Marble Madness

THE BAD:
The game's way too short. Control just isn't the same

SUMMARY:
One of the more unique and addicting games to hit arcades, largely because of the unique trackball controller and gameplay, which was a racing version of marbles. You guide a marble through 6 different races, trying to avoid hazards like pitfalls, marble munchers, acid puddles, digital waves, and other assorted threats that slow you down.
As is the case with most Arcade-to-NES ports, the graphics are virtually arcade perfect and very smooth. The sounds are the same although the music has been altered slightly to compensate for the NES not having the synthesizer like the arcade version did, but otherwise it's the same. The controls are responsive but admittedly it just doesn't feel the same without the trackball. It does not take that long to get comfortable with using a pad or joystick, though. The difficulty level's about right-starting very easy and gradually working it's way to very hard at the end, but the game is just too short with only 6 levels. A 2-player competitive option adds replay value, plus it rewards skilled players with more time while penalizing slowpokes who fall too far back.
This is certainly one of the more fun action/racing titles to make it to the NES from the arcades and is worth playing around with. If you can't find it on NES, it's also included on "Midway Arcade Treasures 1" for the next-gen consoles.