In Manic Marble you control a multicolored marble racing through various levels trying to beat the clock in order to come in under par. The game has several levels which vary in difficulty and style. Guiding your marble along the path while avoiding various obstacles proves to be more challenging with each new stage. Falling off the edge is allowed, but will cost you time. If you make to the end of the level under par, you will progress to the next one. Level one is fairly simple with a few twists, turns, and a few obstacles. It's that beginner level that allows you to get your feet wet before you have to dodge giant rotating and spinning barricades that you'll run into at full force in the upcoming stages.
The game controls use the iPhone's built in accelerometer. I found the controls to be slightly difficult to use in order to navigate the marble through the various levels. There seemed to be a little bit of lag time, especially when rolling along at full speed. Often I would have to completely slow down in order to make even a 90 degree turn to keep from flying off the edge. This seemed counterintuitive since the game's graphics look best when flying along at top speed. The last thing you want to do is slow down...turn... and start back up again. No matter how good you become at this game, you can't make a turn without coming to almost a complete stop and I fear that is an almost fatal flaw in the game.
My biggest pet peeve with apps are games that don't mute the sound when you flip your iPhone's switch to vibrate. Unfortunately, Manic Marble falls into this category. I mean, really, how else are we supposed to play video games at the office without drawing attention to our cubicles?! The background music in the game is fairly decent but having the option to turn it off or even listen to your own music would be a huge plus. The graphics in the game are simple and almost 80's computer retro (think Tron). The animation in the game is fluid for the most part, but on occasion the animation will stutter. This happens very little and isn't enough to effect the game play.
Manic Marble may not be for everyone so I would recommend downloading the free version which comes with two full levels. If you find that you're up for the challenge, you can get all six levels for a buck. Hopefully, the next update will allow me to turn off the music so that my boss will quit looking in my direction...
