Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for Marble Madness for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.
A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.
Our next podcast recording (10.11.24) - 645: Marble Madness
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JaySevenZero
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Re: Our next podcast recording (10.11.24) - 645: Marble Madness
Marble Madness might be my favorite game I’ve never truly played. At least not in the way it was intended.
I remember seeing the TV commercial for the NES port of Marble Madness at a very young age, and it was mesmerizing. The concept for the game just instantly clicked. Race a marble through an Escher-like geometric obstacle course filled with zany, abstract villains? Sign me up!
Of course, that’s not the language I would have used at the time. But I knew I loved marbles and marble track toys. Whatever this game was, I could tell right away it was up my alley.
Only problem was, my family didn’t have an NES. All I could do was dream and imagine how amazing the game was to play. Believe it or not, I distinctly remember writing Marble Madness fan fiction in the first grade. It was a very short story about how I was inexplicably transported to the world of Marble Madness, and there was a great big clock up in the sky counting down the seconds to some kind of ominous game over scenario. It remains the only fan fiction I’ve written to this day.
Maybe a year later, I did finally get my hands on a version of the game. Unfortunately, it was the Marble Madness Tiger Electronics LCD handheld game. And even though it had great sticker art and a nice big round button that would have resembled the track ball controller from the arcade machine, this was without a doubt one of the worst video games I would ever play, bearing no resemblance to the arcade experience it was supposed to replicate.
You basically had to move a tiny black dot to a tiny exit hole while making sure to avoid running into an obstacle hole, which was just another tiny black dot. In this way, the game more closely resembled the classic analog Labyrinth game, where you had to tilt the wooden playing field in order to move a marble through a maze of holes.
Even though I would eventually go on to receive a Game Boy and Sega Genesis years later, I never ended up getting the Marble Madness port for either of those systems. It’s possible I just didn’t know about them.
It really wasn’t until a few years ago that I finally got to play an emulated version of the original game on the Midway Arcade Origins collection. The game is still a blast to play. The isometric visuals are still iconic. The music is timeless. The only thing that maybe doesn’t carry forward quite as well is the necessary but difficult translation of trackball controls to a directional pad or analog stick. Since I’ve never had the fortune of playing the game on its original arcade hardware, I can only assume it’s a much different experience.
Nevertheless, it’s a game I’ve tried on multiple occasions to go back and complete. It’s only six levels, right? How hard can it be?
Well, I’ve still never beaten the game, although I did manage to get pretty decent at it. I’ve only gotten to the final level twice, but the last time I did so, I made it all the way to the last section with the disappearing platforms before the time expired.
If I ever get to meet Mark Cerny in person, I’ll certainly try to shake his hand and thank him for his amazing contributions to the world of video games. Between this game and Sonic 2 alone, it feels like I owe him a huge debt of gratitude.
On a closing thought, it’s always baffled me why we’ve never received an official Marble Madness reboot. I know about the scrapped arcade sequel, and it would certainly be cool to see that version of the game receive some kind of better-late-than-never release, similar to Nintendo’s Star Fox 2. But why have we never gotten a spruced-up and expanded Marble Madness game that could actually take advantage of today’s shiny graphics and modern physics simulation?
If someone knows who owns the rights to the Marble Madness IP, I’d love to start a letter writing campaign. Who’s with me?
I remember seeing the TV commercial for the NES port of Marble Madness at a very young age, and it was mesmerizing. The concept for the game just instantly clicked. Race a marble through an Escher-like geometric obstacle course filled with zany, abstract villains? Sign me up!
Of course, that’s not the language I would have used at the time. But I knew I loved marbles and marble track toys. Whatever this game was, I could tell right away it was up my alley.
Only problem was, my family didn’t have an NES. All I could do was dream and imagine how amazing the game was to play. Believe it or not, I distinctly remember writing Marble Madness fan fiction in the first grade. It was a very short story about how I was inexplicably transported to the world of Marble Madness, and there was a great big clock up in the sky counting down the seconds to some kind of ominous game over scenario. It remains the only fan fiction I’ve written to this day.
Maybe a year later, I did finally get my hands on a version of the game. Unfortunately, it was the Marble Madness Tiger Electronics LCD handheld game. And even though it had great sticker art and a nice big round button that would have resembled the track ball controller from the arcade machine, this was without a doubt one of the worst video games I would ever play, bearing no resemblance to the arcade experience it was supposed to replicate.
You basically had to move a tiny black dot to a tiny exit hole while making sure to avoid running into an obstacle hole, which was just another tiny black dot. In this way, the game more closely resembled the classic analog Labyrinth game, where you had to tilt the wooden playing field in order to move a marble through a maze of holes.
Even though I would eventually go on to receive a Game Boy and Sega Genesis years later, I never ended up getting the Marble Madness port for either of those systems. It’s possible I just didn’t know about them.
It really wasn’t until a few years ago that I finally got to play an emulated version of the original game on the Midway Arcade Origins collection. The game is still a blast to play. The isometric visuals are still iconic. The music is timeless. The only thing that maybe doesn’t carry forward quite as well is the necessary but difficult translation of trackball controls to a directional pad or analog stick. Since I’ve never had the fortune of playing the game on its original arcade hardware, I can only assume it’s a much different experience.
Nevertheless, it’s a game I’ve tried on multiple occasions to go back and complete. It’s only six levels, right? How hard can it be?
Well, I’ve still never beaten the game, although I did manage to get pretty decent at it. I’ve only gotten to the final level twice, but the last time I did so, I made it all the way to the last section with the disappearing platforms before the time expired.
If I ever get to meet Mark Cerny in person, I’ll certainly try to shake his hand and thank him for his amazing contributions to the world of video games. Between this game and Sonic 2 alone, it feels like I owe him a huge debt of gratitude.
On a closing thought, it’s always baffled me why we’ve never received an official Marble Madness reboot. I know about the scrapped arcade sequel, and it would certainly be cool to see that version of the game receive some kind of better-late-than-never release, similar to Nintendo’s Star Fox 2. But why have we never gotten a spruced-up and expanded Marble Madness game that could actually take advantage of today’s shiny graphics and modern physics simulation?
If someone knows who owns the rights to the Marble Madness IP, I’d love to start a letter writing campaign. Who’s with me?
Re: Our next podcast recording (10.11.24) - 645: Marble Madness
Yeah I was surprised to see that Marble Madness wasn't part of the Arcade Archives series or available on any compilation for Switch. Whilst searching I stumbled across this game: https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/fea ... modern-era
...which seems like the closest we've got, but which in turn seems very similar to Super Monkey Ball, so I suppose Super Monkey Ball might be considered a modern spiritual successor to the series, but it's not really that similar other than you're rolling a ball around a level.
...which seems like the closest we've got, but which in turn seems very similar to Super Monkey Ball, so I suppose Super Monkey Ball might be considered a modern spiritual successor to the series, but it's not really that similar other than you're rolling a ball around a level.
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ratsoalbion
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Re: Our next podcast recording (10.11.24) - 645: Marble Madness
Arcade Archives/Hamster don't have the licenses for any Western games afaik.
Re: Our next podcast recording (10.11.24) - 645: Marble Madness
The magazine ads for Marble Madness were real eye catchers to me in the late 80's and early 90's. I certainly lusted for this very unique looking game, but I don't remember ever playing any iteration of it until I tried the NES version a few weeks ago.
I say "don't remember", but it's possible I dabbled with the c64 port all those decades ago. If I did, I didn't stick with it long enough for it to leave an impression, and a likely reason for that is that - unlike most or all other ports - the screen does not scroll until the marble is nearly touching the edge of it, making it much harder to react to upcoming obstacles.
The NES version was an enjoyable experience, however, with good controls, cool music and Marble Madness still looks nice to this day thanks to its unique style. It's fun to experiment with different routes through stages, though there is obviously one "ideal" path.
What I wasn't aware of until now was the game's brevity. Once you know what to do and are skilled enough to do it, the game can be completed in five minutes! Luckily, it will take you a good many rounds of practice to be able to do that.
3 Word Review:
5 minute spin
I say "don't remember", but it's possible I dabbled with the c64 port all those decades ago. If I did, I didn't stick with it long enough for it to leave an impression, and a likely reason for that is that - unlike most or all other ports - the screen does not scroll until the marble is nearly touching the edge of it, making it much harder to react to upcoming obstacles.
The NES version was an enjoyable experience, however, with good controls, cool music and Marble Madness still looks nice to this day thanks to its unique style. It's fun to experiment with different routes through stages, though there is obviously one "ideal" path.
What I wasn't aware of until now was the game's brevity. Once you know what to do and are skilled enough to do it, the game can be completed in five minutes! Luckily, it will take you a good many rounds of practice to be able to do that.
3 Word Review:
5 minute spin