Reviewed: February 9, 2006
Reviewed by: Mark Smith
Publisher
Garage Games
Developer
Garage Games
Released: January 25, 2006
Genre: Puzzle
Players: 1
ESRB: Everyone
9
8
7
8
8.3
Supported Features:
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
The Xbox 360 came out of the launch gate with a bang but not much has been stirring in the game library since. The only thing that rivals the actual hardware shortage is a supply of new games. Whether by pure luck or sheer genius, those marketing guys over at Microsoft have managed to keep me playing my 360 long after I have finished with the launch library with something called the Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA), part of the new Online Marketplace.
The concept is simple. Take classic arcade games and independent PC titles and upgrade them to hi-def and tweak the controls and re-release them for about $5 each. And while gamers on a budget will probably scoff at the concept of paying for a game they can download for free to their PC or cell phone, those who really want a sample of past gaming goodness and a chance to add a few hundred Achievement points to their gamer profile will pounce on the opportunity.
Garage Games joins the ranks of numerous independent PC developers who are finding a new and previously unattainable market for their games through the XBLA. Marble Blast Ultra is an arcade action game with simple yet highly addictive gameplay, suitable for players of all ages. In the rich cartoon landscape of Marble Blast Ultra, players will race their marbles through moving platforms, dangerous hazards, sparkling treasures and power up enhancements in an effort to complete each course in record time.
Marble Blast Ultra introduces new players to the game with a set of progressively more difficult beginner training levels, each designed to showcase a power-up or game hazard. The hazards players will face in Marble Blast include powerful fans, pinball-style bumpers, narrow catwalks, moving pistons, dizzying chasms, icy ledges, and more. To get past these obstacles, players can find and use different ability enhancing power ups - the SuperSpeed, SuperJump, SuperBounce, and Gyrocopter. Some levels contain gravity modifiers, which allow the player to change the direction of gravity and actually rotate the level in 3D.
I still remember the old arcade game, Marble Madness that I dropped many quarters and tokens into back in the day, and that was the first thing that popped into my head when I was given the opportunity to review Marble Blast Ultra. While the names might be similar the gameplay has certainly evolved into a fully 3D puzzle game that controls and plays almost like a third-person action game. Using a combination of the twin analog sticks you can move your marble around increasingly complex levels with ramps and jumps and moving platforms. The analog controls allow you some excellent flexibility in controlling your speed, either creeping along narrow ledges or racing through loops and curves at top speeds.
The goal is always to get from the start to the finish in the shortest time possible, but sometimes they throw in some objectives along the way - usually picking up several gems. There are all sorts of creative power-ups to collect and use. This can alter gravity, freeze time, let you fly or jump great distances. Marble Blast keeps a list of high scores for each level and compares you with the rest of the world on Xbox Live, so you always have something to strive for, even after you beat the challenging Gold Times.
And therein lies this game's unique strenght. It has to be one of the most addictive games on XBLA, even more addicting than a lot of AAA titles. The first time I started playing Marble Blast I had only intended to check out a level or two but before I knew it I had finished off the first difficulty bracket and was about to start the second before I realized that nearly 3 hours had lapsed.
You totally get sucked into the competitive nature of beating your best time or trying for that Gold Time and you just can't stop playing. Then, when you have the best possibly time you can possibly get you check out the leaderboards and see sombody else did it ten seconds faster and you can't help but go discover what shortcut they found through the level.
By design, each level is short with some of the Gold Times less than ten seconds and some levels only lasting 2-3 seconds if you are really good. You'll often miss a record by a fraction of a second, and repeatedly replaying a 5-second level may seem innocent enough until you do it 40-50 times. It starts to add up. Later in the game the levels get much larger and more complex with par times in the 2-3 minute range.
Marble Blast Ultra is bright and colorful with some excellent puzzle designs that hover miles above the ground creating an uneasy sense of vertigo when you stray too close to an edge or attempt a daring leap to a far off platform. All of the power-ups are animated and charming and there are plenty of special particle animations that really add a lot of quality to the overall visual package.
There are dozens of awesome marble textures and designs you can choose from but it's important to have one that shows the "spin" on your marble so stay away from anything solid. The game also shows real-time reflections of the architecture and clouds. This becomes strategically important when you need to use the reflection to spot that elevator descending from above.
The animation is fluid and flawless and the right stick can be used to control the camera for precise viewing angles with no clipping. The control even orients itself to the current view so with a bit of practice you can learn to steer the marble with a combination of camera angles and the left stick.
There's not a whole lot of sound effects other than the sound of a marble rolling on tile. The music is all cartoonish and reaches a manic pace at times to reflect the urgency of racing the clock. The tunes do get a bit repetitive and annoying but you can always turn down the music volume or disable music entirely.
Marble Blast Ultra comes with 60 challenging solo levels and 10 levels for some of the most intense and fun multiplayer gaming you can have for a budget title. There are thousands of people playing this game all over the world. I downloaded the full game a few hours after it was made available, and by the time I was placing scores on the leaderboard there were already more than a thousand other gamer tags on those same boards. There is no shortage of online competition or even leaderboard scores to challenge you daily.
For those looking to boost their Gamer Card, there are 200 Achievement points spread across 12 challenging goals that reward you for completing all the levels in each skill bracket as well as completing them all under par times. Plus there are some especially evil Achievements that will keep you playing this game a lot longer that you might expect looking for easter eggs and hidden gems.
Marble Blast Ultra is easy to learn and simple to play, but the increasingly difficult progression of puzzles always manage to throw something new and challenging your way with each new level. This is a game that is great for the entire family and will spark some real competition as you race to beat the Gold Times or just try to get your name somewhere close to the top of those leaderboards.