Cluster Buster (クラスターバスター)

A "Breakout"-formula game where you control a grape, bouncing a ball and hitting blocks. (AKA Graplop)

Cluster Buster, more commonly known as Graplop, is a creative "Breakout"-sytle game from Data East in which you use a grape to bounce a ball back and forth, hitting blocks as you progress. As time passes, the blocks will come down on you little by little.

When the ball hits a block, you score 10 points. Removing multiple blocks by hitting a middle block can score 500-1000 points, depending on hou many blocks you remove. Try to hit the ball with the grape (of course!); otherwise, it will break away one brick of a wall with three layers of bricks. If there is a complete opening in a wall and the ball falls through, you lose one grape.

During the game, spiders will fall from blocks that have a distinct orange color. Hitting a spider is worth 500 points and also gives you an "up," which can be used to pull the blocks back if you are overwhelmed by blocks. You can carry up to three "ups" at any one time.

If you can hit the ball seventeen straight times without missing, Mr. Grapo will appear and repair the top layer of the pavement. When Mr. Grapo exits you will be awarded 2001 points.

A stage is completed when all the blocks are removed. You will receive a bonus equivalent to 30 times the number of times you hit the ball in that level, plus a level completion bonus starting at 500 points in pattern 1.

You lose a grape when you touch a block, a spider, or if the ball falls through a hole made by breaking away all three layers of pavement.

You start with three grapes and can earn an extra grape by scoring 20,000 points or by hitting Mr. Grapo, who also appears from time to time among the blocks.

An early version of "Graplop/Cluster Buster" had no pavement at all; just a blue wall. This time, whenever the ball was missed, the ball and the wall turned red and scored no more points until you hit the ball again with the grape.