1st Go Warkanoid II

1st Go Warkanoid II is a Breakout-style action game where players control a paddle to bounce a ball and destroy bricks across thirty nature-themed levels. Set against animal, landscape, and rainbow-themed backgrounds, the game features forty power-ups (some beneficial, some not), seven weapon upgrades, various insect enemies, and unique power-ups like eggs and fruit. Unusual for the genre, it includes a save/load feature and a worldwide online high score table, offering three difficulty settings for single-player enjoyment.

1st Go Warkanoid II: Review

Introduction

In the vast, often predictable cosmos of arcade-inspired indie games from the turn of the millennium, a title occasionally emerges not as a mere distraction, but as a curious artifact of ambition against overwhelming odds. 1st Go Warkanoid II, also known under its alternative titles Jet Ball II: Wildlife and Warkenoid II: Wildlife, is one such artifact. Released in the shadow of Y2K by the obscure Kraisoft Entertainment, this Breakout clone presents a paradox: a game built upon the most foundational of video game premises—bouncing a ball to break blocks—that dared to incorporate features far beyond its station. This review posits that 1st Go Warkanoid II is a fascinating, flawed, and almost forgotten piece of history; a testament to the sheer will of a small development team to inject depth, persistence, and a distinct thematic identity into a genre typically defined by its simplicity and transient nature. It is a game that aimed not just to emulate, but to evolve, and in doing so, carved out its own peculiar niche.

Development History & Context

To understand 1st Go Warkanoid II, one must first appreciate the landscape from which it sprang. The year was 2000. The gaming industry was charging headlong into the sixth console generation with the PlayStation 2, Sega Dreamcast, and Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox. On PC, sprawling 3D adventures and first-person shooters were becoming the norm. In this environment, a small studio like Kraisoft Entertainment—comprising a core team of just six credited individuals including producer Vadim Khroulev and lead programmer Victor Ryabinin—was operating in a completely different stratum.

Their mission was not to compete with the graphical prowess of Deus Ex or the scale of Diablo II; it was to perfect a formula decades old. The Breakout/Arkanoid genre, while perennially popular, was largely seen as a domain for simple shareware or freeware titles. Kraisoft’s vision, however, was markedly more ambitious. Following their first title, Warkanoid (released earlier in 2000), the team sought to iterate and expand. They operated under significant technological constraints—this was a downloadable commercial title, likely developed on a modest budget—yet their feature set aspired to be anything but modest.

The inclusion of a save/load feature and a worldwide online high score table (spearheaded by internet programmer Roman Zhabko) was, for a game of this type in the year 2000, almost radical. This was an era before ubiquitous digital distribution and social features; implementing online functionality was a complex, niche endeavor, especially for a small studio. This ambition defines 1st Go Warkanoid II: it is the work of a team that looked at a simple arcade concept and asked, “What if we treated this with the seriousness of a major release?”

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

To suggest 1st Go Warkanoid II possesses a narrative in the traditional sense would be an overstatement. There is no epic tale of cosmic conflict between a paddle-shaped vessel and an oppressive brick empire, a lore that its inspiration, Arkanoid, occasionally flirted with. Instead, Kraisoft crafted a cohesive and surprisingly charming thematic identity.

The game’s alternative title, Wildlife, is the key to its entire aesthetic and narrative conceit. The thirty levels are not abstract grids of colored blocks; they are meticulously “designed to look like animals, landscapes, rainbows etc.” This is not merely a visual flair; it represents a conscious effort to ground the abstract gameplay in a recognizable, natural world. The player isn’t just breaking blocks; they are interacting with a stylized ecosystem. The enemies that harass the player are not alien invaders but insects, creatures native to this digital wilderness. The power-ups that tumble from shattered bricks are not cold technological upgrades but organic items like eggs and fruit.

This creates a subtle, underlying theme of interaction versus destruction. The player is both a force of chaos, breaking apart the serene animal and landscape mosaics, and a participant in this world, collecting its natural bounty (eggs) for power while fending off its hostile fauna (insects). The “story” is one of navigating and surviving within a vibrant, sometimes dangerous, ecosystem. It’s a silent, environmental narrative told entirely through its design, a bold and thoughtful departure from the cold, geometric emptiness that defines most games in the genre.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

At its absolute core, 1st Go Warkanoid II is a faithful Breakout variant. The player controls a paddle at the bottom of a fixed screen, bouncing a ball to destroy all bricks above. However, Kraisoft’s ambition is most evident in the intricate systems layered atop this simple foundation.

• The Core Loop & Difficulty: The game offers thirty levels, a substantial number for the genre, and three difficulty settings. This provides a scalable challenge, inviting both casual players and score-chasing veterans. The fixed/flip-screen presentation is a classic choice, focusing the player’s attention on one self-contained puzzle at a time.

• Power-Ups System: The game boasts a staggering forty different power-ups, a number that dwarfs many of its contemporaries. Crucially, the game notes that “not all of them [are] beneficial,” introducing a layer of risk-management and strategic decision-making. The player must quickly identify and prioritize catching positive upgrades (likely represented by the thematic eggs and fruit) while actively avoiding detrimental ones. This transforms a moment of simple collection into one of tense evaluation.

• Combat & Progression: In a significant evolution from Pong, the paddle is not merely a passive barrier. The game features seven weapons upgrades, allowing the player to actively “blast away bricks” and presumably the insect enemies. This injects a direct action element into the formula, giving the player a sense of agency and power beyond simply angling rebounds.

• Innovative Systems: The inclusion of a save/load feature is its most profound mechanical innovation. For a genre built on “one more try” arcade mentality and the threat of permanent failure, this is a revolutionary inclusion. It fundamentally changes the experience from a test of endurance to a journey of persistence, allowing players to tackle its thirty levels at their own pace. This, combined with the online high score table, creates a dual identity: it’s both a personal, savable adventure and a public competition for global supremacy.

World-Building, Art & Sound

While technologically constrained by the standards of its day, 1st Go Warkanoid II’s art direction is defined by its committed and cohesive theme. The visual direction moves decisively away from the cold, vector-based aesthetics of early Breakout clones or the sci-fi themes of Arkanoid. Instead, artists like Dmitry Belousov crafted levels that are mosaics of the natural world. The bricks form shapes of animals and landscapes, meaning each level is not just a challenge to solve but a image to appreciate and ultimately deconstruct.

The sound design, courtesy of Vakhtang Adamiya, would have been critical in selling this theme. One can imagine the sound effects moving beyond simple beeps and bloops to incorporate more organic tones—the crack of a breaking brick perhaps resembling a snapping twig, the collection of a power-up yielding a satisfying, fruit-like plop, and the weapons fire providing a sharp contrast to the natural serenity. The mentioned original music would have likely carried a cheerful, upbeat melody to complement the colorful, wildlife-themed visuals, creating an atmosphere that is more whimsical and inviting than the tense, electronic scores of its peers.

Every artistic choice serves the Wildlife concept. The enemies are insects, the power-ups are natural objects, and the levels are landscapes. This unwavering dedication to its theme is the game’s greatest artistic achievement, building a world that feels unique within its genre.

Reception & Legacy

The critical and commercial reception for 1st Go Warkanoid II is, according to the available data, virtually non-existent. No critic reviews are archived, and no player reviews are present on its MobyGames entry. Its Moby Score is listed as “n/a,” and it was only collected by three players on the platform. This points to a game that arrived with a whisper, likely distributed through now-forgotten shareware portals or bundled in budget software collections like the later Jet Ball Triple Pack (2005) or Galaxy of Games: 50,000 (2009).

Its legacy, therefore, is not one of widespread influence or commercial success. Instead, it exists as a cult artifact and a case study in passionate, hyper-focused development. Its legacy is defined by its ambitious features—the online scores and save functionality—which were profoundly ahead of their time for a game of this type and scale. It stands as a poignant reminder that innovation often happens in the corners of the industry, away from the spotlight. It did not change the gaming landscape, but it remains a fascinating “what if” example of how even the most established genres can be reimagined with enough creativity and determination.

Conclusion

1st Go Warkanoid II is not a legendary, lost masterpiece. It is, however, an exceptionally interesting and admirable piece of game design. The team at Kraisoft Entertainment took a formula that had remained largely unchanged for over twenty years and asked ambitious questions: What if it had a persistent save? What if it had global leaderboards? What if it had a rich, thematic identity beyond abstract shapes?

The result is a game that feels both quaintly archaic and surprisingly modern. Its core gameplay is comfortably familiar, yet its supporting features would feel at home in a contemporary indie title on Steam. It is a game caught between eras, a bridge from the simple arcade past to a more feature-rich digital future. For historians and enthusiasts, 1st Go Warkanoid II is a worthy deep dive—a testament to the fact that even in the most crowded and seemingly simplistic genres, there is always room for vision, passion, and a startlingly unique idea. Its place in history is small, but it is deservedly its own.