Ah, the dreaded U-shaped level. Launch the ball either one click right or two clicks to the left. Wait for the ball to ricochet off the bottom of the U and then hit it again on either the right half or left half of your paddle to send it up the channel.
As with level 13, you may find yourself trapped under the row of unbreakable bricks. If so, check out these instructions.
The ball will likely escape from the U-shaped enclosure a few times while playing this level. If this happens and you see the ball descending along the wall on either side, position your paddle directly beneath the long column of unbreakable bricks on that side. Watch carefully as the ball passes beyond the bottom-most unbreakable brick. Does it scoot under the brick and head towards the center of the board? Does it ricochet off that last brick and head back towards the wall? Wait until you see where the ball is going before moving your paddle into place to intercept it. When you intercept the ball on the right side of the level, try and strike it with the right half of your paddle. The ball might ricochet off the bottom row unbreakable bricks, in which case a second strike on the right side of your paddle should send the ball back up the chute. For balls on the left side of the level, use the left half of your paddle.
The best capsule to get on this level is the Multi. If you can keep the balls in play, not only are the bricks cleared out more quickly, but the transition to a slow ball speed will happen sooner. If you get a Gun, try destroying the three unbreakable bricks in the center of the bottom row. That creates a bit more breathing room under the U, and gives you a chance to damage some bricks from the bottom up.
This is definitely the hardest level of the game, in my opinion- once I figured this one out the game itself was no problem, and I cycled through the rest much more quickly. There is nothing like CATCH for precision on this level- I try to stay conservative, focus on the ball when it is coming down, and I have to launch it into the U lots of times before beating the level, sometimes only destroying one brick or two or none on a given launch. Escaping under the row of silver bricks is possible but tricky, I work to avoid that situation. One good thing about it though is that if you stay steadily on the side of the ball as it comes down, even if you are really pinned under the bricks, chances are the ball will hit your paddle and still stay in play- you just have to keep your reflexes sharp for any unexpected extra- steep angle and move the paddle slightly. I am puzzled that people find later levels, like 31, difficult- after this one I feel like a tennis pro with my control of the ball according to what angle I hit it at and what part of the paddle I use..
hello you all !!
My strategy for this level is to hit the ball to get a very smooth angle in this way the ball will not go crazy when it enters the inside of the “U“ . Also when the ball comes back it will laso have a smooth angle and you con predict that the ball will bounce 3-4 times before it reach your paddle. At this point you stick the paddle against the wall (left or right, it depends)
and watch closely when the ball hit the corner of the “U“ the ball will strike the paddle and will go back to the top with a smooth angle. This cycle will end only if you miss the ball or destruct all the bricks. You may have to hole the paddle slightly off the wall on few occasions but remenber the key for this “run“ is patience and very low attack angle on the walls to avoid the ball to go gnaf-gnaf in the inside of the “U“
After you master this level it will become one of the easiest level in the turn
Enjoy
Pierre,
I have now a Z-10 BlackBerry.
Can I play BrickBreaker with it?
Hi Ednei, I am not sure but I found some more information about this here: http://crackberry.com/brick-breaker-back-blackberry-10
I had my turn today after 12 months of unsuccesful attempts! Feels great and now it is about consistent playing ahead and collecting points and lives. Guess, in each round of 34 you add 5 -7 lives. I wonder when its gonna stop… Thanks for your valuable input, i made progress after reading the dos and donts. Phil
Awesome, congrats Phil!
I found the best capsule for this level is Long, grab it couple of times and never lose a live with it. Just hold it touching the wall either side and force the ball to bounce back to the U regions and break all the bricks painlessly. Very useful.
Outra coisa que eu não sabia era que, após fazer (2 x level 34), se voce não conseguir novamente o 34, voce perde a condição mais lenta.
Shocked13, I didn’t understand nothing… repeat plase
You guys complaining about the U shape hahaha that’s the easy 1 for my because there are only 2 “exits” to cover not even the size of the paddle… But that fcking -_- shape level eats my lives along with the =_= shape level cause u just have to get that angle right each time to get it in…
Hi Pierre,
My name is Nathaniel Lee. I enjoy playing brickbreaker every once in a while during my free time. Back in January of this year, I made it past the so called “turn” (all 34 levels twice) and the ball started to move slow as you described on your walkthrough guide. It now moves slow all the time; not super fast like before. However, the bricks still descend as usual. So, all the levels are still the same as before. The slow speed of the ball has helped me to achieve the current high score and number of lives I described below. I love this guide a lot. It has helped me to achieve a high score of about 265,000 points with 120 lives on my Blackberry Pearl 8120 model. I also agree with what Spencer described on this blog about Catch being one of the best capsules to get on level 16. I find that getting the Catch pill on this level makes it easier for me to “walk the dog” when I’m trapped under silver bricks; even though it takes longer for me to clear out the level. I also find the Long and Gun capsules quite helpful on this level. For me, Long makes “walking the dog” significantly easier as well. If I get the Gun on this level, I usually follow your suggestion and destroy the 3 silver bricks at the bottom of the U. This gives me a better chance to damage the bricks from the bottom of the U. It also helps me to clear out this level somewhat faster, especially when there are only a few bricks left in the level to clear out. Now, I would like to ask you a question about this level. A few weeks ago, when I was playing level 16 (this level) on my Blackberry Pearl 8120, I noticed that a weird glitch in the game, allowed me to use the Laser capsule to destroy some of the red bricks that were hidden inside the U-shaped enclosure. In other words, the laser shots somehow go through the silver bricks at the bottom of the U and damage the red bricks inside, on my version of brickbreaker. I notice that this brickbreaker glitch tends to occur only after the bricks have fully descended down to the paddle on this level. So, I sometimes end up clearing out level 16 with the laser. This glitch also happens to me on level 20, in which the laser shots go through some of the silver bricks on this level. So, I sometimes end up clearing out level 20 with the Laser too. Can you explain to me why this might be happening? Is this truly a brickbreaker glitch? Is this glitch common on certain Blackberry models? Has it ever happened to you? It has happened on my blackberry more than one time while I was playing brickbreaker.
Hi Nathaniel thanks for your post. I have never seen that glitch you described with the Laser! BrickBreaker is full of quirks isn’t it.
I have to disagree for the best capsule for this level. Multi just progresses the structure down faster, and if you lose, you’re pretty much screwed for the rest of your lives. CATCH is definitely the best capsule, being able to redirect the ball is critical for this level and the higher levels.
Thanks Spencer!
Pierre,
Cheguei ao nivel 34 ja 3 vezes!
Mas, voce disse que a velocidade da bola seria pequena depois da segunda vez e isso nao aconteceu.
O que pode estar ocorrendo?
Hi Ednei,
The first and second time through 34 levels, the ball starts at normal speed, then after a while it moves faster. The third time through 34 levels and beyond, the ball still starts at normal speed, but it does not get faster.
Hi, Pierre
IGot it! Last friday night I got the 34 level twice!
But in the next times the ball velocity was not slowly.
What hapens? What can I do?
I HAAAAAATE THIS LEVEL
IT IS CAUSING ME MISERY 🙁 it either fails me, or make me progress with one life left :((
I have found that hitting to the right side of the wall on the first two times through is the best way to go… you have to be patient and understand how to get the ball to move along the wall at a preferred angle… if you hit it off the edge of the paddle, it will climb that wall hitting too often and “bounce over” to the other side… I find the left side to be worse at controlling getting the ball back into the U…
I always take the points at this level and take any capsule (other than flip or wrap), but prefer catch and gun… catch does, as previously mentioned, slow the pace down, but it is much easier to walk the dog if needed. With gun you should always take out those three bottom center bricks… I like long on here too because it can help walk the dog if needed
Multi is a good capsule to get on this level especially if it ignites whilst the ball is inside the U. I don’t think it’s as assured as Catch though. Catch makes for very slow and deliberate play, trying to keep the ball going mainly up and down at steep angles rather than shallow zig-zags, but with patience, it normally works through. With Catch I can normally always get past this level. I agree that with Gun, the middle bottom row bricks are the ones to shoot out, but also consider removing the two corner ones, plus an adjacent one. This makes for easier re-launching of a new ball.
&&^%%$#!!~@@*! and every other curse word in the universe.
Got to this level on the second round with 12 lives. Cleared, once again, 90+% of the bricks on the first ball. Then lost them all. Got the ball back into the channel maybe twice, the ball each time did not hit a brick EVEN ONCE before it came back out, light speed of course.
It ALWAYS come down the channel at the perfect angle to miss the corner of the U by a micron. Game over every time.
This is too hard, the game designers really fucked up.
God I hate this level. In with 12, out with 3.
Every time, I can get 90% of the bricks on the first ball. Every. Single. Time. Then what happens is, eventually, the ball WILL come down so that will strike the very corner of the board, which means the far edge of the paddle. Up it goes a crazy zig-zag angle, at light speed. When that happens, it WILL come down so fast that it’s impossible to keep track of. Whether you get it back up the channel is luck. And what happens as often is not is that it comes down and barely misses the corner of the U, going under the bottom row. Guaranteed lost ball.
Then you have to walk the dog to get it back into the channel. Attrition rate around 50%. Even the ones you get into the channel, you have to go through the “fast” phase all over again. Lose some more balls there.
The you have to hit those lower bricks four times each. I find that in this late stage, the ball comes out of the U with virtually every strike. Often it goes into the U and does not hit a single brick and then comes out again! Basically, the purpose of this level is to give you a million chances to die. It drives me nuts that I can always get 90% through it one one ball and then lose ten clearing the last half dozen bricks.
And why is it that I ALWAYS get the shit capsules on this level? Flip, wrap, laser, slow. Every. Single. Time.
This level is ridiculous and is either badly designed or should have been #34. All the ones that come after, with the possible exception of 31, are way easier.
Also, I’m guaranteed to always get flip, laser or slow on this level. Thanks a lot brickbreaker, very helpful!
I thought I had this licked. Got past it many times. But my two most recent games I had 14 and then 13 lives when I got to this level and lost them all both times.
It is just ridiculously unfair. I can always get about 80% of the bricks with my first ball. Once I get to the bottom bricks, the game is just ruthlessly stacked against the player. Why do those all need to be bright red? Totally unecessary and unfair. The ones in the corners especially are impossible to get. Takes dozens of shots.
To add insult to injury, the safer way to play is to try to put straightish shots into the U. But those only hit the middle and then come out. If you want to reach the corners you have to send up an angled shot. Well, once that comes back down your chances of not losing it are greatly lessened. Then you have to hit each one four times.
Basically, no matter how good you are, the point of this level is to force you to lose. You can be 99% at getting off a good shot but since you have fire literally hundreds into the U, you will still lose. To beat this level, you have to be 100% all the time.
I can get about 70-80% of the bricks gone on the first ball but once I lose a ball, that’s it, I’m dead. I can get maybe one out of four back into the U after launch but it goes very fast.
Escoffier, it’s true that the real difficulty comes when you lose a ball. You have to time things just right to get out from under the bricks. I’ve written more about that here.
You also mention the ball going very fast. This is quite tricky. You have to find a way to survive until the ball slows down. Easier said than done, I know — but it IS possible to learn. For more on this, please see this article.
Hi
The best is if u have 5 or more lives play the game . Try to keep the ball on the left and right hand side . Once the blocks starts to drop down,let the ball fall and start then with your next ball . This will give you the advantage to get more chances of getting the ball inside the U shape as suppose to have 9 lives left and u have no space to play the ball . You will have to make sacrifices but its worthwhile .
I don’t see why deliberately letting the ball drop will help in the long run. If the point is to prevent the bottom row of unbreakables from descending all the way, it can’t possibly work. Unless, that is, the ball never escapes the U.
IME, the ball ALWAYS escapes the U, dozens of times during the level. When it does, you have to hit it with the paddle. Do that enough times and the U starts to drop. So it’s inevitable that the U will drop. If every time it drops one click you let a ball go, you will quickly lose all your lives. You have to hit the ball literally hundreds of times to clear the bricks inside the U.
Thanks Barry. That might work. My approach has been the opposite though — I keep playing the ball even though it means the bricks descend all the way. I’ve just gotten to a point now where I’m usually able to escape from under the metal bricks without losing all my lives.
Even though I’ve beaten the game many times at this point, I still sometimes lose all my lives when I’m stuck under the bricks. It happens. But more often than not, I can get past the level. Sometimes even without losing any lives.
Once again, in with 14 lives, could not make it past.
I just find this impossible.
Absolutely, maddeningly unfair.
I can reach this level every time with around 10 lives. Getting past it is entirely a matter of luck. The last two times, I’ve literally been down to the very last strike on the very last brick and not made it past.
Didn’t someone play test this game and realize that, hey, this level was comlpetely fucked and needed to be re-designed?
This is so chickenshit. Ruins the game.
Concordo com voce. Este nivel é muito injusto.
Só nos resta tentar e tentar e continuar tentando
The “U” shaped level is a trap to suck the lives you’ve saved to that point. The key here is to stop the metal bricks from lowering. This happens on this level faster then any before and the levels after this do the same.
To counter this you have to let the Breaking Ball go by you as soon as the blockade falls a step. That pauses it for a few hits to where you can take out more bricks. Sometimes I let it fall a couple of times before losing so that it is low enough for the ball to stay in play longer without coming back down the other side frequently. Most Important is when you get the “GUN” this is the best to get and the most rare to get on this level. Take out either the right or left outside column with the first two shots then the next one on the bottom next to that column. This is the most effective way of finishing the level without losing a life.
There is no other weapon that will work so forget them, the metal bricks start falling fast with every hit so don’t fall into that trap and lose the life. You will understand the benifit after doing it the first time.
Go Kill the Bricks and bash ’em good!!
“The ball will likely escape from the U-shaped enclosure a few times ”
“A few”? Give me a break! It happens nearly EVERY time. One strike, and out comes the ball. That’s after about ten tries just to get it into the U in the first place.
In my last game, I tried to count how many times the ball escaped the U. I stopped counting after 48. I went in with 14 lives, left with 3.
This level is so badly stacked against the player it makes the game unplayable. I am done with it.
I respectfully disagree on the multi. More times than not, the capsule hits the zone at the same time as the ball, forcing me to choose one ball to save. My favorites on this level, in descending order, are catch, long, and gun. The key to using catch to your advantage on this level is to position the paddle toward the center when the ball is going at high speed — when the ball speeds down the channel, it’s gonna fly toward the center when it reaches bottom.
Maybe someone can help me out with my #1 pet peeve about this level? After the U descends to its lowest position, I find it extremely difficult to hit a ball on the right without its sailing over the top and coming down the left channel, whereupon I have to walk the dog over to the right — because that’s the direction in which it’s quickly moving — and try it again, usually to the same effect. Frustrating. Oddly, this has never happened when I hit the ball from the left. I’ve learned to try to nurse the ball to the right channel and strike it gently from the middle of the paddle so that it doesn’t arc as much, but this isn’t always possible. Any tips?
I know what you mean about the ball going up the right channel only to come quickly back down the left channel. I haven’t found a good solution to this other than what you described, i.e. walking the ball a bit further to the right so that you can strike it with the middle of your paddle when you send it up the right channel.
Another thing to try is when the ball is coming down the left channel, try and strike it with the left side of your paddle to send it back up rather than crossing over to the right. Easier said than done though.
i’ve found if you’ve sailed it up the right and it comes across and down the left it will come out the bottom towards the middle – if you position your paddle so its left end is aligned with the left side of the metal blocks the ball will hit the paddle and go right back up the left and into the U
Good point, thanks Wil
catch gun or multi on this one .C atch is the safe option when you are buildind yer lives up although ive still died with catch before
Those are definitely the best ones to get.
In the top three most difficult .i used to find it hard to get past this round first time round until i mastered the game
Pierre,
Thanks for the follow-up and additional suggestions…I like it. Also, I mentioned that I thought gun/catch was better than multi. I originally made that statement because I usuall launch the ball at the start all the way to the left so that it immediately goes up the left chute. When I do this, the ball dislodges the capsule but then immediately descends down the right chute so that, when I catch the capsule, the ball is usually below the bottom of the ‘U’. So, when the capsule is a multi, three of the balls usually die right away and I can only keep one alive.
However, I just played the game using your initial launch suggestion and happened to get a Multi. using your launch angle, the ball remained up top when I caught the capsule…this resulted in all 4 balls remaining in the U initially, which ended up destroying a lot of the bricks. I think I ended up only loosing 1 life on the board befoe clearing…so, Thanks!
-Joel
You’re welcome, glad it worked out!
I think your suggestions here are good, however, I would make one alternate suggestion. If you get a Gun, instead of destroying the three unbreakable bricks in the center of the bottom row, I like to destroy the bottom two unbreakable bricks in the left (or right) column and the one adjacent to those two on the bottom row. The reason I do this is that, for me, the hardest part of this level is anticipating whether or not the ball is going to clear the bottom unbreakable brick when it travels back down the chute…or not clear it. When the ‘U’ is at its lowest point the reaction time necessary is very small. By clearing out two of the bricks on the column you can improve the margin for error. In addition, by only removing 1 along the bottom row, you can still do some damage to the bricks from the bottom, and improve the chance that the ball will bounce around in the enclosed space, thereby doing more damage.
I would also disagree with you that Multi is the best capsule on this level. I would take Catch or Gun over Multi.
Hi James,
I think that’s a great suggestion. One downside to that approach is it can be difficult to anticipate where the ball is going when it’s inside the U and comes barreling out through the hole you’ve created. Like you said though, if you ever DO end up trapped under the bricks, you’ll have a much bigger margin for error when you launch the ball, by virtue of having cleared out some of those bricks.
Another option for the Gun to try is to clear out the bottom right corner and bottom left corner (and not use the 3rd bullet). This gives you extra breathing room on both sides without blasting a big hole in the U. Although, I’ve found the ball can still sneak through the bottom right corner diagonally between the two bricks there, so it’s not perfect either.
Thanks for the comment!
Pierre
I am new to the Brick Breaker game and have so far proceeded till the 28th level of the first round. This tutorial is fantastic. Helped me strategize better. Would love to take a look at your videos.
Thanks Sayan!