Platform: Xbox 360
Rating: Unrated
Developer: Rascal Haven
Genre: Action
Pros: Easy to pick up, Simple controls, Soundtrack
Con: Repetitive play
Price: 240 Microsoft Points
When first booting up Canno-Blast you will treated to the Canno-Blast theme song by Raully Castillo. The fact that this game that has is referred to as something akin to a video game version of Hungry Hungry Hippos and starts with some serious rock music took me by pleasant surprise. That theme song may just get stuck in your head. This song adds a great deal of polish to this indie title.
Canno-Blast is an independently developed action style game that harkens back to board and table games. The board games it is most reminiscent of are Hungry Hungry Hippos and Crossfire and if you have any familiarity with those classics than you should understand the hectic pace of Canno-Blast. I will discuss the table games that seem to be the grandparents of Canno-Blast later.
The game is played “on” several differently shaped arenas. These consist of the square, circle, and octagon. Three different difficulties are available to customize your playing experience. Four opponents face off in a manic race to fire their cannons with the objective of shooting a spiked ball (or many as the rounds progress) into their opponent’s power cell (the rectangular area around the cannon). When the ball is struck by the player’s cannon, the ball then changes to the color of that player. When the ball strikes a player’s power cell while a different color, points are deducted from that foe until their defenses reach zero. Once an opponent’s defense reaches zero they are eliminated until the next round. Each round adds another spiked ball to the play area, creating an even more hectic time. I found myself thinking back to sweat dripping from my brow as I got into another multi-ball round on Earthshaker (pinball classic), but I am showing my age again.
Things also can be complicated by the power-ups that sporadically appear throughout each play round. A multi-shot power-up seems the most common while the health power-up is most helpful in replenishing one’s fleeting defenses.
In the single player game, you face off against four AI opponents. As the rounds proceed you earn points that may be spent on different items. These include Upgrades, Arena skins, and Powerups. The upgrades consist of shields and different types of shot powers. The different skins can be used to customize the area to your liking and add some additional variety to the game backgrounds. Shields and powers, like making the next 5 shots your color, are an example of the Powerups. These points are one of the draws in playing the solo game more, as you may be curious to see the effects your changes will make in the game.
Rascal Haven does not disappoint when it comes to their promise of a frenzied experience. Canno-Blast is “twitch” game play in the rawest sense of the word. I would rue playing an opponent with a turbo button on this game. The action comes at you fast and unforgiving. The controls are quite simple” The player has one fire button, which they get to select themselves and the control stick aims your cannon. These two actions may seem like the game should be child’s play after years of indoctrination into twelve button (or more) controllers, but this control scheme is more than enough for the bedlam that is Canno-Blast. Fire away and try your best to maintain the security of your cannon, all the while hoping to annihilate your opposition.
The speed of play is that it reminds me of a manic game of air-hockey, except instead of one opponent you have three. There are no allies, no treaties, just all out mayhem trying to score on one another. A big difference is in Canno-Blast I don’t get my knuckles smashed. The other table game it reminds me of is foosball against an opponent that refuses to abide the no-spinning rule and the need to call banks. Canno-Blast has neither so prepare to not blink during each round.
The previously mentioned soundtrack is just as strong in-game as the Canno-Blast them song that runs over the menus. I found the rock soundtrack to be a great accompaniment to the pace of the game and of great quality. The controls were spot on responsive and I was never frustrated even while losing. The only complain I have on Canno-Blast is the repetitive nature of the play. The power-ups and other options help to balance this, but for some gamers this may not be enough to overcome the basic nature of this title. Over-all if you are fan of the family style games that come in the Family Game night packages, I highly recommend Canno-Blast.
Popularity: unranked [?]
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