Alleyway

Alleyway (アレイウエイ) is a 1989 action game developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo as a global launch title for the Game Boy. It is a Breakout clone and one of the first four games developed and released for the system. The game was released first in Japan in 1989, in North America later that year, and in Europe in 1990. It was later re-released via online distribution for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console in June 2011.

Players experienced with such games as Breakout and Arkanoid, will be very familiar with the concept of Alleyway: the player controls a small paddle with the aim of hitting a constellation of bricks with a ball. Each brick disappears once hit with the ball and the goal is to ensure the whole screen is devoid of bricks. Once this is achieved the player then moves onto the next level which becomes that little bit harder to clear. After clearing all of the games 32 stages (24 basic and 8 bonus) the game ends.

The name "Alleyway" references the in-game gateway that the player's spaceship (represented as a paddle) must pass through. While Alleyway is a portable clone of Breakout, it adds several new features, including alternating stages, bonus rounds, and hazards for the player at later levels. While the game's original box art featured an unidentifiable protagonist, later international releases of the game replaced the character with Mario. Alleyway was released with limited advertising, receiving moderate to low scores from reviewers who compared it to games like Arkanoid.