lol, can't remember. The opiates fry my short term memory, lol. (though sometimes its no laughing matter as i've nearly burnt the house down while cooking - i'm now banned from all but th simplest of cooking jobs. anthing that doesn't involve using the cooker).

WR,

You made a similar recommendation back when the game was available here. I took that advice and got all the extra packs. Only one of which I didn't like. I've gone through the set several times but there are so many and it's randomized that I don't remember most by the time they cycle around again.

Thanks!

Diane

Thanks, never thought of that. Should be much better since
original is 10 megs, and new d/l is 30!
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edit: Nice, it works! Way more sections too.

Yes you are right midori; the add-on packs were money well spent at the time, as are all the games I've bought at full price

(well most - some are always going to be a waste of money as the hype that surrounds their release are sometimes exaggerated - for example I recently pre-ordered a game called Damnation as it promised to be something new and out of the ordinary. From the pre release video footage I had to agree; the game play looked amazing and the graphics even more so, and therefore pre-ordered the game (plus it helped that they were offering a game that I'd nearly bought four years earlier for free as a special offer if you pre-ordered it{Second Sight}). Anyway, the game was nothing like the promo video and I was really disappointed in both the game play and the graphic. I played top dollar for the game, but to be honest the game was more like a budget release.

Apart from the Steam deals that I’ve been buying this year, most of my DVD based games were all bought as pre- releases or recently released, so I always paid the release price which was usually a lot of money; most of the titles always reduced in price a few months after release (apart from a few notable exceptions such as the last two Call of Duty titles and the first Crysis title). But I don't really regret buying most of them when I did because I think the amount of pleasure you get is worth it; you could easily spend lots more on a transient pleasure such as a meal out with your family, or an evening out at the cinema (popcorn included, lol). (I've posted elsewhere about examples of games I've bought for large amounts then they have been reduced in price significantly).

The good news about the Hyperballoid Complete Edition add-ons…... If you've still got your original game from the game giveaway project, you should be able to take advantage of the new version, which has all the add-ons included, because when installing an Alawar game if the registration code is already written to the registry it will immediately show as a full version game. And therefore you will gain around 800 extra levels to play with, many of which are really beautiful. I'd make sure you install the game to a different path though and not overwrite the original, just as a precaution. In fact I'd create a restore point first just to safeguard the registration as although I’m sure it works I’ve not tested it on the giveaway version because I didn't bother with it seeing as I already had the game. :)

To Firebride,

Yes this version is the original. It is nothing like Hyperballoid 2 and stands as a game in its own right. Hyperballoid 2 has better looking graphics overall, with improved animations, but many of the original levels are just as beautiful as the latest version, and in some cases much more innovative. Where Hyperballoid 2 wins is the addition of a levels editor; though with a thousand levels there's really no need for a levels editor in the first version. :)

WR

Hi WR & Everyone:

Is this version separate from HyperBalloid 2?

I liked the graphics on HB2; a little slicker than the original version.
I don't yet own it but saw the video over at BFGames. I am a big fan of Ricochet Infinity and am amazed at the creativity of all the level sets that exist and are still being created by gamers.

Thanks for your reply; I appreciate it.

Wow, wrabbit... I'm a fan of that one also, and for the designs, not the action. Amazing how prices drop, eh? But I'd still say that at the time, your money was well spent. :)

Thanks, I still got a copy of it from the giveaway here on nov 8, 2007
http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/complete-edition-hyperballoid/

I was really into the original Hyperballoid; so much so that I used to buy the new level packs as they were released. By the time i'd spent over $170 on the game I decided to stop, as I thought I'd spend more than enough; anyway, I had cause to redownload Hyperballoid from Alawar today. I decided I wanted to revisit some of the level packs as I'd not even played some of them. When I got to the download page I couldn't find any trace of the additional expansion packs so posted a query. anyway, i fud out why they had removed them a few minutes ago. Thety ghave added all of them to the original game. not only that the game has been reduced to $4.95. That's an amazing price for around 1000 levels. Yes one thousand. The level sets are divided into sets of 50, each with a particular theme. One of the things I loved about this game was the amazing patterns that you had to smash to bits.

It's not really suitable for die hard arkanoid fans in my opinion though because the ball speeds are fairly tame. I usually play it on the hardest setting and try to pick up any power ups that increase the speed because i've always thought it was too slow; but the average player may find it quite a pleasnt pace, and the beginner will welcome it. Despite the game being over 5 years old, it still looks as fresh now as it did then.

The video doesn't do justice to the game but the images do show a good selection of the different level packs; however they don't convey the grgeous colors and dynamic levels most of which are animated in some way. There are lots of themes, each of which contains 50 levels; from Space Abstraction, Merry Christmas, Motion Illusion, Bizarre Twists, Ancient Egypt, Triangle Worlds, Enigmatic, Amazing Labyrinths, Around the World, Brilliant Patterns, Dizzy Worlds, Extreme, Sky Dreams, Funny Celebration, Summer Voyage, Exotic, Mystic Symbols, Traditional, Fantastic Flowers and Wild Kingdoms

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwruzQ7zHRI

Images:

http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=Hyperballoid+Golden+Edition&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=28&aq=f&oq=

You can get the demo from the following address:

htpp://alawar.com/game/hyperballoid