The Esoteric Sequels to Marble Madness: the ‘Marble Man’ Prototype and Midway’s Mobile Releases

If you were ever a fan of the Marble Madness iterations on Arcade and Home Consoles, you may be excited to hear that the game actually had a followup release in the works for Arcade as well as two fully published Java-based mobile games:

1. Marble Man: Marble Madness II (Arcade, 1991)
2. Marble Madness 3D (Mobile / J2ME, 2007)
3. Marble Madness (Mobile / J2ME, 2010)

Sadly, these titles are fairly difficult to come by! The arcade release had a completed prototype but was never distributed, and the mobile games have largely become abandonware with the drop in popularity of ‘brick’ phones.

one of two known prototype title screens for Marble Man: Marble Madness II [source] and the arcade cabinet [source]

Marble Madness II was slated for release in 1991 as a direct follow-up to the original. It featured thirteen new levels, several powerups, and a mascot character dressed as a superhero; earn a strong first place finish and your marble will transform into this figure! During a GDC conference in 2011, Mark Cerny once remarked regarding Marble Madness’ development “I wanted to do this abstract Escher-esque game where nothing had eyes, and here they were saying ‘That’s not a marble, that’s a happy face!’ ” [Orland, 2011]; it seems that with this sequel, Atari got their way and drove the design towards a more caricatured feel, presumably to appeal to younger audiences. The cartoon approach also manifested in the levels with tomatoes, monkeys, and satellites all striving to impede your progress. Otherwise, the game remained faithful to the original’s strong abstract colours and gridded isometric aesthetics.

Gameplay footage of Marble Man: Marble Madness II

Unlockable artwork for Marble Madness 3D [source]

Fast forward to 2007, and we have Marble Madness 3D. This was the third of four known Marble Madness mobile games running on Java. The first two were produced by THQ Wireless: a relatively faithful port in 2004 and a 3D remake in 2006. What makes this title unique is its use of tilt controls during a time where mobile phones were just beginning to be built with accelerometers. The game’s 3D models unfortunately seem to be incompatible with available J2ME emulators at this time, leaving it a bit of a mystery as far as what can be expected from its gameplay. However, I was able to find that the game includes three difficulty(?) levels (Gold, Titanium, and Platinum) with Challenge and Arcade modes for what I assume to be five levels each with unlockable Bonus and Extra levels. I don’t particularly have my hopes up with this iteration however; from what I’ve seen of the gameplay footage, it looks more like a spin-off title than a proper sequel, given the game’s aesthetic decisions and abandonment of its iconic isometric perspective.

Gameplay footage on a Sony Ericsson K850, with tilt controls

Three screenshots of the ‘Enhanced’ levels from Marble Madness (2010) [source]

Finally we have the modestly titled Marble Madness (2010) which in addition to containing a quality port of the original 1984 ‘Classic’ levels features a variety of colourful new ‘Enhanced’ levels unique to this iteration. The footage below demonstrates several of the game’s new features, including customizable marbles, difficulty levels, achievements, and seven new stages titled Egypt, Atlantis, Cliffsides, Skyscrapers, City, Factory Entrance, and Factory Core. The vertical phone layout works favours for the title, providing a clear view of the environment and player progression through the level. The graphics combine the aesthetics of the original with rendered 3D graphics that would not look out of place on a Super Nintendo. Other interesting new features include Atlantis’ dart traps, the rolling boulders of the Cliffsides, and the flamethrowers of the Factory Core. In Skyscrapers, you can even see the return of the ‘propeller’ power-up first introduced in the unreleased Marble Madness II. Of the three titles I’ve described, I find myself most drawn to this as a true and potentially playable official followups to one of my favourite childhood games.

Gameplay footage of Marble Madness (2010)

Which of these esoteric Marble Madness games do you find most interesting? Have any fond memories of the franchise? Leave a clap and response below! I’m currently developing what I hope feels like a spiritual successor to the game… if that interests you, you can check out the demo for Crystal Missile here or follow me on Twitter!

Sources:

1. Orland, Kyle. “GDC 2011: Mark Cerny Discusses Marble Madness’ Turbulent Development” Gamasutra, March 4, 2011. [link]
2. Marble Madness II Prototype Gameplay Footage [link 1] [link 2]
3. Cerny, Mark and GDC. “Classic Game Postmortem — Marble Madness”. Originally presented in 2011. Youtube, January 20th, 2017. [link]
4. WebMagic Ventures. “Marble Madness 2 Marble Man”. Museum of the Game, n.d. [link]
5. The International Arcade Museum. “Game Census for Marble Madness 2 Marble Man”. VAPS — Vintage Arcade Preservation Society, n.d. [link]
6. Forum thread: “[Hot] Marble Madness 3D”. TopSony Mobile, November 13, 2007. [link]
7. Reardon, Marguerite. “Motion Sensing Comes to Mobile Phones”. CNet, June 11, 2007. [link]
8. G.M.M. Marble Madness 2010 Gameplay Footage [link 1] [link 2]
9. movistarequipos. “Sony Ericsson K850 Movistar — Marble Madness 3D”. Youtube, May 22, 2008. [link]