Brain Breaker: Are We Lost Mammals of an Approaching Transcendental Epoch? (with Final Rating)

To put it simply: real life got busy. My first child is due in a couple of weeks, and life is hectic. I haven't had the time to play, let alone write, about a nearly 20 year old Japanese game. Luckily, it's a lazy weekend and I was able to get enough Brain Breaker played to call it quits.

Moving Pictures & Secret Walls

It's not that I don't enjoy wandering around a desolate city: in fact, I love that part of the game. I enjoy slowly working my way west across the city, uncovering new monsters and weapons. The combat remains challenging but not too difficult, and while the slow movement speed isn't great, it's not the end of the world. Combat get significantly easier with the introduction of the rocket launcher, which both has a larger spread and can destroy enemy projectiles. However, regardless of these traits, the problem is that I can't read Japanese.

There is a door I can not go through, that leads to a building and elevator higher than the my jet pack lets me fly over. The gate to the building seems to be the same kind of gate that led to a rocket launcher, which was opened using the ID card that I mentioned in the previous post. Trying to use the ID card here does nothing, besides providing Japanese text. Going back to the building with the jet pack, there is a computer there I can use. ID card and Ask both produced Japanese text, but I was still unable to open the door. Likewise, I destroyed the computer with rockets, but the door stayed shut and resistant to my assault. Luckily, I had spent the required time for this game, and decided to move on.

A Machine and a Memory Keep You Alive

Looking around online, Hardcore Gaming 101 features the best information I can find on Brain Breaker. The article has a good overview of the game, including information on the ending and progressing further than I did. The author noticed the same problem that I did: the game is completely incomprehensible, and they were only able to complete the game after finding a video of a play through.

Reading through the Hardcore Gaming 101 review, it's clear the game continues to be inscrutable, weird, difficult and obtuse. One notable example is needing to drop and then destroy your laser gun in order to clear a barrier. I'm sorry I didn't finish this game, if nothing else than to gain godlike psionic powers.

With nothing else to say, let's wrap this up and get on with the rating for Brain Breaker.

Visuals. The game looks nice. I don't know enough about the Sharp X1 to comment on technical achievement, but the graphics due a great job of conveying the desolate world of Brain Breaker. The various buildings that litter the landscape are impressively large, and the endless plains to the right of the starting point are appropriately desolate.

The Fun of Watching Fireworks

The enemy robots and various objects that litter the landscape are less imposing. The objects are often hard to make out due to their small size, and things like the laser gun were almost completely invisible. 5/10

Audio. The progress has been mixed since Montezuma's Revenge. One one hand, there is music in Brain Breaker! On the other hand, the music consists of a single blippy song that loops endlessly, and the song isn't particularly memorable. Or good. The special effects are in the same vein as Montezuma's Revenge: scratchy garbled noises and an appropriate "pew pew" sound for lasers. 4/10

 

Re-Inventing a Challenge for Machines

Gameplay. Aside from the inscrutable Japanese text,  my biggest complaint with this game is how bad the controls are. There is a delay for almost everything, which leads to constant deaths that should be avoided. Simple tasks, like getting out of a small hole, are rendered difficult by the stiff controls.

Combat is difficult due to the controls: I rarely died when I was facing an enemy, but often died because my character did not turn around and shoot before being fired upon. While there is none of the obscene difficulty of Montezuma's Revenge, the stiff controls detract from an otherwise enjoyable game in Brain Breaker. 4/10

Metroidvania Quotient. Like everything else in this game, it's a mixed bag. On one hand, you get new powers that let you explore the map at a better rate, and interesting new weapons that let you easily destroy your foes. Getting the jetpack and then discovering an entirely new level of the map was fantastic. Starting off the game and running into an impassable robot was a nice touch.

All you are going to want to do is get back there

On the other hand, everything is entirely mandatory. As far as I can tell from my own playing and the Hardcore Gaming 101 review is that every item is needed for progression. There is no sense of exploring and finding secrets. There isn't even the feeling of a branching path like in Montezuma's Revenge, and there seems no value in replaying it. 4/10

Set and Setting. This is where Brain Breaker really shines: the games desolate cityscape is fantastic, in scope and execution. Buildings tower up far beyond even the reach of the player's jet pack, and broken pieces of technology litter the landscape. The bizarre lay-out gives a truly alien feel to the world of Brain Breaker, with floating platforms hiding secrets and impossibly tall buildings blocking progress. Combined with the varying rate of combat, the world is a beautiful lonely place. 7/10

That leaves Brain Breaker with a score of 22, slightly beating Montezuma's Revenge and leaving plenty of room for improvement! Up next is Citadel for the BBC Micro/Electron, another game and system I know nothing about.