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First things first, just exactly what is a “CyberBlocker”? Is it when your housemate walks in on you as you’re about to indulge in some “one-handed” online activity? Thankfully not! In this case, CyberBlocker is a 90s arcade-style mash up of a brick breaker game and a shoot ‘em up that has been developed by KT Software with publisher Eastasiasoft, as we reported back when Eastasiasoft announced the game.
In the meantime, Eastasiasoft has been kind enough to bounce a copy of the Xbox Series X|S version of CyberBlocker Complete Edition over to us, and here’s what we’ve found upon spending a good few hours of most enjoyable CyberBlockin’…
CyberBlocker Complete Edition really excels at recapturing the essence of 1990s arcade games right down to the on-screen graphic that explains the game’s controls even resembling an arcade stick and buttons, and you can just imagine hearing the game’s (excellent) thumping dance music soundtrack blasting out of a 1990s amusement arcade. One could even imagine CyberBlocker as having received a beloved Sega Saturn conversion had it actually been released back in the 1990s.
And, let’s face it, are there many words that scream “1990s” more than “cyber”? So, CyberBlocker certainly does a superb job of evoking the 1990s, a gaming decade that we at RetroNews remember so fondly, but how does it play? Well, we usually prefer to avoid hoary old cliches such as “X is like Y on acid”, but the easiest way to sum up Cyber Blocker is, indeed, that it’s like Arkanoid on acid, boasting Jeff Minter-esque psychedelic visuals and that aforementioned dance music soundtrack. But there’s more to CyberBlocker Complete Edition than just being yet another Arkanoid clone, for starters, you have not one, but two aircraft (paddles) under your control, with the higher of the two paddles able to move up and down as well as side to side, adding an extra level of depth to the game, though both paddles are controlled simultaneously, so you’ll have to be careful to ensure that one doesn’t (cyber) block the other. However, the higher paddle proves to be especially useful when it comes to bouncing your ball into trickily placed bricks that are otherwise shielded, so making careful use of both paddles a must to clear CyberBlocker Complete Edition’s stages.
And we haven’t even mentioned the shoot ‘em up elements yet, even though they play an integral part in making CyberBlocker Complete Edition the unique experience that it is. So, in addition to bouncing balls, your paddle/ship can also fire bullets, which can be deployed to clear bricks and to dispose of enemies, including the game’s impressively huge end of level bosses. While most of CyberBlocker Complete Edition is a brick breaker with (well-integrated) shmup elements, the boss battles are pure shmup territory, which makes for a nice, albeit stressful change of pace, adding some variety to the game’s brick-breaking main stages. In the game’s standard mode, the aim is pretty much what you’d expect: break all the bricks and clear the stage! But, adding extra longevity to CyberBlocker Complete Edition, there’s also a “challenge mode,” which is a time attack spin on the game, in which the aim is to destroy as many bricks and enemies as you can within an allotted time limit. And if you were wondering, this version of CyberBlocker is a “Complete Edition,” it’s because compared to the initial version of CyberBlocker, this version has additional stages and aircraft, and the challenge mode is exclusive to CyberBlocker Complete Edition.
CyberBlocker Complete Edition’s unique variations on the standard brick breaker formula make it an essential purchase for fans of the genre, and it’s up there with the better-known modern spins on the genre, such as Atari’s Breakout Beyond and Microids’ Arkanoid Eternal Battle. However, with so much happening on screen all at once, it’s not a game for faint-hearted newcomers to the brick breaking genre. Indeed, so fast paced is CyberBlocker Complete Edition, that it can be difficult to keep track of the on-screen action at times, but if you’re up for an old-school arcade challenge, then you’ll have a (bat and) ball with CyberBlocker’s block-breakin’ beats.
CyberBlocker Complete Edition was released by Eastasiasoft today (April 29, 2026) on PlayStation 4&5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One & Series X|S (version reviewed), having previously been self-published on PC by KT Software.
