Attic of the Underdogs

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Review by Underdogs:

Diamonds 3D is a fun 3D Breakout clone. In this game, the ball comes right at you in three-dimensional playing field. Your goal is still the same: hit the ball with your paddle to clear all the bricks on the opposite wall. In addition to good 3D perspective, Diamonds 3D adds dozens of new gameplay elements to add to the challenge. These include special bricks such as paint bricks, magic bricks, and others, as well as different kinds of power-ups.

What I like most about the game is the "sticky paddle" feature: clicking on the left mouse button makes the ball "stick" to your paddle. You can keep the mouse button pressed to move the paddle & ball, and release the button to launch the ball again. This is very useful to quickly bounce the ball at hard-to-get-to corner bricks. On the downside, you have only limited amount of "energy" to use this special power: once the energy bar runs down to zero, you have to wait for power-ups or the next level to use it again.

Crisp SVGA graphics, fun gameplay, and even a nice soundtrack make Diamonds 3D one of the better Breakout games. My only gripe is that the ball could be more detailed and better animated - without shadows, it looks too much like a 2D paper-cutout ball, and would have completely ruined the illusion of depth if not for the scaling of size as it bounces back and forth between the wall and your paddle. If you enjoy Breakout or Arkanoid, this Windows underdog provides a nice diversion during coffee breaks. Recommended!

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