Reviewed: June 2, 2003
Reviewed by: Mark Smith
Publisher
Garage Games
Developer
Garage Games
Released: May 9 2003
Genre: Action/Arcade
Players: 1
ESRB: Everyone
7
7
4
8
7.1
System Requirements
Marble Blast Gold 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 Gold, 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 Gold 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, whirling tornados, land mines, pinball-style bumpers, narrow catwalks, moving pistons, dizzying chasms, and more. To get past these obstacles, players can find and use five different ability enhancing power ups - the SuperSpeed, SuperJump, SuperBounce, Shock Asbsorber and Gyrocopter. Some levels contain gravity modifiers, which allow the player to change the direction of gravity.
Fans of the original Marble Blast will enjoy the 28 new and extremely challenging levels that have been added to the original 72 as well as a new Gold Time that you can aspire to beat. When you have conquered all 100 of these levels you can use the intuitive editor to create you won custom levels then challenge your friends to beat your best time.
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 Gold. 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 WADS cluster and the mouse you can move your marble around increasingly complex levels with ramps and jumps and moving platforms.
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, change time, let you fly or jump great distances. Marble Blast keeps a list of high scores for each level, 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 I have played this year. The first time I started playing Marble Blast I had only intended to check out a level or two then come back to properly play and review it later. About three hours later I was working my way through level 48 trying to keep my running record of Gold Time intact. I thought I had escaped the evil grasp of this game until I went back to collect some screenshots for this review and lost another 2 hours of my life. You get sucked into the competitive nature of beating your best time or trying for that Gold Time and you just can't stop playing.
By design, each level is short with some of the Gold Times less than ten seconds. 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.
Marble Blast Gold 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 is even a reflection map of the clouds in the shiny surface of the marble.
The animation is fluid and flawless and the mouse 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 movement keys.
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 Gold comes with 100 whimsical and challenging levels, as well as the ability for advanced players to craft and share their own levels. Each level has "gold standard" set for the high score, so you can test your skills against the record īgoldī times. Marble Blast Gold is sure to provide countless hours of fun for the whole family. For only $20, you are sure to get your money's worth with this addictive game.
Marble Blast Gold 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 one 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 in the Hall of Fame.