The Gamer's Quarter

[dessgeega]

on the ball is the best game ever released for the western snes*. some of you may recall this thread wherein i urged you to import the 2005 ds sequel.

* its competition on the japanese super famicom are fushigi no dungeon 2 and umihara kawase.

part of my agenda in this thread is to convince shaper to finally feature the game in his weekly gamesetwatch column.

on the ball is a port of a taito arcade game called cameltry. the port was a sfc/snes exclusive because only that console's "mode 7" could duplicate the massive rotation effects the game required. in cameltry you manuever a ball through a maze by rotating the maze itself - using a neat little dial in the arcade cabinet. the snes version is played with the less accurate snes pad or mouse, but it far outshines the arcade original regardless.

the port, on the ball, includes sixteen sets of courses to the arcade's four, making for 100 stages in total. there are also a few new game mechanics, like stages where the ball floats upwards rather than falls, and - more significantly! - stages where rotation is limited, forcing you to make jumps at precise angles to get through stages. there are also enough taito cameos to make taito fans (such as myself) wet, including the silver hawk, liquid kids, and bub from bubble bobble as a playable character (as the marble!)

you want to get the ball through each stage as quickly as possible, as you're playing against a timer. different blocks in the stages will increase or decrease the timer. the stages themselves demonstrate marvelous design and clever titles. by the end of the first four sets of courses, you'll be familiar with every element that appears in the game - it's not unlikely that this is because these are the only stages that appeared in the arcade release.

the game's main strength is that it is very very simple - just turn the maze to let gravity pull the ball down* - but it couldn't be done without snes technology, making it one of the few games that truly justifies the console.

* there is also a button you can use to make the ball jump, if you need a bit more force to break through a block, and you can hold it down to make the ball speed up, but it's really only good in straight-a-ways as it makes the ball extra bouncy.

i made this gameplay video almost a year ago, and i'm still pretty proud of it.

cameltry's sequels include the aforementioned mawashite koron on the ds, an excellent and difficult follow-up with touch screen controls and simultaneous multiplayer racing (the snes version has players alternate), and a remake on the psp taito collection that i have not played.

you can buy the snes version of on the ball off of ebay for cheap, i'm pretty sure, and i heartily endorse anyone to do so. it is pure* gaming bliss, a textbook for how to do level design right, and one of the few games to demonstrate the sfc/snes's abilities in a meaningful, revelatory, and non-superficial way.

* the word "pure" gets tossed around a lot when describing games. here i mean that the game is simple and uncomplicated - the essence of game design and play.

NOTE: advancing to new sets of stages requires completing the four you are presented with. normally you have to do these all in one sitting, but you can use these passwords to move between "planes" at your leisure. you can also find the password to change your ball or access the stage select on that site.
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[OtakupunkX]

I'm going to get this thing off of eBay. I've been wanting to play it for awhile and I could always use more SNES games, especially since I've only had one mouse compatible game (Mario Paint) since I got the thing in 1993 (I was 4 year old).

[Shapermc]

Gawdammnit. Ok, seriously, I will, just give me time. I do have a SNES mouse, so this may be interesting. I can't really play emulated games seriously, so I will need to track down a real copy of this game.
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

[dessgeega]

every time someone buys a copy of on the ball, an angel gets its wings.
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[wourme]

I already have On the Ball, but I'll take this chance to mention that somebody once made a little homebrew game based on it using Game Maker. I think he did a pretty good job.

[TheRumblefish]

[dessgeega]

sir, it is my calling in life.

i do what i was born to do.
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[dessgeega]

this is just to record my one-credit clear of the final plane. the reason i was inspired to post this topic in the first place was i was replaying the game with the intent of finally clearing it. now, i have done it.

also i would be remiss if i didn't point out that cameltry contains the best font ever. i've actually snuck it into the magazine a few times. (see if you can find it!)
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[Pijaibros]

[dessgeega]

completing the first four courses will give you a password to access the next four. completing those four will give you another password, and those, the final password.

(you can totally find the passwords on gamefaqs, too. i'm pretty sure there's a link somewhere in this thread!)

this game has 100 stages of arcade brilliance. you have yet to be seen try it.
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[Shapermc]

A practially brand new (just a little crushed, but probably because of shipping) copy with box manual and everything was waiting for me when I arrived at work today.

Possibly I will give impressions later tonight if I have some time, but one thing I would like to note is that the instruction manual is happily in full color. Taito also thanked me for adding On The Ball to my videogame library on the first page. Then on the last page I note that Taito use to have its office located about 20 miles from where I grew up... damn!
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

[Shapermc]

It is in such nice condition. This is actually in the best condition that I have ever gotten a used game off the internet. Seriosly. Click for larger image
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

[dessgeega]

hot!

catch the taito wave!
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