Marble Blast Ultra is a puzzle/action game involving a marble and it costs 400 microsoft points.
The basic gameplay involves rolling a marble around a 3D obstacle course from start to finish, avoiding the many hazards littered about. The obstacles are normally intended to throw the marble off the edge of the level, thus causing the player to "lose" and be forced to restart the level. Some levels also involve collecting gems, which must be collected before the level can be completed. Power-ups are available on some levels which provide help to the player.
Along with the power-ups, MBU features a blast meter which allows the marble to do a double jump. The meter fills continuously and the more its filled, the higher the double jump will be. The levels are completed once the player reaches the finish pad. There are 60 levels, which are divided into three different difficulty levels. Levels can be played in any order and each level features par times for the player to beat.
Power-ups
There are many power-ups in the various levels. They are:
*Super Speed: Gives the marble a single burst of extra horizontal speed.
*Super Jump: Gives the marble a single higher vertical jump.
*Ultra blast: This refills the blast meter and adds a little extra.
*Mega Marble: Makes the marble grow bigger, allowing it to avoid small holes and knock other players out of the way.
*Time Travel: Pauses time for a given number of seconds, and helps the player qualify to "win" the level or surpass the "par" time.
*Gyrocopter: Allows the marble to glide for a short period of time.
*Gravity Modifier: Changes gravity direction.
Obstacles
There are many obstacles in the game. They are:
*Level's edge: If the marble falls off a platform and nothing is there to catch it, it will go out-of-bounds and the level will automatically be restarted or the marble will be returned to the last checkpoint.
*Moving objects: The marble can get bumped off its course and sometimes the level itself by any moving object.
*Trapdoors: These open up after a few seconds, dropping the marble to a undesirable place, often out of the level.
*Fans: These blow the marble in the direction of the fan, often off the edge.
*Bumpers: These repel the marble on contact, again, usually off the edge.
*Surfaces: Along with normal terrain and regular traction, there is also gray tracking with high traction (often an advantage), slippery ice, There are also terrains made for aesthetic purposes, like asphalt.
Par times
A "par time" is the objective in a single player game. Each level has a par time and the harder the levels become, the harder the par times become. Sometimes, knowing how to properly use power-ups and when and where to jump is the key to success. The reason to do par time is to challenge oneself and to get the achievements.
Easter Eggs
Within MBU, there are 20 eggs hidden inside specific levels. No level contains more than 1 egg and most levels don't have any eggs.
Marble Appearance
It is possible to change the marble's appearance by applying a variety of patterns and pictures, as well as adding several different effects. With this, one can create their own online identity.
Multiplayer
Multiplayer contains 10 levels and supports up to 8 simultaneous players. There is only 1 mode which consists of collecting gems within a certain time limit, which depends on the level. After a group of 2-6 gems are collected, another set of gems appear elsewhere on the board. Players race to these gems and use power-ups to navigate across the level quicker and interfere with other players.
There are three types of gems: Ruby red, yellow, and blue. Ruby red gems are worth one point, while yellows are worth two and blues are worth five. Most likely, blue and yellow gems will be much harder to get than pink gems. The player at the end of the time limit with the most points wins.
Ranked matches and player matches are supported along with an overall multiplayer leaderboard for ranked and player matches. Users can create a game or join one and filter parameters such as level, players, and gamer zone. Private games are also supported.