Alleyway (video game)
Alleyway (アレイウェイ, Areiuĕi) is a 1989 video game developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo as a global launch title for the Game Boy. It is a Breakout clone and one of the first four games developed and released for the system. The game was released first in Japan in 1989, in North America later that year, and in Europe in 1990. It was later re-released for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console in June 2011.
| Alleyway | |
|---|---|
European box art | |
| Developer(s) | Nintendo R&D1 Intelligent Systems |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Designer(s) | Gunpei Yokoi |
| Composer(s) | Kenji Yamamoto |
| Series | Mario |
| Platform(s) | Game Boy |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Breakout clone |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
The name Alleyway references the in-game gateway that the player's spaceship (represented as a paddle) must pass through. While Alleyway is a portable clone of Breakout, it adds several features, including alternating stages, bonus rounds, and hazards for the player at later levels. While the game's original box art featured an unidentifiable protagonist, later international releases of the game replaced the character with Mario. Alleyway was released with limited advertising, receiving moderate to low scores from reviewers who compared it to games like Arkanoid.