Marble Blast Ultra
Reviewed by contributing guest Teslaboy
Overview
You know those simple little puzzle games that you see someone playing and you say “wow, that’s a pretty simple looking game, let me give it a try,” and you end up totally hooked? Well this is one of those games. Much like Super Monkeyball for the Nintendo Gamecube, but without the monkeys and slightly different control layout, you’re a little marble, and you have to get to the end of the level without falling off the map into an unending vortex of clouds and pretty sparkles and stuff. Marble Blast Ultra is a great family-oriented game with some edge-of-your seat gameplay trying to get the best times in each single player situation.
Gameplay:
The whole point of this game is pretty simple. You’re a little marble, and you either have to get your marble from point A to point B, or collect a few gems, then get to the finish line. There is no time limit, the time actually counts upward, and depending on how quickly you finish it, you get ranked in the Leaderboards and depends on whether you get a ‘par’ time or not. This is much like the way Gulf works. There are three groups of levels to choose from, Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced, and they all vary greatly in difficulty. Really, no two levels in the game are alike, and most of them are very imaginative and truly make this game a very unique experience. Though, there are about 60 levels in total, you can breeze through the first 40 fairly quickly, which is somewhat of a downer. However, you can always go back and try for better times, get a better rank on the Leaderboards, or you can compete on multiplayer in another myriad of unique levels. Redoing levels doesn’t seem to get old, you can always get better times, always compete against yourself. Replayability is nearly unlimited.
Graphics:
The graphics of this game are very well-done. You have around 25 different marble ‘skins’ to choose from, and each of them looks almost exactly like the marbles you had as a child. There are the normal colored marbles, or the tinted see-through marbles, and even the super-shiny mirror marble is up for the choosing. The marbles aren’t the only good-looking things in the game. The levels look very nice as well, as I said earlier, each of the levels look totally unique from each other. The main track looks a lot like nice, smooth linoleum, the supports and archways look like smooth, polished wood, windows look like the bubbled, distorted-view windows you’d find at the doctor’s or some expensive office. The lighting and shading in the game is very well done. Just about any wood surface in the game has nice shaded-in marks, looks like someone just took a polish rag to the surface. All in all, this game is just full of delicious eye-candy.
Final Word
Like most Xbox Live Arcade games, this game really has no point to it other than to just have fun, and Marble Blast Ultra is definitely a lot of fun. One thing I was surprised to see was a Live-compatable Multiplayer feature. It’s quite simple, it’s a large arena with lots of jumps and powerups, and little gems are strewn across the arena, and the first man, or marble, to reach 100 gems wins (or gets the most by the end of the round). Though simple, it’s yet another feature added to this great game. Like I said, this is a relatively short game, but very well-lived. You probably won’t get bored anytime soon.
Final Score: 9/10
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