To begin, you must press the button to serve the ball. Then maneuver the on-screen paddle so that it remains beneath the ball as it approaches the bottom of the screen. When the ball hits the paddle, it will bounce back up to the top of the screen.
When the ball hits a brick, the brick is removed from the wall, and the ball will bounce back down to the bottom. Points are awarded for each brick removed, as described in the Scoring section.
If you fail to catch the ball with the paddle, the ball will disappear along the bottom of the screen, and you must serve one of your remaining balls. If you run out of balls to serve, the game is over.
The speed of the ball, and the possible return trajectories of the ball change after the 4th, 8th, and 12th hits from the paddle. When the ball hits the fourth row of bricks or higher, it automatically enters the fastest state that the ball can be in.
If the ball breaks through the wall and touches the wall at the top of the screen, the size of your paddle will be reduced, making it harder to return the ball.
If you manage to completely remove one wall, it will be replaced by a second wall after the ball is hit by the paddle. After you completely destroy the second wall, your game is over, regardless of how many balls you have remaining.
There are six general aspects of each variation that dictate the rules of the game and the strategy that you will employ throughout each gun fight. These five aspects are described below.
Breakout
Game variations 1 through 4 are the standard game. All of the rules described in the basic gameplay above apply.
Timed Breakout
Game variations 5 through 8 are for players who wish to test their skill against the clock. In these version, you are timed rather than scored. The objective is to remove one or both walls in as little time as possible. The time is shown in the score section as the number of seconds which have passed since the game began.
Breakthru
Breakthru
In game variations 9 through 12, you are treated to a variant of Breakout known as Breakthru. In Breakthru, the ball will never stop and return to the paddle by hitting a brick. Instead, it will smash through every brick in its path, hit the top wall to rebound, and hit every brick on the way back down to the paddle. As a result, it's not uncommon for the ball to enter it's fastest state after the first bounce off the paddle at the very beginning of the game, and the paddle will always shrink as well, so be prepared. The gameplay is generally faster in this mode.
Steerable
In game variations 2, 6, and 10, you have the ability to "steer" the ball by turning the dial on the paddle controller. It is more accurate to say that you can influence the direction that the ball is moving in, either more to the left or more to the right, while you are turning the dial. The amount you turn the dial is added to or subtracted from the ball's current velocity, and the ball returns to that velocity when the dial is left alone. By using the dial to influence the ball, you have the ability to hit particular bricks with greater ease.
Catch
In game variations 3, 7, and 11, you have the ability to "catch" the ball on your paddle by pressing and holding the controller button. In doing so, you can pick up the ball at a particular location, hold on to it while you move the paddle to another position, and release the button to let the ball go. If you are good at predicting the angle at which the ball will leave the paddle, you can target specific bricks every time you let go of the ball.
Invisible
In game variations 4, 8, and 12, the wall of brick will remain invisible to the player throughout a majority of the game. The only time the bricks will be made visible is when the ball makes contact with one of the bricks and destroys it. Beyond the limited visibility of the bricks, no other aspect of the game is different.
