Tri-Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Odyssey Review

Tri-Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Odyssey is the follow-up to Lilimo Games’ really rather good Twin Breaker released a couple of years ago. Once again we get a twist on the brick-breaking gameplay, and across forty levels are treated to some fun, mind-bending rules that mix things up on an almost level by level basis. It’s brief, but excellent fun.

The paddles begin together until we fire off the ball, then each take over one half of the screen (at least, in this style of level)

The reason for upping the titular amount is the addition of a third character Dustin, based on the now long-standing third chair in the Sacred Symbols podcast alongside Colin and Chris. The two C’s and the big D team up as, following the events of Twin Breaker, NASA scientists are attempting to make use of time travel for their own nefarious deeds. Dustin goes behind his paymasters back to recruit Colin and Chris to help thwart NASA’s machinations – using the medium of brick breaking, naturally. It’s as typically SNES-era storytelling as Lilimo have used in the past, entertaining enough and with a good few in-jokes chucked in for listeners of Last Stand’s content.

As mentioned, Tri-Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Odyssey takes place over 40 levels, and while we start off with traditional brick breaking gameplay (albeit with two paddles assigned to an analogue stick each), we’re very quickly introduced to our first rule twist – being able to guide the ball itself.

An example of some of the trickier elements. Here we can steer both balls at the same time which may not always help

As it bounces around the screen we have a limited amount of fuel that lets us steer it left or right using the shoulder bumpers. Bouncing off of walls or the paddles refills this meter slightly, but it’s perfectly possible to pull off full 180 degree turns in order to hit more bricks in a single bounce. It’s a simple addition, but one that adds a surprising amount of depth to the gameplay. 

It’s not long after this that more twists come into play, from losing one or both paddles, to the game transforming into a side scrolling shooter, a Pac-Man-like, Snake, or one of a host of other classic game genres from over the years. Very few levels use the same mechanic more than once or twice, giving the game a fresh feel every five minutes as we see what’s next. 

Plenty of in-jokes and references to the Sacred Symbols podcast feature throughout

There are some that are less successful than others; level 37’s scrolling shooter style proved to be a bit tiresome by the time I’d beaten it, and the final boss fight recalls some of the early 90’s era difficulty in a frankly maddening way – a drawn out set of phases that take more time than skill to beat before a one hit kill scenario to finish off that results in having to play the whole thing again if (and when) we die. But outside of these parts, the constant change up in the mechanics is a welcome touch. 

Each level also have bonus challenges that range from easy to incredibly tough to get, and as ever Colin has put together an Achievement list that is actually going to reward players for getting the full 1000G rather than simply chucking points out. Not that I’ll be getting them but a certain Million Man Ian here will appreciate the bump in TA score no doubt. If you’re not one to cheevo hunt though it’s a short experience, clocking in at about 3 hours to clear the 40 stages all in all. 

Aesthetically I enjoyed the pixel art styling and chiptune music with Tri-Breaker having some truly meaty chiptune bass parts at times. The cutscenes look great too with superb use of colour and some intentionally aligned ship placement that’s bound to get a chuckle out of the teenager inside all of us. I think the highest praise I can give it is that I could totally see myself loading this up on a Saturn or Playstation and it fitting that console generation perfectly.

Conclusion

Tri-Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Odyssey is more retro styled goodness from the minds behind Last Stand and Lilimo Games. The constant switch up of gameplay styles keeps things fresh, it has a charmingly retro story, and is quite simply a fun few hours of gaming.

This game was reviewed based on Xbox S|X review code, using an Xbox S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.

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Good
  • Gameplay is constantly switching up with fun new twists
  • Audio visual work is great
  • Plenty of tough challenges for achievement hunters
Bad
  • Over a bit too quickly if you're not into cheevos though
  • A couple of level ideas aren't as enjoyable
8.5
Great
Written by
I've been gaming since Spy vs Spy on the Master System, growing up as a Sega kid before realising the joy of multi-platform gaming. These days I can mostly be found on smaller indie titles, the occasional big RPG and doing poorly at Rainbow Six: Siege. Gamertag: Enaksan

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