Breakout Beyond is Atari’s latest revival and revamp of Breakout, their influential brick-bashing title, which first bounced its way into arcades way back in 1976, which is before even I, the oldest member of the Retro News team, was born!

Much like the original Breakout, the aim of Breakout Beyond is to progress through levels by using your bat to fire and deflect a ball at walls of bricks in order to smash them. However, Breakout Beyond flips the action of the game, with your bat now travelling vertically along the Y axis as opposed to horizontally along the X axis as per the original game. In this respect, Breakout Beyond appears somewhat similar to Gremlin Graphics’ 1987 8-bit home computer title Krakout, which gamers of a certain vintage may remember.

Atari describe Breakout Beyond as a “neon-infused twist on the classic 1976 arcade game,” stating that the game will feature “72 challenging levels”. Other features of the game will include an unlockable endless mode with an online global leaderboard, and two-player co-op. Breakout Beyond was originally intended as an exclusive title for the ill-fated Amico Intellivision back in 2020, but thanks to Atari, Breakout Beyond will finally be smashing its way to release this year, when it bounces onto PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One & Series X|S, PlayStation 4|5, and Atari VCS.