Marble Madness

Marble Madness is a race to the bottom of six isometric courses, controlling a marble with momentum physics that have not aged. Atari Games built it in 1984 around a trackball, and the NES conversion has to approximate that feel with a d-pad - which is exactly why it is hard.

Nothing on the course is friendly. Slopes accelerate you, ramps launch you off ledges, acid pools dissolve you, and the black marble that hunts you around certain courses has to be avoided rather than fought. Each course has a time limit, and finishing early banks seconds for the next one. There are two ways down some levels, including a shortcut in the first course that skips a large section, and the game's escalating panic - from a leisurely hill to a course of pure edges - is its real design achievement.

• ▸Momentum-based marble physics with slopes and ramps
• ▸Six isometric courses, each on a timer that carries over
• ▸Hostile course elements - acid, edge hammers and a pursuing black marble
• ▸Two-player alternating mode with a shared clock