Work has been pretty hectic these days, but I hope to find some time soon to test out some games-in-waiting and a new emulator. In the meantime, check out all these free games from BGames.

Note that they aren’t all portable; I only had the chance to try out Purebreaker III – a Breakout/Arkanoid clone – and it is available without an installer (click on the “Download the zipped version” link). The game starts off a bit slow, but hang in there: it won’t take long for it to get crazy!

The other games may not be portable, but the screenshots definitely look enticing. I’m going to give the Lethal Judgement series a try as soon as work permits!

Go to BGames: http://www.bgames.org/gamesen.php

This is one of my all-time favorite arcade games! I have played so many versions of this game, I should start a collection. Arkanoid goes by many names, such as Breakout, Brick, Pong and MegaBall.

One of my favorite versions that I’ve ever played is DX-Ball but it isn’t packaged as portable. It makes entries into the registry and is only packaged with an installer. Anyway, I tried to make it “portable” and it works. I installed version 1.09, saved all the files from the game’s directory and then did an uninstall from the Windows Control Panel. I was then able to play the game from my copied directory without a problem. (This game has a built-in level editor to make your own levels. You can access it by pressing CTRL-F1).

A truly portable version of Breakout, called LBreakout 2, can be found here. Select the “Win32 port w/o installer” version if you are a Windows user (they also have Linux and Mac versions). This is a pretty cool version as well. It features network play as well as a built-in editor. The local game is located in the Client folder. After playing DX-Ball for so many years, I guess I need a period of adjustment to get used to a new Breakout game but it looks like this version is worth a try as I’m really enjoying it; sometimes change is good!

Here are the download sites:

• DX-Ball version 1.09 (can be made “portable”)
• LBreakout 2 (truly portable)

If you are into game cheats, check this site out for a list of DX-Ball cheats.