marbol

The game ultimately leaves me frustrated because the core mechanics seem fleshed out and the ideas you see in each level are diverse and creative, but the actual tuning of each level to the physics of the ball makes for one of the more unpleasant platformers that I've played.

A majority of levels feel so awkward that when I am pushing to get quick times, because the game incentivizes you with rewards for doing that, I often fail at points that feel out of my control. If I am looking to survive a level and not necessarily trying for a good level time, I still feel forced to play in a style that feels like I am killing a lot of the momentum of both the literal ball and the immersion. It feels to me like many of the levels are built to encourage you to play at certain speeds but don't actually allow you to do that, whether that be on sections of long straightaways that make the speed pointless with sharp turns or more careful platforming that includes way too many moving platforms that you have to wait through. Mind you these are only a few examples of frustrating parts, but honestly with the right balancing most of these annoying sections could be turned into satisfying constraints.

So it isn't a terrible game, just a very puzzling decision to me for the developers to come close making a good game but stopping just short of actually making most of the levels themselves all that satisfying. It is not as fun as the much older games in the series and the price tag is steep enough that I don't recommend this entry

Very good physics engine - the marble reacts to it's rotation and bounces off surfaces as you expect it to.

Good optimisation.

Amazing graphics and visual level design, as well as marbles themselves.