Review: Super ACiD Block Attack
At a Glance
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How to Save and Pause:Your best scores are stored when the game ends. There is no way to save a game in progress or pause, however. Time needed per session:Give yourself about 15 to 20 minutes per session, as it's easy to lose track of time while playing a game like this.
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Does this game pose issues for Christian players?
 | No - this is a great game for Christians One of the benefits of simple games is that there's no room for offensive content. |
Screenshots
Game Overview
Originally released in 1997 as ACiD Tetris, Super Acid Block Attack (or SABA for short) is yet another Tetris clone for DOS. Tetris clones have never been in short supply, so many of them try to make themselves stand out by including a new or unusual quirk. SABA provides an example of this, as it not only features the traditional game, but it can also react to the player's progress (or lack thereof).
If you're familiar with Tetris (and you probably are), there's not much to say about SABA's gameplay that you don't already know - it's a game where you're trying to score points by clearing rows of blocks. To make these rows, you rotate or nudge tetrominoes as they fall from above. Eventually, the gameplay area becomes filled with leftover pieces, and the game ends.
Now, the novelty of Super Acid Block Attack comes from what you could call its "mascot" - a yellow smiley face that sometimes appears to the left of the main play area. From time to time, it'll pop in to comment on your game. For example, if you're hesitating too much it might tell you to hurry up, or it may become surprised if you clear many rows in rapid succession. Along these same lines, it tends to become upset or worried when the pile is growing too high.
Compared to modern games that offer hours of content, SABA might not seem like much. But the graphics and music are remarkably polished for a free DOS game, so I think it's fair to say that it deserves a spot in a retro game fan's DOS library.
If you're familiar with Tetris (and you probably are), there's not much to say about SABA's gameplay that you don't already know - it's a game where you're trying to score points by clearing rows of blocks. To make these rows, you rotate or nudge tetrominoes as they fall from above. Eventually, the gameplay area becomes filled with leftover pieces, and the game ends.
Now, the novelty of Super Acid Block Attack comes from what you could call its "mascot" - a yellow smiley face that sometimes appears to the left of the main play area. From time to time, it'll pop in to comment on your game. For example, if you're hesitating too much it might tell you to hurry up, or it may become surprised if you clear many rows in rapid succession. Along these same lines, it tends to become upset or worried when the pile is growing too high.
Compared to modern games that offer hours of content, SABA might not seem like much. But the graphics and music are remarkably polished for a free DOS game, so I think it's fair to say that it deserves a spot in a retro game fan's DOS library.
Points of Interest
6 Music options
Each song is catchy in its own way, but "Tearing up Spacetime" is probably going to be my favorite. Meanwhile, "Simple Song" is a remix of the Russian folksong Korobeiniki, which is popularly known as the "Tetris theme" from the NES version.
Really easy setup
Most DOS games needed you to run a configuration tool in order to get them running, and SABA isn't any different. However, while most of these tools require the user to know (or at least guess) the correct values for things like IRQs or how many "voices" their sound card has, all you need to do here is run the tool and exit without changing anything - it'll automatically do the work for you.
Concerns and Issues
Nothing of note
Although the mascot may get a little upset or annoyed from time to time, they'll never say anything profane or actually insulting. Otherwise, there's not enough to this game to warrant any concern.