Marbles! Balance Challenge

The original Kororinpa was a Japanese launch title for the Wii yet, like most third-party titles, it failed to make much of a splash in wake of Nintendo-branded releases. Its successor, Marbles! Balance Challenge (known as Marble Saga Kororinpa outside of the UK), is hoping to gain a bit more spotlight this time around, with a number of improvements and some undeniably irresistible charm.

Marbles! can be likened to any of the similar ball rolling games such as Super Monkey Ball or Marble Blast Ultra for the Xbox 360. Rather than controlling the marble itself, the player tilts and manipulates the entire stage to get the ball to go where they want it (or, more often than not, where they don’t want it). This opens up a number of opportunities not possible in games that abide by the laws of gravity, as with some quick reflexes and proper timing marbles can, for example, turn a wall into a floor, or a floor into a ceiling.

There are seven different lively environments ranging from forest to aquatic to space, each with about a dozen levels of increasing difficulty. The game does a good job of steadily introducing new dangers and obstacles for the player to overcome while they try to collect all of the yellow crystals which activate the exit. On the harder difficulties, additional objectives are added such as rescuing lost ants and finding secret emeralds which are quite difficult to locate and even more so to obtain. The various settings allow the game to be enjoyed by players of all skill levels, from seasoned marble rollers to video game virgins.

To extend the game’s lifespan, pieces of junk can be obtained throughout each stage and used in the primitive level editor. Progressing through the game and picking up the hidden emeralds also help unlock new marbles, such as one modelled after a panda head, or a cat which makes hilarious feline grunts and groans when slammed into a wall at high speeds. The different marbles have varying stats such as speed and mobility, but mainly it comes down to preference. Less than a handful of times will a specific marble be better suited for a particular level over the others, but the thought is nice and the variety and quirkiness of the different marbles does add an additional, welcome layer to the game.

The only truly nagging issue with Marbles! is unfortunately a deal-breaking flaw: The controls. The Wiimote can be used either vertically or horizontally to manipulate the stages but all too often—even after hours of play—the controls are frustratingly deceptive and unresponsive. To get the ball to roll the stage must be titled enough for gravity to kick in, but it’s terribly common for the marble to either stand unrealistically still or rocket off the edge of the track; there is no easy middle ground. Extremely patient gamers may slowly roll their marble along to victory if they so desire, but anyone with a pulse and especially those seeking to earn an A ranking in the time attacks will inevitably become very upset.