Arkanoid Live! is a modern reimagining of the famous ball-bouncing game from the 1980s. To bounce back a ball (there are six bouncing directions), the player steers a paddle (named the Vaus) left and right at the bottom of the screen. A round is finished by breaking all the blocks on the screen, and the player must avoid the ball disappearing at the bottom.
The game has several modes of play, with the primary single-player mode broken into four episodes. There is a lives system in which the number of lives is lowered when the ball contacts the bottom of the screen, as well as a barrier system in which the ball can touch a barrier at the bottom of the screen multiple times before disappearing, as well as different difficulty levels. Both systems support multiplayer co-op gaming. The second player is more of an assistant in that mode, as the paddle floats below one of the first players and can only catch balls that the first misses. There are many blocks, each with different points, blocks that must be struck multiple times, moving blocks, and impenetrable blocks. Optionally, adversaries (Obobo, Konerd, Triphere, Pyradok, Klacker, and Valion) can be awakened. They float around the screen and must be hit. At the end of the game, there is also a boss level. Certain blocks benefit Vaus:* Laser: fire a laser at the blocks; gaining another one gives you a powerful laser.
- Increase the size of the Vaus by 50%.
- Catch: catch the ball and let it go whenever you like.
- Slow: reduces the ball’s speed.
- Reduce: half the size of the Vaus but earns double points
- Megaball: the ball is capable of breaking through blocks without bouncing.
- Seven clones of the ball emerge as a disruption (multiball).
Certain benefits are only available by the selected system:* Rules of Life: + Break: an escape tunnel to the right opens, allowing you to exit and complete the level. + Thunder: a plasma shield appears beneath the Vaus to return a lost ball once + Extra life for the player
- Rule of the Barrier:
Warp: Finishes the current round.
Barrier: increases the barrier’s strength by one, up to a maximum of 10.
Vanish: remove any blocks of the same color as the one the ball is about to touch.
In the VS mode (split-screen), the game can be played versus another player with two rules:* Bust All: The first player to break through all the blocks wins.
Color Bust: The first player to bust all blocks of a specific color wins.
All games in VS mode use the barrier rule system. In the VS mode, four additional bonuses are available that are not available in the other game modes:* Slow: reduces the pace of the opponent’s ball.
- Increase the number of regular blocks on the opponent’s screen.
- Reduce: Cut the size of the opponent’s Vaus in half.
- Complex: places several hard blocks on the opponent’s screen.
