pretty cheaply with a $7.95 price tag. eStarland.com also offer a trade in for the game, with the site offer up to 94 cents for a complete used copy of the game, this price drops to just 33 cents for a disc only copy.

 

Lastly we have Amazon.com where we have a good supply of the game available, the first page however is suffering from the disc only disease with the exception of one copy, a very good condition copy priced at $3.99, this copy however is shipped by Amazon so the free shipping only applies to orders over $25 or Prime users.

Good quality and complete used copies however were quick to find with a couple available for between $6.77 and $6.98. while a very good condition and complete used copy cant currently be picked up for just $7.53, a professionally refurbished used copy in overall very good condition can be picked up for a similar price as well.

A couple of like new used copies are available for $9.53 and $9.54 respectively these two copies while undercut by three new copies, these however are shipped by Amazon so the minimum $25 spend or Prime membership are required for the free shipping.

New prices for the game are mostly priced between $9.45 and $16 48 with a handful of copies going over this price range with the majority peaking at $23.98, a couple of copies does go beyond this price a like new copy is priced at $24.98 while another new copy is priced at $39.64.

Written by

P J Gibbon