Super Breakout, the Video Game by Atari, Inc. [Sunnyvale, CA, USA]

Type of the machine : Video Game
Super Breakout © 1978 Atari.

Super Breakout allows the player(s) to select any one of 3 different action-packed Super Breakout games by turning the game select knob on the control panel to the desired game. The 3 available Super Breakout modes are the following :

* Double Breakout : before serving the ball, the Double Breakout playfield contains 52 orange bricks (4x13) at the top of the screen and 52 green bricks (4x13) immediately below the orange brick wall.
Two paddles are displayed at the bottom end of the screen. When the serve pushbutton is pressed two balls are served. If the first ball served is missed, it counts as a missed serve and goes against the players allotted serves per game; otherwise the second ball is served. If the second ball served is missed after striking the first served ball, the player may continue with the first ball.

* Cavity Breakout : before serving the ball, the Cavity Breakout playfield contains 44 orange bricks and 52 (4x13) green bricks located immediately below the orange brick wall. At approximately 3 columns in and 2 rows down into the orange brick wall, from both the left and the right side of the wall, two cavities appear. These two cavities occupy the space of 4 bricks (a 2x2 brick area).
One paddle is provided in this game, and only one ball is served, unlike Double Breakout. When enough bricks are removed to release a captive ball from its cavity, the score doubles for each brick removed by any of the two balls in the playfield (as long as the served and freed ball remain active in the playfield). If the third ball is freed and all three balls are played in the playfield, the score triples. If any one of the balls is missed and lost, the score returns to double points. If the second ball is missed and only one ball remains in the playfield, points are then scored as normal.

* Progressive Breakout : before serving the ball, the Progressive Breakout playfield contains 4x13 brick walls (one blue and the other green). The blue brick wall, which consists of 52 bricks, is at the top. Then occurs a space equivalent to this wall. In the middle of the screen is a green brick wall consisting of 52 bricks.
The brick walls move or 'scroll' toward the paddle at a rate determined by the number of hits on the ball. As the bricks are knocked out and the walls progressively creep up on the player's paddle, new bricks enter the playfield at a progressively faster rate; four rows of bricks are always separated by four rows of blanks.
As the brick walls scroll down, their colors change which indicates a new point score for that brick at that instant of time.

This title was most commonly available in an upright dedicated cabinet, although cocktail versions were also available. The machine featured a cartoon rendering of game-play on both the side-art and the marquee (done up mostly in yellow and brick red). The control panel was decorated with a few stripes and featured a single spinner control along with one button. The game was displayed on a black and white open frame monitor that had a color overlay installed to simulate color. This overlay made the different rows of bricks appear to be different colors.

Game ID : 033442-033455

Main CPU : M6502 (@ 375 Khz)
Sound Chips : DAC (@ 375 Khz)

Screen orientation : Vertical
Video resolution : 224 x 256 pixels
Screen refresh : 60.00 Hz
Palette colors : 2

Players : 2
Control : paddle
Buttons : 1

Released in September 1978.

Approximately 4,800 units were produced.

This game is also known as "Super Knockout" (licensed to Subelectro).

* Double Breakout Mode (the maximum score for this mode is 2694) :
Orange brick row 1 : 7 points (1 ball in playfield), 14 points (2 balls in playfield).
Orange brick row 2 : 7 points (1 ball in playfield), 14 points (2 balls in playfield).
Orange brick row 3 : 5 points (1 ball in playfield), 10 points (2 balls in playfield).
Orange brick row 4 : 5 points (1 ball in playfield), 10 points (2 balls in playfield).
Green brick row 1 : 3 points (1 ball in playfield), 6 points (2 balls in playfield).
Green brick row 2 : 3 points (1 ball in playfield), 6 points (2 balls in playfield).
Green brick row 3 : 1 points (1 ball in playfield), 2 points (2 balls in playfield).
Green brick row 4 : 1 points (1 ball in playfield), 2 points (2 balls in playfield).

* Cavity Breakout Mode (the maximum score for this mode is 3384) :
Orange brick row 1 : 7 points (1 ball in playfield), 14 points (2 balls in playfield), 21 points (3 balls in playfield).
Orange brick row 2 : 7 points (1 ball in playfield), 14 points (2 balls in playfield), 21 points (3 balls in playfield).
Orange brick row 3 : 5 points (1 ball in playfield), 10 points (2 balls in playfield), 15 points (3 balls in playfield).
Orange brick row 4 : 5 points (1 ball in playfield), 10 points (2 balls in playfield), 15 points (3 balls in playfield).
Green brick row 1 : 3 points (1 ball in playfield), 6 points (2 balls in playfield), 9 points (3 balls in playfield).
Green brick row 2 : 3 points (1 ball in playfield), 6 points (2 balls in playfield), 9 points (3 balls in playfield).
Green brick row 3 : 1 points (1 ball in playfield), 2 points (2 balls in playfield), 3 points (3 balls in playfield).
Green brick row 4 : 1 points (1 ball in playfield), 2 points (2 balls in playfield), 3 points (3 balls in playfield).

* Progressive Breakout Mode (the maximum score for this mode is infinite) :
Blue brick : 7 points.
Orange brick : 5 points.
Green brick : 3 points.
Yellow brick : 1 point.

* Ball Speed : Besides the slowest ball speed, right after the serve, there are three possible speed-ups. The first speed-up after the serve occurs on the 4th hit, and a second faster speed-up occurs on the 8th hit. The third occurs after the 12th hit and the fourth occurs when a highpoint (either a 5- or 7-point) brick is hit, regardless of previous speed. Ball speed is restored to slowest value at the beginning of each serve.

* Ball Direction : When the ball intercepts the paddle it will rebound in any of four directions, depending on which portion of the paddle was hit (divide the paddle in four egal portions). This is still the case after the paddle has been reduced to half its normal size. Note that the ball is not allowed to move in a direction perpendicular to the front surface of the paddle or perpendicular to the edge of the paddle. These directions change with the number of hits of the balls. Just like the ball speed changes occur at the 4th, 8th and 12th ball hits.

1. Breakout (1976)
2. Breakout Deluxe (1976)
3. Super Breakout (1978)
4. Breakout 2000 (1997, Atari Jaguar)

Designed and programmed by : Ed Logg

Consoles :

Atari 2600 (1978)
Mattel Intellivision (1981, "Brickout!")
Atari 5200 (1982)
Atari XEGS
Sega Master System (1992, "Arcade Smash Hits")
Nintendo Game Boy (1996, "Battlezone / Super Breakout")
Sony PlayStation (1996, "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1")
Nintendo Super Famicom (1997, "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1")
Sega Saturn (1997, "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1")
Atari Jaguar (1997, "Breakout 2000")
Nintendo Game Boy Color (1998)
Sony PlayStation (2001, "Atari Anniversary Edition Redux")
Sega Dreamcast (2001, "Atari Anniversary Edition")
Nintendo Game Boy Advance (2002, "Atari Anniversary Advance")
Sony PlayStation 2 (2004, "Atari Anthology") : appears in both arcade and Atari 2600 forms.
Microsoft XBOX (2004, "Atari Anthology") : appears in both arcade and Atari 2600 forms.
Nintendo Game Boy Advance (2005, "Millipede / Super Breakout / Lunar Lander")

Computers :

Atari 400 (1979)
BBC B (1982, "Acornsoft Breakout" - Acornsoft)
Atari ST (1987)
PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (1999, "Atari Arcade hits 1")
PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (2001, "Atari Anniversary Edition")
PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (2003, "Atari - 80 Classic Games in One!") : appears in both arcade and Atari 2600 forms.

Others :

Atari Paddle TV Game (2004 - Jakk's Pacific)
Nokia N-Gage (2005, "Atari Masterpieces Volume 1")

Game's rom.
Machine's picture.