Any fans of NES Marble Madness?

[mbd30]

I finally broke the 150k barrier today! I got four deaths or my score would have been even higher. Fortunately I had a smooth ultimate race.

 

[mbd30]

I've been playing Marble Madness pretty obsessively lately. The other night I got over 174k without help from wands. This was the best I've done without any random assist. I love this game.

 

All you have to do is hit the 5k off ramp bonus on the first stage, have 99 seconds at the ultimate race, and complete the game with 77 seconds left on the clock.

 

I would like to be able to consistently break the black marble quickly on the second stage because that's another 1k, but I usually can't do it.

[godslabrat]

I love that game, but I’m terrible at it.

[icemanxp300]

I would like to be able to consistently break the black marble quickly on the second stage because that's another 1k, but I usually can't do it.

 

How do you break the marble? Just keep smashing it? I usually just ran past as fast as I could for extra time bonus.

[mbd30]

 

How do you break the marble? Just keep smashing it? I usually just ran past as fast as I could for extra time bonus.

 

Here's someone's video showing how it is done. You quickly move to the top of that downward ramp and bump into the black marble, or the marble bumps into you. Whatever, I haven't been able to do it most of the time. Obviously it's only worth doing if you can do it fast enough.

 

 

 

Here's a 179k run with a black marble break.

 

[GameGirl420]

I beat that one a few times. it's a cool accurate port of the arcade,but no where near as good as the original arcade itself of course.

[mbd30]

Okay, turns out that all you have to do is quickly park yourself at that spot and wait for the black marble to hit you from behind. It's very simple to break the other marble for an additional 1,000 points.

[SignGuy81]

One of my favorite games on the NES

[icemanxp300]

I'm fairly sure I have made that black marble chase at me and fall over the side and smash before. At any rate letting it hit you from behind is much easier. I still find navigating the end of that level hard as shit. The very end going down the concave area and dodging the hole.

[mbd30]

New personal best, guys. BOOM.

 

[digdugnate]

im in awe- i suck at Marble Madness, lol

[mbd30]

im in awe- i suck at Marble Madness, lol

 

To get this score I beat the game without dying with 76 seconds left on the clock after getting lucky with wands. If I could have been a second faster I would have had 178k. But it's hard to perform flawlessly without choking on the last stage when you get there with so many points.

[NinjaWarrior]

I have the Game

 

How good is it with the NES Max Controller?

[Cynicaster]

I remember renting this game from a local convenience store back in 88-89 or so. Thought it was weird but pretty cool.

 

Now that I've played the arcade game with a trackball -- both on original hardware and my MAME cabinet -- I just can't get into the idea of an 8-direction d-pad. The trackball is just such a cool controller, and there aren't that many games that use it. This one was made for it. I picked up a copy of the NES cartridge about 5-6 years ago and I think I might have played it once... not because it's bad, but because I have a far better way of playing it. Great music.

[high voltage]

Only played it on Amiga, which is also the best version. Liked it, after that I played it on C64, hmm soso

[Trinity]

New personal best, guys. BOOM.

 

 

 

Your making me want to buy this game for my NES collection.

[mbd30]

I remember renting this game from a local convenience store back in 88-89 or so. Thought it was weird but pretty cool.

 

Now that I've played the arcade game with a trackball -- both on original hardware and my MAME cabinet -- I just can't get into the idea of an 8-direction d-pad. The trackball is just such a cool controller, and there aren't that many games that use it. This one was made for it. I picked up a copy of the NES cartridge about 5-6 years ago and I think I might have played it once... not because it's bad, but because I have a far better way of playing it. Great music.

 

I understand preferring trackball if that is what you're used to, but it also plays perfectly fine with a NES pad.

[Cynicaster]

 

I understand preferring trackball if that is what you're used to, but it also plays perfectly fine with a NES pad.

 

Agree to disagree, I suppose. IMO, the trackball is just as crucial to Marble Madness as analog dial/spinner controls are to games like Arkanoid, Break Out, and Kaboom.

[mbd30]

 

Agree to disagree, I suppose. IMO, the trackball is just as crucial to Marble Madness as analog dial/spinner controls are to games like Arkanoid, Break Out, and Kaboom.

 

I dunno, man. I can routinely beat the NES port without dying and with high scores, so the trackball isn't too crucial. But I've spent hours mastering that version. I've never played the original arcade.