Titan

Titan (1989) looks at first glance like one more entry in the endless parade of Breakout clones flooding computers at the time. In reality it is one of the boldest attempts anyone made to rethink the formula. Your paddle is not glued to the bottom of the screen: you steer a square slab that moves freely across the whole playfield, and the playfield itself is bigger than the screen, with the camera scrolling to follow the ball wherever it goes.

That one change forces a completely different way of thinking. The ball never stops, so you shadow it around the maze, angling rebounds to clear the blocks scattered through each level. The slab can also trap the ball: sweep over it quickly and you carry it for a moment, then release it in the direction you choose. That little trick turns a pure reflex game into something you can at least half plan.

There are eighty mazes in total, and their builders did not hold back: walls, narrow corridors and surfaces that bend the ball's flight all get in your way. The pace is high and the scrolling can be genuinely disorienting — by the time you work out where the ball is heading, it is often too late. The difficulty is frankly cruel, and your first sessions will mostly be spent learning to read the game at all.

Today Titan matters mainly as a concept. If you want the relaxed brick-breaking of Arkanoid, ten minutes of this will leave you annoyed. If you enjoy games that take a familiar pattern and bend it into a strange new shape, there is an honest, distinctive challenge here that few designers of the era dared to attempt.

You can try it on oldgame.cz straight in your browser, with nothing to install.