What does the EX stand for? Extended? Extra? It might well stand for Exasperating, at least as far as owners of the original IonBall are concerned. You may recall, dear reader, the events of last week which were the cause of some mild furore: the removal of several games from the Marketplace because of licenses expiring, which resulted in previous purchasers of said games no longer being able to redownload them. Well, it turns out that the release of IonBall EX was accompanied by the silent removal of the original IonBall from the Marketplace, for no good reason. So, previously own IonBall, and want to play it again having removed it from your system? Bad luck! You’ll just have to purchase and download the newer, snazzier version for the princely sum of £2.29.

Not, exactly, a good start. But still, this is a review of the game itself, not of the publisher’s business practices. So how does IonBall EX stand up? Those of you who remember my review of the original IonBall will remember that I described it as a solid breakout clone with a few interesting ideas, but that didn’t really live up to its pricepoint. IonBall EX certainly isn’t undercutting the original in terms of price, so what new things does it bring to the table?

Well, for one thing, Achievements. As this is now an official Xbox Live title, purchasers get to accumulate Gamerscore. So that’s good, and adds a new, compulsive element to the proceedings.

The checkpointing system has been significantly overhauled – as with the original, you can continue where you left off. Unlike the original, it now remembers what upgrades you’d purchased. Which is nice.

Leaderboards have also been implemented, something the original was crying out for. This is coupled with a system which allows you to continue from the point of failure should you see a Game Over screen, albeit docking you a significant amount of points for doing so. However, for some reason these do not seem to be global leaderboards, only showing you and your friends’ scores. Which, if none of your friends own the game, will lead to a bit of a lonely leaderboard.

But that’s the framework: what about the game itself?

Once again, the game features 35 levels. However, the 35 levels are different (for the most part – the boss fights remain familiar), and have a raft of new obstacles joining in: blowers, which push the ball around but don’t change its momentum; bricks which launch deadly shards on being destroyed; two-way teleporters. These add some interesting challenges to the mix, and are cannily combined with some tricky layouts to good effect.

Less welcome is the reappearance of the random, hovering enemies from the original game. These were an annoyance in the first place, but when combined with levels that require pixel-perfect aim to launch the ball through narrow corridors of obstacles, finally making the shot only to have it ruined by a robot coming from off screen and knocking your ball off course is infuriating. They add only frustration to the game, and their continuing inclusion genuinely baffles me.

Aside from that… nothing has changed. The power-ups are the same, the levelling system is the same, the number of levels is the same… this is, quite simply, more of the same for fans of the original.

I didn’t think the original was really worth £1.99; I don’t believe that this game is worth £2.29. The fact that the publishers seemed happy to remove the original from the Marketplace without warning doesn’t exactly bode well for the future of this title, either. Still, if you absolutely must get your Breakout fix, there are worse games than this around.

IonBall EX xBox Live Achievements

• I Am Spartacus (5 points): Defeat the Centurion.
• Serious Skills (15 points): Play for 2 minutes without dying.
• Hands Free (10 points): IonBall is in play for more than 30 seconds without touching the bat.
• Double Time (10 points): Hold Fastball and Multiball mutators at the same time.
• Triple Threat (10 points): Have three balls in play at the same time.
• Point Break (10 points): Get x5 score multiplier.
• Eight Ball (10 points): Destroy 8 bricks in a row without the ball touching the platform.
• Wipeout (5 points): Destroy all remaining bricks with bomb mutator.
• Brass Balls (10 points): Max out the ball power upgrade.
• IONBALL (10 points): Max out the IonBall upgrade.
• Size Matters (10 points): Max out bat growth upgrade.
• Spread it out (15 points): Apply every upgrade at least once in a game.
• Record Breaker (50 points): Score 1000000 points.
• Defeat Leviathan (30 points): Defeat the final boss.

IonBall EX Gameplay Video

IonBall EX Screenshots

Version Under Review : 1.0

Website : ironsunstudios, Twitter : @IronSunStudios

There is a trial version available and the full version is available for $2.99, we are not sure what are the limitations of the trial version.

Our Rating for IonBall EX

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