Joystiq [Nintendo]

Arkanoid follows the same basic formula as every post-Breakout block-breaking game. You move a paddle on the bottom of the screen to intercept a ball and send it into a cleverly-arranged set of rectangular bricks on the top. Some of the bricks take multiple hits to destroy, and some can't be destroyed. Occasionally, powerup items will fall down that extend your paddle, equip it with a projectile weapon, slow the ball, or provide some other benefit. Enemies will lazily float down from the top of the stage to mess with your trajectory.

It's hard to say what elevates Arkanoid above the thousands of clones that followed (one of which is available on WiiWare). Most of them have extra features or gimmicks, but those often feel like too much. Arkanoid's static levels and modest array of powerups offer just enough variation without having extra junk getting in the way of the crux of the game: moving the paddle around and breaking blocks.

One thing that Arkanoid and its immediate sequels have that no other block breaking game has (including, sadly, Arkanoid DS) is this strange prog-rock sci-fi aesthetic. The logo's signature typeface, the trippy tiled backgrounds, and the vaguely abstract enemies give Arkanoid a unique, memorable look.

The catch with Arkanoid on the Virtual Console, of course, is that it wouldn't include the Vaus Controller, the NES paddle controller that was bundled with each cartridge. Wiimote motion sensing or pointer-based analog control might work (it worked okay for Cutie-Q in Namco Museum Remix), but I doubt Nintendo would allow that kind of work to be done on something that isn't a big first-party game like Pokémon Snap.

Arkanoid remains playable with the D-pad, in any case, and I really want the opportunity to give my "dollar votes" in support of the notion that Arkanoid is rad.