Marble Madness
| Marble Madness | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Atari Games |
| Publisher(s) | Atari Games |
| Designer(s) | Mark Cerny |
| Programmer(s) | Bob Flanagan |
| Artist(s) | Mark Cerny Sam Comstock |
| Composer(s) | Brad Fuller Hal Canon |
| Platform(s) | Arcade Amiga Apple II Apple IIGS Atari ST Commodore 64 Game Boy Game Boy Advance Game Gear Java ME Master System Nintendo Entertainment System IBM PC Sega Genesis X68000 ZX Spectrum |
| Release | December 15, 1984 |
| Genre(s) | Platform, racing |
| Mode(s) | One-player, two-player |
Marble Madness is a platform racing video game. It was both published and developed by Atari Games.[1]
It was released in December 1984 in arcades, not too long after the video game crash of 1983.[2] Outside of arcades, Marble Madness would also be released for many consoles including the Master System, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Sega Genesis home consoles. It would also be released for the Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, and Game Gear handheld consoles.[3] As well as the Amiga, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Java ME, IBM PC, X68000, and ZX Spectrum home computers.
In the game, the player controls a marble and has to move it through a maze. The player has to get the marble through the end of the racecourse maze before the timer runs out. The mazes are inspired by artwork by M. C. Escher.[4]
A sequel titled Marble Man: Marble Madness II was planned and at least 12 prototype boards were produced but the game was never released.[5][6]
Reception[change | change source]
When the game was released in arcades, it was very well liked by game critics. Critics said they liked the hard difficulty of the game, graphics, visuals, designs, and soundtrack.[7][8] It has often been placed on Top Games lists.[9][10][11]
The game was also very popular and was the highest-earning game in arcades for the first six weeks of its release.[12]
References[change | change source]
- ↑ "Marble Madness". IGN. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
- ↑ "GDC 2011: Mark Cerny Discusses Marble Madness' Turbulent Development". Gamasutra. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
- ↑ "Marble Madness (GBC)". IGN. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
- ↑ "Retrospective: Marble Madness". Eurogamer. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
- ↑ "Williams 'Cements' Reputation as Ball Breaker". Next Generation. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
- ↑ "After 30 years, the world can now play the lost Marble Madness II". Ars Technica. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
- ↑ "Dream Arcades". IGN. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
- ↑ Sellers, John (August 2001). Arcade Fever: The Fan's Guide to The Golden Age of Video Games. Running Press. pp. 142–143. ISBN 0-7624-0937-1.
- ↑ "The Greatest Games of All Time: Marble Madness". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 9, 2007. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ↑ "Top 100 Games of All Time". Next Generation. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
- ↑ "The 10 Best Arcade Games of All Time". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 100. Ziff Davis. November 1997. p. 130.
- ↑ Grannell, Craig (August 2008). "The Making of Marble Madness". Retro Gamer (53). Imagine Publishing: 82–87.
- 1984 video games
- Atari video games
- Amiga games
- Amstrad CPC games
- Apple II games
- Arcade games
- Commodore 64 games
- Game Boy games
- Game Boy Color games
- Game Gear games
- Master System games
- NEC PC-9801 games
- Nintendo Entertainment System games
- Platform games
- Racing video games
- Sega Genesis games
- Single-player video games
- ZX Spectrum games