The Gamer's Quarter

oligophagy · . Joined: 26 Nov 2006 Posts: 28

Played a mediocre Flash derivative today and was struck thusly: What am I doing? I've never even tried the original. This is more shameful than writing a high school book report from the movie adaptation.

So, please, your opinions: which of the many versions ought I play?

dessgeega · Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 11:37 pm Post subject:

do do do doo do, do doo do, do doo do, doo do do.

you can't go wrong with the nes port!
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Winged Assassins (1984) · Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 11:39 pm Post subject:

I'm quite a fan of the Megadrive port myself.
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wourme · . Joined: 01 Jul 2005 Posts: 362 Location: Maridia

Gyroscope is a Commodore 64 clone with excellent music.

duomo · . Joined: 25 Nov 2006 Posts: 25

You could always stick with the original and play it on MAME. However, if you want to play it for reals real you should probably buy a trackball controller just for Marble Madness.

oligophagy · . Joined: 26 Nov 2006 Posts: 28

These are all good suggestions! I'm playing the NES port now. Do all version have the same overarching structure, i.e., play until my running total of time runs out, then back to level one?

Hot Stott Bot · . Joined: 25 Nov 2006 Posts: 366 Location: Boston

That game has some mad crazy awesome audio.

dessgeega · Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 12:30 am Post subject:

oligophagy · . Joined: 26 Nov 2006 Posts: 28

Oh no!, Everything I Know Is Wrong.

internisus · . Joined: 25 Nov 2006 Posts: 354

Hey, oligophagy, what's happenin'. So, Marble Madness, eh? Yeah, unfortunately, the truth is you're getting a mere shadow of the experience without a trackball like the original arcade. Given that, however, I think the general consensus is that NES is pretty alright.

And what a game.

oligophagy · . Joined: 26 Nov 2006 Posts: 28

Scratchmonkey · . Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 1439

I seem to remember that there was a seriously boss version of Marble Madness for the Amiga -- or at least I remember playing such a thing with my neighbor, who even had a trackball.

I have a decent trackball mouse around here somewhere, does anybody know offhand whether it work well in MAME "out-of-the-box" or would I have to tweak it?

internisus · . Joined: 25 Nov 2006 Posts: 354

No, the hacking game is not shelved at all! I am still working on a detailed design document.

Slonie · . Joined: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 141

Current Music: Ryan8Bit - Sweep Up the Broken Pieces

(My contribution to this thread, I think it was on vgmix which sure ain't up, so here's a rehosting for all you all)
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-Slonie

Nana Komatsu · weak sauce Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 1293

the last time I tried to play the NES port, the emulation didn't work well at all (this was on a Dreamcast) so my hope for playing this game again was lost.

internisus · . Joined: 25 Nov 2006 Posts: 354

I've had difficulty emulating it as well, but I remember the NES version being solid back when I had the machine. I had assumed my ROM was bad, but perhaps it's one of those NES games that just doesn't emulate, at all? That's the case with Castlevania 3 for me, for instance. It's not unprecedented. But then, I don't really trust my computer for anything.

Ethoscapade · . Joined: 30 Oct 2005 Posts: 276

i've only really played the nes version, but i love it very dearly.

for the first year or so that i was in the flashcart "scene," by far the most frequent use of my ez2 was marble madness on pocketnes.

(although you know what's even better guys is the level design of the first monkeyball that's right i said it)

Dracko · . Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 2613

Used to play it on the good old Atari ST.

I'm second Within a Deep Forest. Quite a beautiful game and there's something I find enjoyable about the surreal prospect of a bomb going wrong and turning into a living ball.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

dessgeega · Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 10:08 am Post subject:

internisius, you would probably like dis, a prince of persia- and ico-like game by nifflas, the author of within a deep forest. it's unfinished, but set on a train!
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Wall of Beef · Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 1:31 pm Post subject:

kirkjerk · . Joined: 12 Apr 2006 Posts: 1227

Have people seen the Marble Madness 2 attract mode video?
http://www.atarigames.com/multimedia.html
(They had this weird thing w/ faces appearing on the marbles at the end of the round... based on some prior ddescriptions I had rea, I was expecting even more of an anthromorphic transformation)

Seeing that video made me realize that I love the setting of Marble Madness, and the characters, but find the gameplay itself kind of blah, with too few courses hidden by the rather large difficulty. I was thinking that it would be neat setting for a "running around and shooting each other" style game, but then realized the end result would look a lot like "Realm of Impossibility". Not that that's a bad thing.

For the record, "Spindizzy" isn't really a clone, it just has a roughly similar look.

dark steve · . Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 1110

I like the way the music sounds on the genesis version.
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Winged Assassins (1984) · Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 5:56 pm Post subject:

Yeah, the music is why I like the Megadrive port so much.
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internisus · . Joined: 25 Nov 2006 Posts: 354

oligophagy · . Joined: 26 Nov 2006 Posts: 28

internisus, thanks for the links. I only have a Mac until winter break, but I'll certainly try them then.

The first video on the Ballance site already has me sold on the atmosphere. The way other balls are used to push and switch and trigger, so high above the earth, suggests a kind of heavenly Rube Goldberg device, the timeless clockwork that runs our mortal affairs. The amazing stilts some platforms stretch terrestrially only reenforces this. And that one cog has gained sentience, through me, is somewhat thrilling, even a bit frightening considering how ambiguous the music and the solemn quiets leave the mood (similar to the play of SoTC's "yay, I'm saving my love" against "I am killing so much beauty.")

I like it when games suggest the connection of their totally fictional worlds to our own (where the "our" needs no futuristic, 20XX qualification). Like how towns in Animal Crossing are, by proof of you, real towns that humans can visit but seldom do, if they ever even have before. Wish I could remember a better example.

ALSO: I've been playing Marble Madness on Nestopia and that works pretty well!

dessgeega · Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 2:31 am Post subject:

internisus · . Joined: 25 Nov 2006 Posts: 354

That's okay! I got it in the end, and I'm going to try it now.

OtakupunkX · . Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 730

It might not be the most popular port around, but my favorite is the Midway Arcade Treasures port of the game on Xbox, Gamecube, and PS2. Analog controls make the game a whole lot more entertaining and challenging, and, for me at least, it feels better than most of the console ports.

If you can though, MAME and the trackball mouse is probably your best bet. I've never really been able to play the console versions very long due to the lack of analog controls (kind of picky I guess, but totally true).
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