There was a Slashdot story recently with a parody-history of the character Q*Bert. Seeing an opportunity, I asked about Q*Bert clones for the PC (since I know of none).
I also asked whether there were any decent Arkanoid clones for the PC (Arkanoid must be my favorite arcade-style game). I didn’t get an answer about Q*Bert clones, but entrippy pointed to Jardinains as a viable Arkanoid clone.
I had previously discovered DX Ball on my own, but Jardinains is even better. Though DX Ball is also fun (be sure to give it a try if you like the Arkanoid/breakout genre), its chief disadvantage is the scarcity of levels — I think I completed the game within a few days.
Jardinains doesn’t necessarily have more levels (I haven't finished the game, so I can’t be certain), but its levels are more intricate so they last longer anyhow. And, like any good Arkanoid clone, Jardinains has plenty of cool power-ups from laser-gun shooters to 1-Ups and ball-goes-through-everything powers.
As an interesting twist, Jardinains also features gnomes — yes, gnomes. The little guys “live” in some of the blocks and throw flower-pots onto the player’s paddle (these count for negative points if you run into them). However, if your ball hits the block housing a gnome, he falls of his perch — and, at this point, you can bounce him around for some extra points.
I’ve enjoyed Jardinains so far and I’d be rather temped to register it (as it is shareware) if I were properly employed. Its only disadvantage, perhaps, is that there is no save-game functionality nor level-codes; so, even advanced players that may have made it to level 9 in previous games still have to trudge through the easy level at the start of every game :-/.