Cosmic Smash (Game)

Cosmic Smash

GAME » on November 2000

Racquetball meets Breakout in Sega's stylish arcade-style single-player sports game.

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Overview

Cosmic Smash is a sci-fi behind-the-back block-breaking game developed by Sega Rosso (Company) and released by Sega (Company) for arcades (using their Dreamcast (Platform)-based NAOMI hardware) in both Japan and Europe sometime on November 2000.

Featuring an abstract "Y2K futurism" aesthetic, Cosmic Smash combines racquet sports with block-breaking games (somewhat similar to the mini-games in Virtua Tennis/Power Smash), with players moving their virtual athlete around a walled court and rallying a ball around in order to destroy all the breakable blocks within a limited amount of time, with different spins and special techniques to help direct the ball. Although it features 50 playable stages, each run of the game only uses a portion of it (with players selecting their path as junctions on a map).

It later received a home Dreamcast (Platform) release exclusively in Japan on September 13, 2001. This version is known for using a frosted DVD case instead of the traditional jewel case. The game later received a licensed VR successor for the PlayStation 5 (Platform) on June 23, 2023 with C-Smash VRS.

Gameplay

Cosmic Smash is a one-joystick, two-button game, with one button for striking the ball and one for jumping. Players move their character left-and-right in a walled room (similar to an indoor racquetball court) and attempt to break all breakable blocks in the stage by returning rallies on a bouncing ball.

Although the game has a total of 50 playable stages (along with a bonus stage after clearing the run), each run has players running a limited selection of them, presented as a "map" (similar to a transit map). After clearing the first eight stages in a set path, players progress through one of 21 paths by navigating different crossroads. This brings each run to a total of 13-17 stages.

Each run of the game has a countdown timer, which ends the run prematurely when it elapses. Failing to return the rally wastes a small bit of time, while performing Trick Smashes takes up even more time. The timer is replenished by completing stages.

Trick Smash

Pressing both buttons (or a dedicated shortcut button in the home release) performs a Trick Smash to perform elaborate volleys, which can be combined with the joystick, the character's movement, and location for 28 different varieties (each with different properties, like some that cause the player to dash towards the ball, some that attract the ball, or some that are able to break through multiple groups of tougher blocks).

Despite having a variety of properties, performing them either has a long wind-up or a long recovery window, and the timer depletes faster while they are being performed. Performing them as the final smash is crucial for scoring, as they give big score bonuses, with the bonus score based on the type of Trick Smash used.

Scoring

Players earn score each time they clear a level based on how fast they clear it, along with bonus points for not failing to return a volley and performing a Trick Smash as the final smash.

Time Bonus: 300k for clearing the stage, with bonus points based on the amount of time (10k × (Stage Time - Clear Time))
No Lost Ball Bonus: 200k for not failing to return the rally.
Trick Finish Bonus: 100k-300k for finishing the stage with a Trick Smash, based on the difficulty of the Trick Smash performed.

There are also the potential for huge score bonuses at the end of each run:

Perfect Trick Bonus: 10m for clearing the game with all final smashes being a Trick Smash.
Variety Trick Bonus: 10m for clearing the game with all final smashes being a different Trick Smash.
Perfect Rally Bonus: 10m for clearing the game without failing to return the rally.

Completing the run with a high-enough score grants a special password that was used in 2000-2002 for players to enter an online leaderboard, showing their final score and the route they took.

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