The idea of this arcade game is deceptively simple: Guide a marble down a path without hitting any obstacles or straying off the course. The game is viewed from an isometric perspective, which makes it harder to stay focused on the direction the ball is to follow. There are tight corridors to follow and enemies to avoid. There is a 2-player mode in which players must race to the finish; otherwise you're racing against the clock.

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Screenshots

Marble Madness Commodore 64 The first level

Marble Madness PC Booter The path is about to get steep! (Tandy/PCjr)

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Promo Images

Marble Madness Magazine Advertisement Back Cover

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Alternate Titles

"マーブルマッドネス" -- Japanese spelling

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Part of the Following Groups

User Reviews

A Challenge To Gamers Everywhere.	NES	powerstone05 (348)
The lack of a proper control system mars this otherwise perfect conversion.	PC Booter	Trixter (9116)
Madness? It's only marbles.	Genesis	Liam Dowds (51)
PC Version Disappointed	PC Booter	AstroNerdBoy (40)
The PC version doesn't hold a candle to the Amiga classic.	PC Booter	Tomer Gabel (4634)
One of the best coin-op conversions of its era	Amiga	Randy Delucchi (33)

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Critic Reviews

The Good Old Days (Staff Reviews only)	Amiga	Sep 18, 2007	5 out of 6	83
Video Games	NES	Dec, 1991	76 out of 100	76
Supersonic	SEGA Master System	Jul, 1992	76 out of 100	76
ASM (Aktueller Software Markt)	SEGA Master System	Aug, 1992	8 out of 12	67
Zero	Game Boy	Jul, 1992	65 out of 100	65
Video Games	SEGA Master System	Aug, 1992	60 out of 100	60
Games-X	Game Boy	Jan 09, 1992		60
Power Play	Game Gear	Aug, 1992	59 out of 100	59
1UP!	SEGA Master System	Apr 09, 2010	54 out of 100	54
Play Time	Genesis	May, 1992	47 out of 100	47

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Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
Secret level in Apple II and Apple II GS version?	2	Ethan Brunton (1) Jul 21, 2019

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Trivia

1001 Video Games

The Arcade version of Marble Madness appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Graphics and Sound

A non-advertised fact about the PC version is that it supports 16-color graphics and 3-voice sound -- but only on a Tandy or PCjr computer. All other users automatically get 4-color CGA graphics and single-voice sound.

Secret level

In the Atari ST, C64, Apple ][, Apple //GS, and PC versions, there is a secret level accessible from the first level (involving being in the right place at the right time) which contains various difficult challenges (rivers, moving platforms and the like). This secret level does not exist in the original arcade game. It can only be finished in two player mode as several parts of the level require the cooperation of both players to get by.