Marble Madness
Encyclopedia
Marble Madness is an arcade
video game designed by Mark Cerny
, and published by Atari Games
in 1984. It is a platform game
in which the player must guide an onscreen marble through six courses, populated with obstacles and enemies, within a time limit. The player controls the marble by using a trackball
. Marble Madness is known for using innovative game technologies. It was Atari's first to use the Atari System 1 hardware and to be programmed in the C programming language
. The game was also one of the first to use true stereo sound
; previous games used either monaural
sound or simulated stereo
.
In designing the game, Cerny drew inspiration from miniature golf
, racing game
s, and artwork by M. C. Escher
. He aimed to create a game that offered a distinct experience with a unique control system. Cerny applied a minimalist
approach in designing the appearance of the game's courses and enemies. Throughout development, he was frequently impeded by limitations in technology and had to forgo several design ideas.
Upon its release, Marble Madness was commercially successful, becoming a profitable arcade game. Praise among critics focused on the game's difficulty, unique visual design, and stereo soundtrack. The game was ported to numerous platforms and inspired the development of other games. A sequel was developed and planned for release in 1991, but canceled when location testing showed the game could not succeed in competition with other titles.
Marble Madness is an isometric platform game where the player manipulates an onscreen marble from a third-person perspective. The player controls the marble's movements with a trackball
, though most home versions use game controller
s with directional pads
. The aim of the game is for the player to traverse six maze-like, isometric
courses before a set amount of time expires. Each course has its own time limit, with the remaining time left over from completing a course added to the succeeding one. The game also features an option which allows two players to race against each other on the courses.
Courses are populated with various objects and enemies designed to obstruct the player. As the game progresses, the courses become increasingly difficult and introduce more enemies and obstacles. Each course has a distinct visual theme. For example, the first course, "Practice", is a simple course that is much shorter than the others, while the fifth course, "Silly", features polka-dot patterns and is oriented in an opposite direction from the other courses.
, with Mark Cerny
as the lead designer and Bob Flanagan as the software engineer. Both Cerny and Flanagan handled programming the game. It uses the Atari System 1 hardware, an interchangeable system of circuit boards, control panels, and artwork. The game features pixel graphics
on a 19 inch Electrohome
G07 model CRT monitor
, and uses a Motorola 68010
central processing unit
(CPU) with a MOS Technology 6502
subsystem to control the audio and coin operations. Marble Madness was Atari's first game to use an FM
sound chip
produced by Yamaha, which is similar to a Yamaha DX7
synthesizer
and creates the music in real time so that it is in synchronization
with the game action. The game's music was composed by Brad Fuller and Hal Canon who spent a few months becoming familiar with the capabilities of the sound chip.
Cerny and Flanagan first collaborated on a video game based on Michael Jackson's Thriller. The project, however, was canceled and the two began work an idea of Cerny's that eventually became Marble Madness. Development lasted 10 months. Following the North American video game crash of 1983, video game development within Atari focused on providing a distinctive experience through the use of a unique control system and by emphasizing a simultaneous two-player mode. Cerny designed Marble Madness in accordance with these company goals. He was first inspired by miniature golf
and captivated by the idea that a play field's contours influenced the ball's path. Cerny began testing various ideas using Atari's art system. After deciding to use an isometric grid, Cerny began developing the game's concept. His initial idea involved hitting a ball in a way similar to miniature golf, but Atari was unenthusiastic. Cerny next thought of racing game
s and planned for races on long tracks against an opponent. Technology limitations at the time were unable to handle the in-game physics necessary for the idea, and Cerny switched the game's objective to a race against time.
The Motorola CPU includes a compiler
for the C programming language
, which the two programmers were familiar with. After Atari had conducted performance evaluations, it approved usage of the language. The decision by Cerny and Flanagan to program Marble Madness in the C language had positive and negative consequences. Atari games had previously been programmed in assembly language
. The C language was easier to program, but was less efficient, so the game operates at the slower speed of 30 Hz
instead of the normal 60 Hz frequency of arcade games at the time. Cerny decided to use a trackball system (marketed by Atari as Trak-Ball) to give the game a unique control system, and he chose a motorized trackball for faster spinning and braking when the in-game ball traveled downhill and uphill. As it was building the prototypes, Atari's design department informed Cerny that the motorized trackball's design had an inherent flaw—one of the four supports had poor contact with the ball—and the use of a regular trackball was more feasible. Additionally, Cerny had anticipated the use of powerful custom chips that would allow RAM
-based sprites
to be animated by the CPU, but the available hardware was a less-advanced system using ROM-based, static sprites.
These technical limitations forced Cerny to simplify the overall designs. Inspired by M. C. Escher
, he designed abstract landscapes for the courses. In retrospect, Cerny partly attributes the designs to his limited artistic skills. He was a fan of the 3D graphics
used in Battlezone and I, Robot
, but felt that the visuals lacked definition and wanted to create a game with "solid and clean" 3D graphics. Unlike most other arcade games of the time, the course images were not drawn on the pixel
level. Instead, Cerny defined the elevation of every point in the course, and stored this information in a heightmap
array. The course graphics were then created by a ray tracing program that traced the path of light rays, using the heightmap to determine the appearance of the course on screen. This format also allowed Cerny to create shadows and use anti-aliasing
, a technique that provided the graphics with a softer appearance. Cerny's course generator allowed him more time to experiment with the level designs. When deciding what elements to include in a course, practicality was a big factor; elements that would not work or would not appear as intended were omitted, such as an elastic barricade or a teeter-totter scale. Other ideas dropped from the designs were breakable glass supports, black hole traps, and bumps and obstacles built into the course that chased the marble.
Cerny's personal interests changed throughout the project, leading to the inclusion of new ideas absent from the original design documents. The game's enemy characters were designed by Cerny and Sam Comstock, who also animated them. Enemies had to be small in size due to technical limitations. Cerny and Comstock purposely omitted faces to give them unique designs and create a minimalistic appearance similar to the courses. Atari's management, however, suggested that the marble should have a smiley face to create an identified character, similar to Pac-Man
. As a compromise, the cabinet's artwork depicts traces of a smiley face on the marbles. Flanagan programmed a three-dimensional physics model
to dictate the marble's motions and an interpreted
script for enemy behavior. As Marble Madness neared completion, the feedback from Atari's in-house focus testing
was positive. In retrospect, Cerny wished he had included more courses to give the game greater longevity, but extra courses would have required more time and increased hardware costs. Atari was experiencing severe financial troubles at the time and could not extend the game's development period as it would have left their production factory idle.
Many reviewers felt that the high level of skill required to play the game was part of its appeal. In 2008, Levi Buchanan of IGN
listed Marble Madness as one of several titles in his "dream arcade", citing the game's difficulty and the fond memories he had playing it. Author John Sellers said that difficulty was a major reason that players were attracted. Other engaging factors included the graphics, visual design, and the soundtrack. Retro Gamer
s Craig Grannell, in referring to the game as one of the most distinctive arcade games ever made, praised its visuals as "pure and timeless". In 2008, Guinness World Records
listed it as the number seventy-nine arcade game in technical, creative and cultural impact. Marble Madness was one of the first games to use true stereo sound
and have a recognizable musical score. British composer Paul Weir
commented that the music had character and helped give the game a unique identity. A common complaint about the arcade cabinet was that the track ball controls frequently broke from repeated use.
Beginning in 1986, the game was ported
to numerous platforms with different companies handling the conversions; several home versions were published by Electronic Arts
, Tiger Electronics
released handheld and tabletop LCD
versions of the game, and it was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System
by Rare. Early versions featured simplified graphics, and the different ports were met with mixed reception. John Harris of Gamasutra
thought the arcade's popularity fueled the sales of the home versions, while Thomas Hanley of ScrewAttack
commented that most versions were not as enjoyable without a track ball. Grannell echoed similar statements about the controls and added that many had poor visuals and collision detection
. He listed the Amiga
, Game Boy
, and Sega Mega Drive
ports as the better conversions, and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, PC
, and Game Boy Advance
versions among the worst. Dragon
s three reviewers—Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser—praised the Apple IIGS
port, calling it a "must have" title for arcade fans. In 2003, the game was included in the multi-platform title Midway Arcade Treasures
, a compilation of classic games developed by Williams Electronics, Midway Games
and Atari Games. Electronic Arts announced a mobile phone
port for 2010 that would include additional levels with different themes and new items that augment the gameplay.
Marble Madness inspired other games which feature similar gameplay based on navigating a ball through progressively more difficult courses; such games are often described in terms that relate them to Marble Madness. Melbourne House's Gyroscope
and Electric Dreams Software
's Spindizzy were the first such games; both met with a moderate reception. In 1990, Rare released Snake Rattle 'n' Roll
, which incorporated elements similar to Marble Madness. The Super Monkey Ball series
uses similar gameplay based on rolling a ball, but adds other features such as minigame
s and monkey characters.
Atari created prototypes for location testing, but the game did not fare well against more popular titles at the time such as Street Fighter II
. Atari assumed the track balls accounted for the poor reception and commissioned a second model with joystick controls. Because the new models were met with the same poor reception, production was halted and the focus shifted to Guardians of the 'Hood, a beat 'em up
game. The prototypes that were produced have since become collector items.
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
video game designed by Mark Cerny
Mark Cerny
Mark Cerny is a video game industry figure who has worked as a game designer, programmer, producer and business executive. As president of Cerny Games, which he founded in 1998, he now acts as a consultant in the video game industry. In 2004, he was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award...
, and published by Atari Games
Atari Games
Atari Games Corporation was an American producer of arcade games, and originally part of Atari, Inc..-History:When, in 1984, Warner Communications sold the Atari Consumer division of Atari Inc...
in 1984. It is a platform game
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
in which the player must guide an onscreen marble through six courses, populated with obstacles and enemies, within a time limit. The player controls the marble by using a trackball
Trackball
A trackball is a pointing device consisting of a ball held by a socket containing sensors to detect a rotation of the ball about two axes—like an upside-down mouse with an exposed protruding ball. The user rolls the ball with the thumb, fingers, or the palm of the hand to move a cursor...
. Marble Madness is known for using innovative game technologies. It was Atari's first to use the Atari System 1 hardware and to be programmed in the C programming language
C (programming language)
C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
. The game was also one of the first to use true stereo sound
Stereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
; previous games used either monaural
Monaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
sound or simulated stereo
Duophonic
*In synthesizers, capable of sounding two voices, or notes, at a time. Compare: monophonic, polyphonic.*Duophonic is also a term used to refer to a sound process by which a monaural recording is turned into a kind of "fake stereo" by splitting the signal into two channels, delaying the left and the...
.
In designing the game, Cerny drew inspiration from miniature golf
Miniature golf
Miniature golf, or minigolf, is a miniature version of the sport of golf. While the international sports organization World Minigolf Sport Federation prefers to use the name "minigolf", the general public in different countries has also many other names for the game: miniature golf, mini-golf,...
, racing game
Racing game
A racing video game is a genre of video games, either in the first-person or third-person perspective, in which the player partakes in a racing competition with any type of land, air, or sea vehicles. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to entirely fantastical settings...
s, and artwork by M. C. Escher
M. C. Escher
Maurits Cornelis Escher , usually referred to as M. C. Escher , was a Dutch graphic artist. He is known for his often mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints...
. He aimed to create a game that offered a distinct experience with a unique control system. Cerny applied a minimalist
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
approach in designing the appearance of the game's courses and enemies. Throughout development, he was frequently impeded by limitations in technology and had to forgo several design ideas.
Upon its release, Marble Madness was commercially successful, becoming a profitable arcade game. Praise among critics focused on the game's difficulty, unique visual design, and stereo soundtrack. The game was ported to numerous platforms and inspired the development of other games. A sequel was developed and planned for release in 1991, but canceled when location testing showed the game could not succeed in competition with other titles.
Gameplay
Trackball
A trackball is a pointing device consisting of a ball held by a socket containing sensors to detect a rotation of the ball about two axes—like an upside-down mouse with an exposed protruding ball. The user rolls the ball with the thumb, fingers, or the palm of the hand to move a cursor...
, though most home versions use game controller
Game controller
A game controller is a device used with games or entertainment systems used to control a playable character or object, or otherwise provide input in a computer game. A controller is typically connected to a game console or computer by means of a wire, cord or nowadays, by means of wireless connection...
s with directional pads
D-pad
A D-pad is a flat, usually thumb-operated directional control with one button on each point, found on nearly all modern video game console gamepads, game controllers, on the remote control units of some television and DVD players, and smart phones...
. The aim of the game is for the player to traverse six maze-like, isometric
Isometric projection
Isometric projection is a method for visually representing three-dimensional objects in two dimensions in technical and engineering drawings...
courses before a set amount of time expires. Each course has its own time limit, with the remaining time left over from completing a course added to the succeeding one. The game also features an option which allows two players to race against each other on the courses.
Courses are populated with various objects and enemies designed to obstruct the player. As the game progresses, the courses become increasingly difficult and introduce more enemies and obstacles. Each course has a distinct visual theme. For example, the first course, "Practice", is a simple course that is much shorter than the others, while the fifth course, "Silly", features polka-dot patterns and is oriented in an opposite direction from the other courses.
Development
Marble Madness was developed by Atari GamesAtari Games
Atari Games Corporation was an American producer of arcade games, and originally part of Atari, Inc..-History:When, in 1984, Warner Communications sold the Atari Consumer division of Atari Inc...
, with Mark Cerny
Mark Cerny
Mark Cerny is a video game industry figure who has worked as a game designer, programmer, producer and business executive. As president of Cerny Games, which he founded in 1998, he now acts as a consultant in the video game industry. In 2004, he was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award...
as the lead designer and Bob Flanagan as the software engineer. Both Cerny and Flanagan handled programming the game. It uses the Atari System 1 hardware, an interchangeable system of circuit boards, control panels, and artwork. The game features pixel graphics
Raster graphics
In computer graphics, a raster graphics image, or bitmap, is a data structure representing a generally rectangular grid of pixels, or points of color, viewable via a monitor, paper, or other display medium...
on a 19 inch Electrohome
Electrohome
Electrohome was one of Canada's largest manufacturers of television sets from 1949 to 1984. The company was also involved in television broadcasting....
G07 model CRT monitor
Cathode ray tube
The cathode ray tube is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun and a fluorescent screen used to view images. It has a means to accelerate and deflect the electron beam onto the fluorescent screen to create the images. The image may represent electrical waveforms , pictures , radar targets and...
, and uses a Motorola 68010
Motorola 68010
The Motorola MC68010 processor is a 16/32-bit microprocessor from Motorola, released in 1982. In line with the Motorola 68000 naming convention, it is usually just referred to as the 010 ....
central processing unit
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
(CPU) with a MOS Technology 6502
MOS Technology 6502
The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor that was designed by Chuck Peddle and Bill Mensch for MOS Technology in 1975. When it was introduced, it was the least expensive full-featured microprocessor on the market by a considerable margin, costing less than one-sixth the price of...
subsystem to control the audio and coin operations. Marble Madness was Atari's first game to use an FM
Frequency modulation synthesis
A 220 Hz carrier tone modulated by a 440 Hz modulating tone with various choices of modulation index, β. The time domain signals are illustrated above, and the corresponding spectra are shown below ....
sound chip
Sound chip
A sound chip is an integrated circuit designed to produce sound . It might be doing this through digital, analog or mixed-mode electronics...
produced by Yamaha, which is similar to a Yamaha DX7
Yamaha DX7
The Yamaha DX7 is an FM Digital Synthesizer manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1986. It was the first commercially successful digital synthesizer. Its distinctive sound can be heard on many recordings, especially Pop music from the 1980s...
synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
and creates the music in real time so that it is in synchronization
Synchronization
Synchronization is timekeeping which requires the coordination of events to operate a system in unison. The familiar conductor of an orchestra serves to keep the orchestra in time....
with the game action. The game's music was composed by Brad Fuller and Hal Canon who spent a few months becoming familiar with the capabilities of the sound chip.
Cerny and Flanagan first collaborated on a video game based on Michael Jackson's Thriller. The project, however, was canceled and the two began work an idea of Cerny's that eventually became Marble Madness. Development lasted 10 months. Following the North American video game crash of 1983, video game development within Atari focused on providing a distinctive experience through the use of a unique control system and by emphasizing a simultaneous two-player mode. Cerny designed Marble Madness in accordance with these company goals. He was first inspired by miniature golf
Miniature golf
Miniature golf, or minigolf, is a miniature version of the sport of golf. While the international sports organization World Minigolf Sport Federation prefers to use the name "minigolf", the general public in different countries has also many other names for the game: miniature golf, mini-golf,...
and captivated by the idea that a play field's contours influenced the ball's path. Cerny began testing various ideas using Atari's art system. After deciding to use an isometric grid, Cerny began developing the game's concept. His initial idea involved hitting a ball in a way similar to miniature golf, but Atari was unenthusiastic. Cerny next thought of racing game
Racing game
A racing video game is a genre of video games, either in the first-person or third-person perspective, in which the player partakes in a racing competition with any type of land, air, or sea vehicles. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to entirely fantastical settings...
s and planned for races on long tracks against an opponent. Technology limitations at the time were unable to handle the in-game physics necessary for the idea, and Cerny switched the game's objective to a race against time.
The Motorola CPU includes a compiler
Compiler
A compiler is a computer program that transforms source code written in a programming language into another computer language...
for the C programming language
C (programming language)
C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
, which the two programmers were familiar with. After Atari had conducted performance evaluations, it approved usage of the language. The decision by Cerny and Flanagan to program Marble Madness in the C language had positive and negative consequences. Atari games had previously been programmed in assembly language
Assembly language
An assembly language is a low-level programming language for computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other programmable devices. It implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture...
. The C language was easier to program, but was less efficient, so the game operates at the slower speed of 30 Hz
Hertz
The hertz is the SI unit of frequency defined as the number of cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon. One of its most common uses is the description of the sine wave, particularly those used in radio and audio applications....
instead of the normal 60 Hz frequency of arcade games at the time. Cerny decided to use a trackball system (marketed by Atari as Trak-Ball) to give the game a unique control system, and he chose a motorized trackball for faster spinning and braking when the in-game ball traveled downhill and uphill. As it was building the prototypes, Atari's design department informed Cerny that the motorized trackball's design had an inherent flaw—one of the four supports had poor contact with the ball—and the use of a regular trackball was more feasible. Additionally, Cerny had anticipated the use of powerful custom chips that would allow RAM
Random-access memory
Random access memory is a form of computer data storage. Today, it takes the form of integrated circuits that allow stored data to be accessed in any order with a worst case performance of constant time. Strictly speaking, modern types of DRAM are therefore not random access, as data is read in...
-based sprites
Sprite (computer graphics)
In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...
to be animated by the CPU, but the available hardware was a less-advanced system using ROM-based, static sprites.
M. C. Escher
Maurits Cornelis Escher , usually referred to as M. C. Escher , was a Dutch graphic artist. He is known for his often mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints...
, he designed abstract landscapes for the courses. In retrospect, Cerny partly attributes the designs to his limited artistic skills. He was a fan of the 3D graphics
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
used in Battlezone and I, Robot
I, Robot (arcade game)
I, Robot is an arcade game designed by Dave Theurer, and published by Atari Inc. in 1983. The arcade machine comes with two games. The first is I, Robot, a multi-directional shooter that has the player assume the role of "Unhappy Interface Robot #1984", a servant bot that rebels against Big Brother...
, but felt that the visuals lacked definition and wanted to create a game with "solid and clean" 3D graphics. Unlike most other arcade games of the time, the course images were not drawn on the pixel
Pixel
In digital imaging, a pixel, or pel, is a single point in a raster image, or the smallest addressable screen element in a display device; it is the smallest unit of picture that can be represented or controlled....
level. Instead, Cerny defined the elevation of every point in the course, and stored this information in a heightmap
Heightmap
In computer graphics, a heightmap or heightfield is a raster image used to store values, such as surface elevation data, for display in 3D computer graphics...
array. The course graphics were then created by a ray tracing program that traced the path of light rays, using the heightmap to determine the appearance of the course on screen. This format also allowed Cerny to create shadows and use anti-aliasing
Anti-aliasing
In digital signal processing, spatial anti-aliasing is the technique of minimizing the distortion artifacts known as aliasing when representing a high-resolution image at a lower resolution...
, a technique that provided the graphics with a softer appearance. Cerny's course generator allowed him more time to experiment with the level designs. When deciding what elements to include in a course, practicality was a big factor; elements that would not work or would not appear as intended were omitted, such as an elastic barricade or a teeter-totter scale. Other ideas dropped from the designs were breakable glass supports, black hole traps, and bumps and obstacles built into the course that chased the marble.
Cerny's personal interests changed throughout the project, leading to the inclusion of new ideas absent from the original design documents. The game's enemy characters were designed by Cerny and Sam Comstock, who also animated them. Enemies had to be small in size due to technical limitations. Cerny and Comstock purposely omitted faces to give them unique designs and create a minimalistic appearance similar to the courses. Atari's management, however, suggested that the marble should have a smiley face to create an identified character, similar to Pac-Man
Pac-Man
is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games,...
. As a compromise, the cabinet's artwork depicts traces of a smiley face on the marbles. Flanagan programmed a three-dimensional physics model
Computer simulation
A computer simulation, a computer model, or a computational model is a computer program, or network of computers, that attempts to simulate an abstract model of a particular system...
to dictate the marble's motions and an interpreted
Interpreter (computing)
In computer science, an interpreter normally means a computer program that executes, i.e. performs, instructions written in a programming language...
script for enemy behavior. As Marble Madness neared completion, the feedback from Atari's in-house focus testing
Focus group
A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging...
was positive. In retrospect, Cerny wished he had included more courses to give the game greater longevity, but extra courses would have required more time and increased hardware costs. Atari was experiencing severe financial troubles at the time and could not extend the game's development period as it would have left their production factory idle.
Reception and legacy
Marble Madness was commercially successful following its December 1984 release and was positively received by critics. Around 4,000 cabinets were sold, and it soon became the highest-earning game in arcades. However, the game consistently fell from this ranking during its seventh week in arcades that Atari tracked the game's success. Cerny attributed the six week arcade life to Marble Madnesss short gameplay length. He believed that players lost interest after mastering it and moved on to other games. The arcade cabinets have since become fairly rare.Many reviewers felt that the high level of skill required to play the game was part of its appeal. In 2008, Levi Buchanan of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
listed Marble Madness as one of several titles in his "dream arcade", citing the game's difficulty and the fond memories he had playing it. Author John Sellers said that difficulty was a major reason that players were attracted. Other engaging factors included the graphics, visual design, and the soundtrack. Retro Gamer
Retro Gamer
Retro Gamer is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Although launched as a quarterly publication, Retro Gamers soon became a monthly...
s Craig Grannell, in referring to the game as one of the most distinctive arcade games ever made, praised its visuals as "pure and timeless". In 2008, Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
listed it as the number seventy-nine arcade game in technical, creative and cultural impact. Marble Madness was one of the first games to use true stereo sound
Stereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
and have a recognizable musical score. British composer Paul Weir
Paul Weir
Paul Weir is a Scottish professional boxer and a former WBO minimumweight champion.- Pro career :Undefeated WBO Minimun Weight Champion & Former WBO Lt.Flyweight Champion...
commented that the music had character and helped give the game a unique identity. A common complaint about the arcade cabinet was that the track ball controls frequently broke from repeated use.
Beginning in 1986, the game was ported
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
to numerous platforms with different companies handling the conversions; several home versions were published by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
, Tiger Electronics
Tiger Electronics
Tiger Electronics is an American toy manufacturer, best known for its handheld LCD games, the Furby, and Giga Pets. When Tiger was an independent company, Tiger Electronics Inc., its headquarters were in Vernon Hills, Illinois....
released handheld and tabletop LCD
Liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....
versions of the game, and it was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
by Rare. Early versions featured simplified graphics, and the different ports were met with mixed reception. John Harris of Gamasutra
Gamasutra
Gamasutra is a website founded in 1997 for video game developers. It is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb , a division of United Business Media, and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine Game Developer...
thought the arcade's popularity fueled the sales of the home versions, while Thomas Hanley of ScrewAttack
ScrewAttack
ScrewAttack . is a video game-related website that showcases original entertainment for an audience of video game enthusiasts. Its content is also shown on GameTrailers and IGN...
commented that most versions were not as enjoyable without a track ball. Grannell echoed similar statements about the controls and added that many had poor visuals and collision detection
Collision detection
Collision detection typically refers to the computational problem of detecting the intersection of two or more objects. While the topic is most often associated with its use in video games and other physical simulations, it also has applications in robotics...
. He listed the Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
, and Sega Mega Drive
Sega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
ports as the better conversions, and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
, and Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
versions among the worst. Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
s three reviewers—Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser—praised the Apple IIGS
Apple IIGS
The Apple , the fifth and most powerful model in the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Computer. The "GS" in the name stands for Graphics and Sound, referring to its enhanced graphics and sound capabilities, both of which greatly surpassed previous models of the line...
port, calling it a "must have" title for arcade fans. In 2003, the game was included in the multi-platform title Midway Arcade Treasures
Midway Arcade Treasures
Midway Arcade Treasures is a collection of 24 arcade games developed by Digital Eclipse and released by Midway for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC....
, a compilation of classic games developed by Williams Electronics, Midway Games
Midway Games
Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...
and Atari Games. Electronic Arts announced a mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
port for 2010 that would include additional levels with different themes and new items that augment the gameplay.
Marble Madness inspired other games which feature similar gameplay based on navigating a ball through progressively more difficult courses; such games are often described in terms that relate them to Marble Madness. Melbourne House's Gyroscope
Gyroscope (video game)
Gyroscope is an action video game published by Melbourne House in 1985 for a number of home computers. It is based on the Atari arcade game Marble Madness.-Gameplay:...
and Electric Dreams Software
Electric Dreams Software
Electric Dreams Software was a video game publisher established in 1985 by ex-managing director of Quicksilva, Rod Cousens and ex Software Manager of Quicksilva, Paul Cooper...
's Spindizzy were the first such games; both met with a moderate reception. In 1990, Rare released Snake Rattle 'n' Roll
Snake Rattle 'n' Roll
Snake Rattle 'n' Roll is a platforming video game developed by Rare. It was published by Nintendo and released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America in July 1990 and in Europe on March 27, 1991. It was ported to the Mega Drive and released by Sega in June 1993...
, which incorporated elements similar to Marble Madness. The Super Monkey Ball series
Super Monkey Ball (series)
The Super Monkey Ball series is a series of arcade platform games developed by Amusement Vision and distributed by Sega. It features 4 characters : AiAi, MeeMee, Baby and GonGon...
uses similar gameplay based on rolling a ball, but adds other features such as minigame
Minigame
A minigame is a short video game often contained within another video game. A minigame is always smaller or more simplistic than the game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game...
s and monkey characters.
Unreleased sequel
An arcade sequel titled Marble Man: Marble Madness II was planned for release in 1991, though Cerny was uninvolved in the development. Development was led by Bob Flanagan who designed the game based on what he felt made Marble Madness a success in the home console market. Because the market's demographic was a younger audience, Flanagan wanted to make the sequel more accessible and introduced a superhero-type main character. Marble Man expanded on the gameplay of the original game by featuring new abilities for the marble such as invisibility and flight, included pinball minigames between sets of levels, and allowed up to three players to traverse isometric courses. Flanagan intended to address the short length of the first game and, with the help of Mike Hally, developed seventeen courses.Atari created prototypes for location testing, but the game did not fare well against more popular titles at the time such as Street Fighter II
Street Fighter II
is a competitive fighting game originally released for the arcades in . It is the arcade sequel to the original Street Fighter released in and was Capcom's fourteenth title that ran on the CP System arcade hardware...
. Atari assumed the track balls accounted for the poor reception and commissioned a second model with joystick controls. Because the new models were met with the same poor reception, production was halted and the focus shifted to Guardians of the 'Hood, a beat 'em up
Beat 'em up
Beat 'em up is a video game genre featuring melee combat between the protagonist and a large number of underpowered antagonists. These games typically take place in urban settings and feature crime-fighting and revenge-based plots, though some games may employ historical or fantasy themes...
game. The prototypes that were produced have since become collector items.
See also
- BallanceBallanceBallance is a 3D puzzle computer game for Windows. It was developed by Cyparade, published by Atari and first released in Europe on 2 April 2004...
, a marble game for WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, released in 2004 - Marble Blast GoldMarble Blast GoldMarble Blast Gold is a 3D platformer game. It was pre-installed on some Apple Inc. computers like the iMac and iBook. It is also available for Windows operating systems as well as various Linux distributions...
, a marble game for LinuxLinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, Mac OS XMac OS XMac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
and Windows, released in 2003 - NeverballNeverballNeverball is a 3D platform game similar to Super Monkey Ball. It is currently available for Windows platforms, Mac OS X, Linux, FreeBSD, Dreamcast, AmigaOS 4, iOS and Maemo...
, a freeware game similar to Super Monkey BallSuper Monkey BallSuper Monkey Ball is an arcade platform game developed by Amusement Vision and published by Sega. The game debuted in Japan in 2000 as an upright arcade cabinet called Monkey Ball and was released the following year as one of the launch titles for the Nintendo GameCube.-Modes:Super Monkey Ball... - SwitchballSwitchballSwitchball is a 3D action-puzzle game, made by Swedish developer Atomic Elbow, which was released for Microsoft Windows on June 26, 2007, on Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360 on November 7, 2007 and on PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3 on September 17, 2009.-Gameplay:The game puts the...
, a marble game for Windows and consoles, released in 2007