Ball Breaker (1987)

Ball Breaker is an arcade action game released in 1987 for the ZX Spectrum 48K/128K. Published by CRL Group PLC, the game was created by Richard M. Taylor, Jon Law, Jay Derrett, and Jared Derrett.

The game is designed for a single player and features oblique 3D graphics. Technical features include AY sound support, a custom screen loader, and flexible control options, such as Kempston joystick, Interface 2, cursor keys, and redefinable keys.

The game was sold on cassette for £8.95. It was also released for the Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64 platforms. The title is based on a licence from Atari Games Ltd.

The game holds an average magazine score of 78%. It received 9/10 from Sinclair User, 8/10 from Your Sinclair, and 64% from Crash.

The game became very prominent in Russia and the former Soviet states. It saw over a dozen TR-DOS adaptations and numerous amateur Russian translations, while POKE codes were frequently shared in the local electronic press. Cracked cassette versions were also common, released by groups such as Copper Feet and KIS.