Marble Madness

Very unique concept for the time period and gameplay still holds up today (though it is difficult). When going to one of the local arcade bars this is definitely one of the machines to visit.

The progenitor of all realistic gravity games, it's addicting in spite of its unforgiving time limit. The marble is very fun to control and you need to guide it through an obstacle course to the finish line, but it is also sensitive and will doubtlessly frustrate anyone who can't fine in their controls. Good responsiveness and difficulty, if very hard, and Marble is particualrly pleasing to play with a mouse if you've enabled it in MAME.

Presentation-wise, the arcade version of the game is one of the most FAR-OUT and technically marvelous pre-90s games ever created, and the aural stereoscopic soundtrack bubbles till it awashes your entire room into a shade of outer space.

The home console version was woeful. Although not much of a fan of the arcade original, at least it had a useable control system. Playing this game without a trackball is pointless.

Navigate around a 3d world filled with ramps and hazards and lots of pit in order to reach the exit. There is a time limit for every level, and the hazards will only cut you back in terms of time, and you respawn very near to where you died. Its a cool game, particularly since there werent many games at the time that could render the 3d aspects of it. That said, once you get game over is really game over, which kills my willingness to keep going at it. Some of the latter levels are pretty challenging, and only being allowed one try is almost sadistic. Its also a frustrating game, since the controls are simple but learning the nuances of its physics engine takes quite a while. Overal an okayish, if a bit frustrating, game.