Marble Madness (NES) Playthrough

A playthrough of Milton Bradley's 1989 puzzle/racing game for the NES, Marble Madness.

The 1984 arcade hit Marble Madness was a landmark game for several reasons. As the flagship title for Atari’s 16-bit System 1 arcade hardware, it flaunted its state-of-the-art muscle with its convincing pseudo-3D graphics, unique trackball controls, and the first ever implementation of true stereo sound in an arcade machine. It was also one of the first games ever designed by Mark Cerny.

Taking place across six boards of increasing difficulty, Marble Madness tests your reflexes and your understanding of physics as you race your marble to the goal as quickly as possible.

When you finish a race, whatever time is left rolls over and is added to the clock for the next race. It's a nice incentive to do your best on each race, and it's in your best interests to max it out as soon as possible. The difficulty level spikes considerably between each race, and while the 99 second limit may seem generous at first, you'll need all the extra time you can get for those last couple stages.

The practice area is a simple slalom course, but if you're feeling adventurous, you can risk jumping off of a ramp for bonus points. Beginner, the second board, introduces Steelie (the murder marble) Marble Munchers (the wormy jumping things), and branching pathways. The Intermediate board trots out puddles of marble-dissolving acid and a wavy carpet thing, the Aerial board features catapults, vaccuums, pistons, and hammers, and the Silly race flips everything on its head - altered gravity makes moving uphill easier than downhill, the miniaturized enemies that can be squashed for extra time, and birds make the marble explode on contact. The aptly named final race, Ultimate, brings back everything from the previous levels while tossing in textured surfaces and disappearing platforms.

Though lacking any characters or story, Marble Madness‘ personality shines in its presentation. If you fall from too great a height, you'll smash on the floor and be swept up by a dustpan and broom. If you clip an edge too hard the marble will become dizzy, and if you misjudge your speed and take a plunge into the void, the marble lets out a hilarious “Ahhh!” noise.

The graphics hold up well on the NES - isometric viewpoint gives the graphics a nice sense of depth and it's easy to read the angle of the slopes - and I thought that Dave Wise's take on the soundtrack was even better than the original arcade music.

The controls have been adapted surprisingly well given the NES pad’s lack of a trackball. Two options are offered: with the 90° control scheme, the marble moves in the same direction as you're pressing on the d-pad. The 45° control scheme, however, attempts to cater to the perspective - you hold the controller at an angle and each of the arrow buttons corresponds to a diagonal. Both options work well, though I tend to prefer the 90° portion.

While Marble Madness can be played as a single player game, it truly shines with a buddy. The two-player races quickly devolve into chaotic bashing battles, and it's fantastic. The two-player mode also helps to offset the largest problem with Marble Madness: its longevity, or lack thereof. The entire game can be completed in five-minutes, and though each course takes a considerable amount of practice to master, there's not much content here.

This was my first NES game that wasn't the Mario/Duck Hunt combo cart, so it holds a special place in my heart. I played it to death back then, and it's one that I still go back to fairly often.

Even without the nostalgia, though, Marble Madness was a classic, both in arcades and on the NES. Rare did a bang up job with the conversion.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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