SO...just why do I keep this puppy? Well, aside from being a glutton for intellectual humility-can I really be that slow?- It's a Maxi's game and I've always loved anything Maxis.(maybe they hated me?) The theme is engaging eye candy- Leonardo DaVinci meets Steam Punk- but it's a sneaky trap,luring you for humiliation into this DOS-driven puzzler.
Drop specific colored marbles into funnels on top of 50 different Steam Punk/DaVinci type machines, hoping you put the right color in the right funnel, so they'll eventually work their way through to corresponding colored slots below. Do it right, and you move onto the next machine. Do it wrong (Oh You Will), and you get to start over again, at a loss. >OMGaaah!<
The 'machines' are all composed of similar components- Funnels, tubes, slides, buzz saws, blow torches. Acid Baths, cannons and crossbows all make for colorful and fun Marble Death- probably one of the reasons I've kept this thing- There's more introduced with progress into the game, if you have a saintly patience beyond that desire for destruction.
Each level/machine is progressively harder, but there are Bonus Levels for perserverance. In addition to 6 standard colors (ROYGBV), you can also acquire on certain levels -or outright purchase for the 'price' of scored points- cheap Steel Marbles(no color) and pricey Black Marbles- chameleons which change color as-needed in machine. This is a nice caveat of the game, because when you lose marbles -tinkering around to figure out a level, and LOTS of Pre-Drop thinking has to be done, those marbles are permanently removed from your small cache, so you have to spend scored points to replace them. >You can't complete a level without the right number of colored marbles!< Once a level is conquered {IF}, it remains yours to revisit/redo so you can prove to yourself maybe you weren't so stupid, afterall.
I am a 'thinking puzzle' fan. For it's time the graphics are great while the premise remains engaging. It IS fun before getting tedious. However, 20 fewer levels would score far better. Overall, Marble Drop is an incredibly fascinating game to look at and visit, but get out before it's too late! Because unless you like humility -or are an intellectual DaVinci- it's probably not a place most want to dwell overlong...