1Kanoid - A 1k version of Arkanoid

a public domain minigame by Paolo Ferraris (pieffe8@libero.it)

For ZX Spectrum 16k/48k/128k/+2/... blah blah blah!

This minigame does not work with hardware devices like Microdrive
that change the memory address where BASIC programs are loaded.


What is new in version 1.1

 - L bonus added
 - level reported on screen
 - other visual improvements



"Another Breakout game?!? There are probably dozens of implementations of
Breakout game that fit in 1k." 1Kanoid would be better defined as an
Arkanoid clone, as it includes some of its features.
I consider Arkanoid as one of the most frustrating but fun game ever
created. Frustrating because it is very difficult to play it. Fun because
it has a lot of different levels and bonuses that make it not boring. I
am still playing the CGA version of Arkanoid on my PC.

The game controls for this minigame are:

  6-left    7-right      0-launch the ball/shoot

or a Interface II/Sinclair Joystick in port 1.

The graphics are very simple. No score. The number of lives is reported
in the top right of the screen, along with a letter from A to P that
indicate the level. The 16 levels are similar each others, but are of
increasing difficulty. The blocks have
different colors that indicate how many times they have to be hit to be
destroyed. A destroyed block may release a letter that, if collected,
gives you a bonus:

    P - an additional life
    S - slow down the speed-increasing ball
    H - an exit opens on the right. That brings to next level.
    C - the ball doesn't bounce on the ship (well... stick), and will
        leave the stick after 5 seconds or after pressing 0
    E - the ship/stick becomes wider.
    L - your ship can shoot to destroy bricks

Note that the effects of C,E and L are lost once you get another bonus.
No other letters is released once H has been collected.

The V bonus, the 3 balls one, there was no way to fit it in 1k :-(

The difficulty level is not too hard if you master the original Arkanoid.

In any case I hope you enjoy the game for a few minutes :-)


This is probably the biggest(!) program for the Spectrum that I wrote in
assembly. Well, the fact is that I never had a good Z80 assembler while
I was using a real Spectrum. Cross compilers are great!

