If you ever played Marble Blast on the PC or Xbox you could be forgiven for thinking this is exactly the same game… for about five minutes. Some of the levels of MB Ultra are exactly the same as in previous versions of the game. A few new levels and some beefed up graphics does not a new game make, right? Wrong. You see, Marble Blast Ultra is 800 MS points (about £7) worth of eye-meltingly shiny and fun for all the family style rolling around that you could ever want. This is what Xbox Live Arcade games are all about.
The storyline is that you are a marble in an Astrolab Arena suspended high up in the clouds. Your mission: to roll along collecting gems and power-ups, avoiding pitfalls, navigating icy surfaces and moving platforms making it to the end of each course in record time to beat the other marbles on your friends list.
It’s a heart-warming tale of rolling, bouncing and falling off things. Gameplay-wise, there’s plenty to keep you hooked, with increasingly difficult levels requiring your utmost concentration to make it to the shining shaft of light at the end of each level.
Yet there is something incredibly relaxing about the game. Whether it’s the super shiny graphics with MBU being a veritable showcase of the 360’s Torque Shader Engine, or the rather comforting hypnotic sound of rolling that serves as a permanent accompaniment, the game will leave you with a frighteningly glazed satisfied look on your face. The online play is where Marble Blast Ultra really shines, though. The Ultra Blast multiplayer mode has up to eight of you duking it out in marble-on-marble action, in an attempt to beat your opponents to crystals. It requires a lot less finesse than the single player mode and has the simple but ball-bouncingly fun online playability that we would hope to see in more Live arcade games in the future.
