The First Arcade Game I Ever Bought
10/10 Gameplay: There are tons of things you could do with this game. The game offers tons of pickups you could get that let you jump high, increase speed, increase the size of your marble, and many many more. Some of the levels can be passed in a half a minute, others will take time to work out. Your first time through a level could take ten minutes. It takes time to figure out.
9/10 Xbox Live: On day one, when I got this game, I got pushed into a hectic six marble match. It was fun. Six people racing against each other in ten different stages for gems sounds really dull, but it's not. The only problem I have with the multiplayer side of this game is that there is only one mode (the one I mentioned before) and I want some variety in my games. The ten maps in multiplayer are fine, but they can get repetitive. A few more maps could have been nice.
7.5/10 Graphics: The graphics are ok, but nothing revolutionary. For a cheap game like this, what do you expect? So, I won't give this game a good or bad score. I gave it a C. Average. The developers did the best they can with the funds they had. Hey, the overall game is only 32 megabytes which is incredible.
8/10 Replay Value: Xbox Live has proven time and time again that it could bounce up the replay value 10X for any game (look at Halo 2). As I mentioned before, the multiplayer online is beyond fun, but they still need more modes.
In the levels they easter eggs could be foundwhich add tons of time to the replay value. You have to look for 20 easter eggs in 60 levels. It takes time to go through each level carefully and find each one.
7.5/10 Sound: What can I say? Basically all you hear is a marble jumping/ landing an announcer saying phrases like like ,"Super Jump," or , "Super Speed." Sorry, but I cannot comment on the kind of music you hear while playing it because I listen to the music off my hard drive while playing games.
10/10 Availability: There are three factors that make this game as good as it is on the availability side.
1. This game is $10.00 (USA)! You could purchase gamerpoints, download game, and play without getting off your couch and going to the store.
2. Another thing that goes into this category is that it is only 32 megabytes. This is nothing compared to the hard drive of your Xbox 360.
3. The last factor in this category is that you don't have to put a disk inside your beautiful console to play it. All you have to do is turn the 360 on, go to the Xbox Live Arcade, select Marble Blast Ultra, and play.
8/10 Overall: What else can I say besides, why are you not playing this game? This game is awesome. Whatever you do, at least get the free trial version off the Xbox Live Marketplace, believe me, it's worth it.
Pros:
Addictive gameplay
Fun multiplayer
It's on your hard drive!
Cons:
One multiplayer mode
OK graphics
The advance levels can be frustrating, especially when trying to get par time.
Download Trial or Full Version
Definitely try the trial first before you get the full version. See, if you have a free chance to try the game before you buy it, do so. It's common sense.
Posted also on gamefaqs.com