| Marble Blast | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | GarageGames |
| Publisher(s) | Monster Studios |
| Engine | Torque Game Engine |
| Platform(s) | Xbox Windows Mac OS X Linux |
| Release | December 13, 2002 (Marble Blast)[1] May 2, 2002 (Marble Blaster)[citation needed] May 9, 2003 (Marble Blast Gold)[2] |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle-platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Marble Blast is a 20023Dplatform game. It was pre-installed on someApple Inc. computer systems like theiMac,iBook, andMac mini. It was also available forWindows operating systems as well as variousLinux distributions. It was remade for theXbox Live Arcade during Marble Blast's final years.
The game was originally released in December 2002 asMarble Blast and then updated in May 2003, being renamedMarble Blast Gold. During the same year at some point, it was also licensed toeGames to be resold under the nameMarble Blaster.[3]
The sequel,Marble Blast Ultra, was released in 2006 for theXbox 360 platform with new features and improved graphics, sometime after the enhanced version of Marble Blast for the Xbox Live Arcade[4] which released one year earlier.Marble Blast XP, a version for theNet Jet online game system, has updated graphics and a marble selector.
Basic gameplay involves taking the perspective of an autonomousmarble moving on its own from a start pad to an end pad, without falling out of bounds. Stages may contain hazards to make this more difficult. The player controls the marble spin, movement, and can also make the marble jump, therefore administering movement. There are a variety of power-ups available, which are collected by touching them with the marble. Some stages must be completed within a qualification time, to increase difficulty. Each stage also has a "Gold Time", an additional challenge to complete the stage in a specified time-frame. Each Gold Time is always possible but usually involves finding hidden power-ups and/or taking shortcuts. Some stages require a number of gems to be picked up before the stage can be finished. There are 100 stages, categorized by difficulty: 24 Beginner, 24 Intermediate, and 52 Advanced, totaling 100 stages in the entire game. TheXbox version of the game includes additional features, including nine new stages, easter eggs, and an online leaderboard.[5]
Marble Blast was one of several games created byGarageGames using the developer's proprietaryTorque Game Engine, first created for thefirst-person shooterTribes 2.[6] Retail versions ofMarble Blast were shipped byGarageGames in June 2003, having previously been available on the developer's website.[7] On 10 May 2005, the game was also released as an online download for theXbox as part of theXbox Live Arcade service.[8][9][5]Marble Blast Gold was also preinstalled onMac computers, including theApple Mac Mini.[10]
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Eurogamer | 5/10[11] |
| Macworld |   [12] |
| Absolute Games | 80%[13] |
| Inside Mac Games | 6.5[14] |
Marble Blast received average reviews from critics.
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