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The playfield is littered with all sorts of surprises as well. The "bricks" take different forms and hold different properties depending on the theme of the level. They move around, spawn other bricks, explode the surrounding area, fire off like bullets, attract and repel one another like magnets, and group to take the form of trains, bells, and monsters, among other things. Your sphere also has to contend with falling bombs and warp holes. A new surprise awaits with every level, and you'll often find yourself wondering what's going to happen next.The last level of each world features a boss battle, usually a conglomeration of bricks acting together in the form of a serpent or an alien. The boss levels are really no different than the regular levels, but the action is more frenetic and the challenge is amped up. As if it wasn't already fun enough, Ricochet: Lost Worlds adds the element of collectible Sonic the Hedgehog-style rings. There are five rings hiding in each level, and when you collect 35 of them, the game awards you with an extra life. Collect all five in one level and get five bonus rings. In the early levels, it doesn't take long to reach 35, but it isn't long before the rings start ducking into some fairly clever hiding places. Value Once you've played through the game's eleventy-hundred and billion levels (and by eleventy-hundred and billion, I mean exactly 160), you can use the level editor to create your own. For those interested, Reflexive's web site has extensive documentation on designing your own levels. And apparently quite a few people are; the web site also features a host of the best user-created levels available free for download, extending the game's replay value almost indefinitely.If you're looking for a Breakout clone, you can't do better than Ricochet Lost Worlds. The frenzied action, lush graphics and clever level design make this the best game of its kind on any platform. If you still don't believe me, download the demo. And when you're ready to buy it—not if, but when—you'll only have to shell out twenty bones. You can't get even get a cup of coffee for that nowadays…okay, a cup of coffee, sure, but not a coffee maker. Pros • Rich graphics, fluid animations, and stellar particle effects
• A veritable treasure trove of power-ups and surprises
• Clever level design and frantic gameplayCons • Occasional slow-down on older machines
• So good it'll spoil you for any other Breakout-esque game
• Shouldn't be installed on any machine on which you hope to get anything productive accomplished
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