Marble Madness
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Midway Arcade Origins
(2012) -
Midway Arcade Treasures
(2003)
- Marble Madness (1989 on Dedicated handheld)
Description official descriptions
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.
Spellings
- マーブルマッドネス - Japanese spelling
Groups +
Screenshots
Promos
Credits (Arcade version)
19 People
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 73% (based on 46 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 163 ratings with 6 reviews)
The lack of a proper control system mars this otherwise perfect conversion.
The Good
It's good to have people like Mr. Gabel around for rebuttals--it brings out more information about the game. :-)
Considering the capabilities of the common PC in 1986, Marble Madness was an exquisite conversion that clearly took a lot of work. Even on a 4.77MHz machine, the nearly full-screen graphics move at an acceptable clip. The graphics, albeit lacking in color to the original arcade game, are faithful to the original.
What Mr. Gabel doesn't know is that if you played Marble Madness on a Tandy or PCjr, you were treated to 16-color graphics and 3-voice music that was a huge improvement over the regular PC version with just 4-color graphics and single-voice sound. If he had ever played this version, he might have made his review a bit less harsh. Comparing PC conversions to Amiga conversions isn't really fair; conversions should be compared to what they're ported from instead.
The Bad
Playing with a joystick was effective, but it just felt... wrong. The original arcade game was not only controlled with a trakball, it was designed for one.
The keyboard controls were terrible. I'm sure they did the best they could, but there's no real way to simulate analog direction and speed control with a digital input device.
The Bottom Line
If you have a Tandy/PCjr and a joystick, Marble Madness is a joy to play.
PC Booter · by Trixter (8952) · 1999
A Challenge To Gamers Everywhere.
The Good
The game is to guide a marble through 6 courses. Each harder then the last. The game is a challenge because of the time. You start with 60 seconds. On the next course, you have the remaining time from the last course plus 30 seconds. But starting at course 5, you'll get only 20 seconds powerup.
The Bad
The game is HARD at first but eventually you will beat it if you practice. My best time is 17 seconds left.
The Bottom Line
A true action/strategy classic for all.
NES · by powerstone05 (344) · 2004
One of the best coin-op conversions of its era
The Good
One of the best coin-op conversions of its era. Launched in 1985, the Amiga brought a new era in graphics capability to home computers, and Marble Madness really took advantage.
The Bad
Pretty short, to play it start-to-finish.
The Bottom Line
Guide your marble through a series of 3D isometric challenges.
Amiga · by Randy Delucchi (32) · 2003
Discussion
| Subject | By | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Secret level in Apple II and Apple II GS version? | theclue (174) | Jul 21, 2019 |
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.
Awards
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EGM
- November 1997 (Issue 100) - ranked #10 Best Arcade Games of All Time
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Happy Computer
- 1986 - Best Coin-Op Conversion of the Year
- Issue 04/1987 - #13 Best Game in 1986 (Readers' Vote)
Information also contributed by Daniel Yu, Indra was here and FatherJack
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Related Sites +
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Game Map (Sega Master System)
Images of the level maps of each level. -
NES Player - Marble Madness
Shrine site with information about the game.
Identifiers +
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by emerging_lurker.
Commodore 64 added by Quapil. Game Boy Color added by Corn Popper. SEGA Master System added by Tibes80. PC-98 added by Infernos. BlackBerry, FM Towns added by Sciere. Sharp X68000 added by Kabushi. Arcade added by Pseudo_Intellectual. Antstream added by lights out party. Game Gear added by Macintrash. Genesis, Atari ST, NES, Amiga, Apple II, Apple IIgs added by Servo. Game Boy added by quizzley7.
Additional contributors: Trixter, Apogee IV, Alaka, j.raido 【雷堂嬢太朗】, Patrick Bregger, Jo ST, FatherJack, theclue, Ethan Brunton.
Game added November 24, 1999. Last modified March 2, 2024.