Marble Blast Ultra - Xbox Live Arcade review

This just in: marble madness is still fun

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Super detailed textures

  • +

    Plenty of different game modes

  • +

    White-knuckle multiplayer

Cons

  • -

    Wonky marble bounciness

  • -

    Unfortunate multiplayer lag

  • -

    Falling to your death

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

In the long history of video games, the act of frantically rolling balls around multileveled tangles of track has a proven appeal. From Marble Madness to Super Monkey Ball, navigating your orb through a ridiculous obstacle course in record time is the pinnacle of arcade satisfaction. Marble Blast Ultra is the high definition realization of this time-honored concept.

A decent single-player game, MBU presents a challenging 60-level campaign to test your stick-twiddling thumbs. Rolling your marble through the tutorials will give you all the knowledge you need to master a wide variety of special maneuvers. Super-jump, super-speed, mega-marble (beefs your marble up to super-size) and the game's namesake marble blast (an explosion you can trigger to boost your jump or devastate other rollers) deliver enough of a twist on the old-school roll-around game to keep you interested.

More info

GenreFamily
DescriptionRoll your ass around 60 thumb-crushing levels or jump online to go ball to ball with up to seven other marble madmen.
Platform"Xbox 360"
US censor rating"Everyone"
UK censor rating""
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
More
CATEGORIES
Latest in Games
Imai Sokyu leads the tea ceremony in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows' tea ceremony quest is one of the game's best moments, but I wish Ubisoft would give us even higher stakes
Animal Well screenshot, captured on PC
After his excellent debut Metroidvania took 7 years, Animal Well's solo dev says his next game shouldn't "take nearly as long"
Screenshots from Tekken: The Board Game teaser trailer
I hope your affairs are in order, because Bandai Namco just dropped Tekken: The Board Game
Assassin's Creed Shadows Naoe wearing black kosode
How to acquire a kosode in Assassin's Creed Shadows and should you choose red or black?
Tekken 8
Tekken lead Katsuhiro Harada says he's spent decades "mentally preparing" for AI to overtake humans, but it's not happening: "If AI had really advanced, we wouldn't be pouring 10, 20, 30 billion Yen into making games"
inZOI Character Studio trailer screenshot showing a young woman with ginger-y hair and a light baseball cap smiling to the side
The Sims competitor inZOI dethrones Hollow Knight: Silksong to become most wishlisted game on Steam
Latest in Reviews
Razer Handheld Dock with Steam Deck sitting on cradle, pink and yellow RGB lighting on, and Alienware monitor in background with Tomb Raider Trilogy gameplay on screen.
Razer Handheld Dock review: “Your Steam Deck will ride shiny and Chroma"
Photographs of the Agricola board game in play
Agricola review: "Accurate representation of the highly competitive and often unstable world of agriculture"
Photos taken by writer Rosalie Newcombe of the Shure MV7i microphone, within a pink and white themed room.
Shure MV7i review - convenience and excellence rolled into one superb sounding package
Key art for Atomfall showing a character in the English countryside looking at a nuclear plant some distance away
Atomfall review: "This isn't British Fallout – it's something much better than that"
Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% gaming keyboard with purple RGB lighting on a desk setup
Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% review: "a niche luxury"
A woman chasing a shining butterfly with a leaping cat on her shoulder in InZOI
inZOI review: "Currently feels like a soulless imitation of the worst parts of The Sims"