Off the Wall is an arcade game produced by Atari

Atari

Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...

 and released in North America in 1991. A modern remake of Breakout

Breakout clone

A Breakout clone is a sub-class of the "bat-and-ball" genre introduced with the Magnavox Odyssey's Tennis and Atari's Pong...

, this game introduces many new gameplay features to the bat-and-ball genre, and it incorporates some elements from Pong

Pong

Pong is one of the earliest arcade video games, and is a tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. While other arcade video games such as Computer Space came before it, Pong was one of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity...

as well. It supports up to three players simultaneously (though most cabinets only support two), and the game's graphics include many backgrounds modeled after modern abstract art

Abstract art

Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...

.

Gameplay

The objective of Off the Wall is to score as many points as possible by destroying square blocks in a neverending series of levels. The player controls a paddle using an analog knob or a joystick (depending on the machine configuration). The paddle moves along one edge of the playfield, and a ball flies around the playfield and bounces off the walls and the paddle. When a ball hits a block, the block disappears (unless it is indestructible). A square exit is placed on the screen, and directing the ball into this exit causes all remaining blocks on the screen to self-destruct, awarding bonus points and advancing the player(s) to the next level.

The ball occasionally splits in two (in multiplayer games, three balls may be on the screen at once), and the player can put spin on the ball, causing it to move in a curved trajectory. The player loses a life when the last ball on the screen moves past the player's paddle, though in some circumstances, the game gives the player a second chance. The game is over when the player has lost all of his or her lives.

As levels progress, the game introduces new features that make the game more complex and challenging. These features include blocks that move randomly or in circles, various powerups, indestructible blocks and bombs, blocks that parachute or fly in to replace destroyed blocks, objects that change the ball's speed and trajectory, and guns that can shrink the players' paddles. Depending on the number of players in the game, some levels may be skipped due to the exit being along one player's edge of the playfield. In multiplayer games, a bonus round occurs periodically where players compete directly against one another in an exact clone of Pong

Pong

Pong is one of the earliest arcade video games, and is a tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. While other arcade video games such as Computer Space came before it, Pong was one of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity...

. The winning player earns an extra life.