Enjoyment (Single-Player)

4.5 out of 5

The new chapters are fun and fit the theme of the original game like a glove, and secrets hidden in every level encourage replayability. Long, difficult levels near the end feel cathartic to conquer.

Enjoyment (Multiplayer)

2.2 out of 5

With a large group, the multiplayer games are chaotic fun. With a small group, the entertainment risks seeping away after a couple rounds of each mode. Without anyone to play with, the modes are a slog.

Performance (Single-Player)

4.9 out of 5

When the game prides itself on "buttery-smooth controls," it's not kidding. The fluid motion of the marble responds very well to your controls, while still handling friction (or lack thereof) well to the surfaces you cross.

Performance (Multiplayer)

2 out of 5

Lag is inevitable for cross-platform multiplayer with many people spanning across the country, or even globe, but there's no excuse for it when you're the only person on the map.

Graphics

5 out of 5

Every inch of the game is bursting with vibrant color that matches gives a charming atmosphere. Special mention should be given to the 170 marble skins, where not a single one can be considered "ugly."

Accessibility

4.3 out of 5

Due to the precise controls and quick reflexes needed in high-level performances of the game, many settings can be customized to the player's content, including rewind and restart buttons.

Music

4.3 out of 5

Four new songs have been composed by Solovox, as well as two remixes of previous songs. Every single one can and will get stuck in your head.

Price

3.8 out of 5

$30 feels a little on the steep side, but if you're a perfectionist that wants to explore every square inch of a game a hundred times over, then it's worth every penny.<br>It should be noted that purchasers of the original "Marble It Up!" were given a free copy of Ultra upon its release, with a similar promotion on the Switch for a limited time, as the original game has since been taken down from Steam and its price lowered on the Switch.

Pros

Smooth controls and responsive physics

Gorgeous customization options available through secret-searching, achievements, and/or replay

High scores cover personal, friends, and worldwide records, allowing for "ghost race" to compete against

Previous levels have been updated and redesigned for better performance

Cons

Multiplayer experiences stutters, even when alone

Multiplayer games grow stale and underwhelming without a large group, and have been mostly abandoned by players

Get Ready to Roll

Marbles are quite the enigmatic toy. On one hand, you’ll probably never see someone play marbles in their original, intended format again. But they’re far from extinct, and not just from collectors—marble races and competitions have grown in popularity over time, with a sizable audience on sites like YouTube and Twitch.

Marble races didn’t start their popularity there, though. Video games like Marble Blast Gold (and, in my case, Marble Blast Ultra) helped introduce audiences to- in the games’ words- “the subtle joy of rolling,” and the November 2018 Steam/Nintendo Switch release of Marble It Up! was no exception. Developed by the teams of Blueteak, The Engine Company, Shapes and Lines, Arcturus Interactive, and The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild, and published by Alvios, Inc. and Bad Habit Productions, Marble It Up! received over a million views from content creators on YouTube. It earned positive reviews, all the more impressive since, according to developer Ben Garney’s blog post, the game was developed on an initial budget of zero dollars. With the success of the game, it was only inevitable more content would be considered. By 2023, a sequel, Marble It Up! Ultra, would be released, remastering the original levels, adding four more chapters of brand-new levels, and including five competitive multiplayer games.

[Marble] Blast to the Past

As briefly mentioned earlier, the foundation of marble platforming games didn’t start with Marble It Up!. Its progenitors date back to 2002. It developed a large player base with each successive game, to the point where Marble It Up! actually saw a hybrid of original Marble Blast creators, community members, and longtime fans to create the newest game in the series. Emphasis should be given to community, as Marble It Up! and Marble It Up! Ultra house over 1,000 community-created levels in the Steam Workshop.

Additionally, while not quite as old as the centuries-long history of marbles, marble video games do have an impressive background beyond the Marble Blast / Marble It Up! series.

Marble Blast, released in December 2002 for Windows, and later ported to Mac, Linux, and Xbox.
Marble Blast Gold, an updated version of Marble Blast released in 2003, pre-installed on various Apple computers and later ported to the Xbox.
Marble Blast Ultra, released for the Xbox 360 (Xbox Live Arcade) in 2006. A browser port of the game, “Marble Blast Online,” was released in 2008, but has long since shut down.
Marble It Up!, released in 2018 for Steam and the Nintendo Switch.
Marble It Up! Mayhem, released in 2019 for the iOS and macOS as part of a partnership with Apple Arcade. The game is no longer available due to the partnership expiring.

1984: Atari publishes Marble Madness, an arcade game designed by future Crash Bandicoot creator Mark Cerny.
1985: Melbourne House creates Gyroscope.
1986: Electric Dreams Software publishes Spindizzy.
1987: Ultimate Play the Game (later known as Rare) develops Bubbler.
1989: Rainbow Arts creates Rock ‘n’ Roll.
1990: Rare returns to the marble field with Snake Rattle ‘n’ Roll.
1995: SAV Creation creates Rollin.
1998: Game Design Sweden AB creates Kula World (titled Roll Away in North America,) featuring a 3D world layout, alternating physics, and different gravity directions, features which would become staples in later marble games.
2001: Sega publishes their first game on a Nintendo console, a launch title for the GameCube known as Super Monkey Ball, which was successful enough to create an ongoing series.
2004: Raptisoft releases Hamsterball, a spiritual successor to Marble Madness featuring similar atmosphere and gameplay elements.
2004: German studio Cyparade develops Ballance, a physics-puzzle game where the controlled ball can transform into various forms with different weights. A similar concept was used by Atomic Elbow’s Switchball in 2007.
2008: Icon Games releases Spinout (also titled RealPlay PuzzleSphere and Vertigo,) inspired by the “zorb” recreational activity (those giant inflatable balls people can walk around in.)
2011: ACE Team develops Rock of Ages, which combines the rolling mechanics with a tower defense strategy to attack and defend castles. A sequel was released in 2017, and a third installment in 2020.

Ultra Instinct

48 new levels have been added in four “Bonus” chapters for the game, labeled “The Bonus Arc.” Each chapter increases the difficulty and/or complexity of its respective levels.

Bonus 1: Keep on Rolling – Unlocked by earning a Gold Medal on 10 levels, this chapter is still mostly forgiving with its layout and begins to teach you efficient tricks for further down the road. Highlights include the open-path “Permutation,” the satisfying loops of “Time Capsule,” and the various unique solutions for “Triple Divide.”

Bonus 2: The Way of the Marble – Unlocked by earning a Gold Medal on 25 levels, the game expects you to know the basics by now and starts handing you levels in the more intermediate range. Highlights include the rush of a perfectly performed “Thread the Needle,” the smooth-despite-appearances “Gordian,” and the full-speed-ahead action of “Runout.”

Bonus 3: Keep Your Cool – Unlocked by earning a Gold Medal on 40 levels, Marble It Up! Ultra stops pulling its punches at this point. Levels may take multiple tries to even beat, let alone get medal times for, and finding the trophies will take serious dedication. Highlights include the multi-leveled “Contraption,” the irregular, yet gorgeous layout of “Prime” that reminds me of old film reel, the propulsive equilibrium of “Boomerang,” and the gravity-flipping, platform-hopping treasure hunt “Cirrus.”

Bonus 4: Challenge Accepted – Unlocked by earning a Gold Meal on 60 levels, it may not be the climax of the single-player campaign (that would be Chapter 6!), but the game has turned the brutal difficulty to its highest setting. Completing all these proves you can conquer anything the game throws at you. Getting gold or platinum medals on them all, and you have ascended to marble godhood. Highlights include the gauntlet of “Danger Zone,” the marathon of “Olympus,” the fun gem layout of “Centripetal Force,” the nostalgic “Radius,” and the visually stunning finale “Stratosphere.”

More than meets the [Cat’s] eye

While I initially believed only the 48 new levels had been added to Marble It Up! Ultra, a side-by-side gameplay comparison between the original and new version did have some major differences in the “main arc” of the game. Even the first level, “Learning to Roll,” has been changed to include some extra bumps, guard rails, and a moving Basher obstacle. The fact that they feel the same could maybe be attributed to the “classic” version of the game being delisted and left mostly obsolete since Ultra‘s release. It also goes to show the craftsmanship that went into every level, and how the developers looked them over to decide what needed to change, whether it was new obstacles, power-up layouts, or changing medal times. It certainly makes an argument against Ultra just being a souped-up DLC.

Both pictures have been taken from the exact starting point of the first level, with no change in camera movement.

“I gotta BE the marble!”

Coming into this game from Marble Blast Ultra, I wasn’t expecting much in the way of visuals, especially in the way of the marble itself. But to my surprise, Marble It Up! Ultra goes above and beyond with their looks. Each and every level has a hidden trophy somewhere in it that grants either a marble skin, particle trail, or hat. This encourages sleuthing that could be used for shortcuts and skips later on. Additional unlockables can be obtained from achievements. More still can be purchased from Shards, which are automatically obtained by earning new medals on maps, playing multiplayer modes, completing the weekly trials, or simply playing the game at your own pace. There’re so much creativity and beauty to the aesthetics, and it stands out to me as one of the highlights of the game. It even keeps the marble’s appearance in saved data, so ghosts you race against will look how they did in their course of the, well, course!

This is just scratching the surface. (Not the diamond though, those tend to be tough to scratch.)

Losing Your Marbles

While the singleplayer mode is good fun, the new multiplayer mode falls a bit flat. There are five different game modes: Gem Collecting, where shiny gems are scattered about the map and whoever picks up the most wins; Team Gem Collecting, which is the same except players are split between red and blue teams; Sumo, where players earn points for staying within certain boundaries and lose points if they fall off (or are knocked out of) the map; Zombie Infection, where the “infected” marbles must try to bump into other players to infect them within the time limit; and Soccer, which is pretty much just Rocket League.

The game modes are simple enough to pick up and play, allowing people to get into the action quickly, which is especially good if you’re joining mid-match. The problem comes from just how many people are playing, or rather, how few. A large group can be enjoyably chaotic, especially on tighter maps. When the count drops to four or five players, the games start to really feel tedious. And if you’re all by yourself, it’s a miserable waste of three minutes.

Stuttering Frames

In singleplayer, Marble It Up! Ultra‘s frame rate is as smooth as the marble itself. When going into multiplayer though, that is not the case. While I haven’t seen any disconnects, the delay can be a major issue in games that require quick, precise movement. It may mean the difference between winning and losing a match or recovering from a platform’s edge versus falling into the abyss. What is especially egregious is that these modes can lag even if you’re the only one playing, which is simply baffling.

If you have a group of friends that wants to play, go right ahead and enjoy it for a time! But if it’s just you, stick to the single-player modes and save yourself some disappointment.

1-0… Does it mean points, or people playing?

In Conclusion

As negative as my opinions on the multiplayer may have been, I was pleasantly surprised to find my opinion changing more on Marble It Up! Ultra as I wrote this review. Initially, I thought the only new inclusions had been the Bonus levels, which were to the left side on the world select menu, and may have been overlooked by players. But as I looked more into the changes, I realized just how much had been redone for the game and have come to appreciate it a lot more. It could have been very easy to simply drop the new levels in and move on, but the developers rehauled preexisting levels, coated everything in a gorgeous new coat of paint, and added a fun way of customization that has benefits for secret-hunters, speedrunners, and casual players alike. It makes me feel rather spoiled saying that I would want more from the game. Then again, how many games have you wished would just keep going… and how many of those games do you look upon positively?

This game was made with love and passion, and continues to please a decades-long community that has been able to plant their seeds and grow to new heights. Who knows? Maybe in a couple more years, I’ll be reviewing another new game in the series that surpasses this one!

More platforming games covered by NeverMore Niche can be viewed here, more racing games can be viewed here, and more multiplayer games can be viewed here.