The beginner courses are largely insultingly easy, and it's only as you inch towards the more advanced courses that the experience lasts more than a couple of minutes per course. Inevitably, with only 60 courses to complete it's not going to last all that long - especially once you factor in how easy the first 30 or so really are. Throw in crazily designed courses, icy sections, moving platforms, pinball bumpers, levels that you have to literally flip 90 degrees to properly explore and every other kind of gaming evil known to man and you'll get an idea of what to expect in Marble Blast Ultra. To aid you in your seemingly simple quest, a bunch of power-ups appear where needed, with things like a super jump, mega ball, speed boost, helicopter and the like making it possible to negotiate otherwise impossible hazards. Each of the 60 available levels have a (fairly generous) par time which you can challenge yourself against, but unless you're hellbent on unlocking every Gamerscore achievement known to mankind, there's no real obligation to rush. In this instance, each course is set in an 'astrolabe arena suspended high in the clouds' with the idea to roll your marble to the goal, negotiating ramps and traps galore, with the occasional requirement to also collect a finite number of gems along the way. In keeping with practically every Xbox Live Arcade title ever released, the concept is as effortlessly simple as they come, but all the better for it, frankly. Immediately recognisable to oldies as GarageGames' latest homage to crusty old mid 80s arcade hit Marble Madness, it's a direct evolution of the 'roll the ball to the goal' formula of old, rather than a subtle reinvention in the mould of the excellent Super Monkey Ball or Archer Maclean's Mercury. Perhaps predictably, Marble Blast Ultra is another dusted down, updated version of a previously available Xbox Live Arcade offering, but one that definitely shouldn't be ignored. Needless to say, we were hungry to devour one of the most recent additions to the ever-growing line-up. Frankly, Microsoft can't get 'em up on the Live Marketplace quick enough. Factor in our undimmed competitive streak that ensures the need to claim the bragging rights in Gamerscore achievements and high scores, and it's no wonder it's the only thing gamers want to talk about these days.īut the problem with this quick fix gaming malarkey is that we need more fuel to fire our craving for instant thrills. The irresistible instant fix allure of pick-up-and-play titles like Geometry Wars Evolved, Bejewelled, Hexic and Zuma kept us going through one of the dullest starts to a year in living memory. We're only half joking when we say that were it not for the plethora of ridiculously addictive titles available to dip into on during a spare moment, the 360 would be gathering dust by now.
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