Power-ups like wings and super jumping springs enable the player to do things that simply couldn’t do be done either in Monkey Ball, Marble Madness or even prior Marble Blast games for PC. The ever-evolving ladder of skills needed to succeed grows and lets the player focus on learning them before then turning their attention to mastering the skills and thus posting better times. In that instance, it will start as a small sliver of ice to get you used to the handling before adding in things like bumpers to add to the challenge. The player is always given smaller examples of something before a tougher challenge - like ice - is thrown their way. MBU features things that help it meld the best of platformers and exploratory platformers together, like jumping up small staircases or collecting gems before you can get to the exit to help the player get into the habit of exploring.
There’s a ton of gameplay variety packed in “get a marble to the goal” that keeps players wanting it to not only return in ported form, but keep getting new versions as time goes on since the concept of a marble roller is one that you can release as a service and just release new content on forever. The pacing of the stages was nice and gradual with a slow, steady ramp up in difficulty alongside the thrill of local and online leaderboards to keep things fresh and new content in the form of DLC. Personally, the first XBLA game that ever hooked me was Marble Blast Ultra and it’s been a regular part of my gaming rotation for about fifteen years now.Īs someone who loved Marble Madness and especially Super Monkey Ball, the idea of having a ball-rolling game/obstacle course was appealing and the end result clicked into place perfectly.
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That evolved into the Xbox 360’s XBLA setup where the same thing was possible, but with more kinds of games and the requirement of a free demo to help ensure that people didn’t waste their money and at the same time, build up consumer confidence in the entire concept since you were able to try everything before buying it.
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Xbox Live Arcade’s impact upon the industry resonates to this day as consoles have embraced digital downloading in ways that never could have been imagined even a console generation before - where Microsoft tested the waters with an XBLA disc to allow users to download small games onto their consoles for a small price point. You’ll see both good and bad souls unearthed every month as we search through the more… forgotten…parts of history. Inside, we’ll be digging up games that have long been without a pulse. Watch your step, for you’ve just entered the Graveyard.