Based on classic ball-and-paddle arcade games such as "Breakout" and "Arkanoid", "Alleyway" was a launch title for the Game Boy in 1989 for Japan and North America, alongside "Super Mario Land", "Baseball", and "Tetris", though only with the first two in Japan. The game's release predates "Tetris" by two months, due to legal battles between Nintendo and Tengen over the Tetris property. On June 6, 2011, the game was re-released as a launch title for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console system via online distribution. It was first released in Japan, and then North America a year later.