It's fun but it's goddamn nigh impossible to win. Rad tunes though.
This game pissed me off so much in my youth. Also the trackball hurts your hands because it's not perfectly set up so you pinch yourself all the time with it. Other than that it's a solid game. Very fucking short though. Also laughably easy for an Arcade game.
Convincing 3D graphics coupled with varied levels, decent sound effects, and solid controls made this a refreshing and unique entry in the puzzle genre at its time of release.
I loved the tactile feeling of the heavy trackball the upright arcade machine used. The music and sound effects were awesome as well, and kept me coming back. In fact, if it weren't for this machine and the Star Wars vector arcade game, I'd have made 95% fewer trips to Wal-Mart, where the games hung out in the foyer. Those were the days, for sure.
As if said by a late 2000's YouTube AVGN clone, this game sure as hell made me lose my marbles.
The game is pretty basic but Blockbuster video still managed to get tens of dollars out of me since this was one of my go to rentals whenever I couldnt find a game I wanted. You move a marble around a basic 3d environment while things try to break it. It's a little clumsy and difficult in many spots but for some reason, it can be fun.
This is actually fun if you view it as a competitive survival game. As a single player game it also isn't too bad tbh
confusing to understand whats happening, a blast when u figure it out though
https://www.retrogames.cz/play_579-Genesis.php
Marble Madness 1984 || Sega
emulador pc
1-interacción: 8.6
2-mundo/apartado artístico: 9.4
3-concepto: 9.2
4-puesta en escena: 9.4
5-narración: -
6-sonido/apartado sonoro: 6.9
7-jugabilidad: 8.1
8-historia: -
9-duración/ritmo: 8.6
10-impacto: 8.8
9.4
9.4
9.2
8.8
8.6
8.6
54/60pts
90 promedio
Marble Madness 1984 || Sega
emulador pc
1-interacción: 8.6
2-mundo/apartado artístico: 9.4
3-concepto: 9.2
4-puesta en escena: 9.4
5-narración: -
6-sonido/apartado sonoro: 6.9
7-jugabilidad: 8.1
8-historia: -
9-duración/ritmo: 8.6
10-impacto: 8.8
9.4
9.4
9.2
8.8
8.6
8.6
54/60pts
90 promedio
Occasionally frustrating, but a fun concept
I never played it like it was intended with a trackball but at least I can confirm that it translates very well to the D-pad. A classic.
Played this for my action spot for the Retro Achievement challenge. Always loved Marble Madness. It just a fun little race against the clock game. I looked over the Achievements and went to Master it! Always a great time if you have 20 minutes to kick around.
Cleared on January 4th, 2024 (SEGA Genesis Challenge: 43/160)
When I saw that this game took 5 minutes to clear on Longplay, I was expecting a quick round... but then I remembered that this is a game from the 80s so I knew there was a catch, and whaddya know. I wasn't wrong. While I was able to see the game to the end without resorting to save states, it was not easy in the slightest.
The game has you rolling marbles across maze-like isometric race courses on a timer. The faster you get there, the more extra time you'll have for the next course which will especially be important at the final level because my god it is specifically engineered to troll you on so many levels.
The rest of the game is manageable, and it was easy enough to learn the controls and memorize how the levels operate which creates a satisfactory feeling of mastery although at times it can feel luck dependent, but can feel like a test of adaptability.
The final level, on the other hand, is ridiculously troll. You have far less time to clear it than you usually do, the game has tiles that hinder your control like ice floor that makes you slippery, metal floor that makes you stiff, and a tile that causes you to slide with no way of controlling. And even you can manage all of that, I hope you have enough time because there are these disappearing tiles that are there to ensure that you have stored just enough time, or you are guaranteed to lose and that aside, you have to time your rolling because they got a little bit of everything on these last tiles. Including ice physics at the very end that screwed me over and forced me to do the game all over again. The good news is that it won't take very long to get back into the final level, but the bad news is that it takes a lot of trial and error.
Oh, and the enemies are obnoxious. You have the bouncy things that will OHKO you if they land on you, but as long as you dash out of the way as they jump, you should be ok. The black balls are annoying and while you could get better at dodging them, they can really hinder you under bad circumstances. The slimes, though, especially the ones at the final level have cheap placements where they are and will OHKO you for touching them.
But you know what? I'm a sucker for rolling and ball games like this, so I'm not too mad at the difficulty. At least there is a sense of being able to get better... well, for the most part, anyway.
When I saw that this game took 5 minutes to clear on Longplay, I was expecting a quick round... but then I remembered that this is a game from the 80s so I knew there was a catch, and whaddya know. I wasn't wrong. While I was able to see the game to the end without resorting to save states, it was not easy in the slightest.
The game has you rolling marbles across maze-like isometric race courses on a timer. The faster you get there, the more extra time you'll have for the next course which will especially be important at the final level because my god it is specifically engineered to troll you on so many levels.
The rest of the game is manageable, and it was easy enough to learn the controls and memorize how the levels operate which creates a satisfactory feeling of mastery although at times it can feel luck dependent, but can feel like a test of adaptability.
The final level, on the other hand, is ridiculously troll. You have far less time to clear it than you usually do, the game has tiles that hinder your control like ice floor that makes you slippery, metal floor that makes you stiff, and a tile that causes you to slide with no way of controlling. And even you can manage all of that, I hope you have enough time because there are these disappearing tiles that are there to ensure that you have stored just enough time, or you are guaranteed to lose and that aside, you have to time your rolling because they got a little bit of everything on these last tiles. Including ice physics at the very end that screwed me over and forced me to do the game all over again. The good news is that it won't take very long to get back into the final level, but the bad news is that it takes a lot of trial and error.
Oh, and the enemies are obnoxious. You have the bouncy things that will OHKO you if they land on you, but as long as you dash out of the way as they jump, you should be ok. The black balls are annoying and while you could get better at dodging them, they can really hinder you under bad circumstances. The slimes, though, especially the ones at the final level have cheap placements where they are and will OHKO you for touching them.
But you know what? I'm a sucker for rolling and ball games like this, so I'm not too mad at the difficulty. At least there is a sense of being able to get better... well, for the most part, anyway.
Good compared to other NES offerings at the time, but short. Challenging, though. Can't imagine paying $60 for this back in the day, but for $5 today it's worth picking up.
This always felt very underrated to me. An update with motion controls would be a super cool minigame in some collection or something.
This game makes me wanna shove marbles up other peoples noses.