As seen in: Marble Madness (Arcade)
Also seen in: Marble Madness II (Unreleased)
Distinguishing feature: Blue, spherical.
Strengths: Determination.
Weaknesses: Hammers, vacuums, slinkies, hairpin turns, gravity, other marbles.
Profile by Ben Elgin | December 22, 2009
You sit at the starting line, tense, waiting. The course lies below in all its geometrical perfection; from up here it looks almost serene, its traps and pitfalls hidden in the distance. The timer counts up, the music starts, and you're off! Accelerating down the slopes, banking through the turns, you can feel this run going well. Do you dare jump for the extra points? Of course you do; sailing through the open air, you land perfectly on the bonus tiles, shake off the dizziness, collect your reward, and sail on through the goal posts.
But you know that was just the warmup. The real challenges start now. The next courses are longer, steeper, and opponents stand in your way. The strange green worms don't bother you much—they make a big show of leaping at you with gaping maws, but you're faster than them and slip underneath, quickly leaving them behind. Acid puddles are more disturbing as they shift, join, and split in front of you, but you can't slow down. The race is everything. Gun for a tiny opening, close your eyes, and you're through.
The course itself becomes an enemy as you continue. You strain to stay inches ahead of the dreaded wave before it can shove you off a cliff. Memories of smashing to a million shiny pieces and being swept away like so much dust haunt you as you sail across gaps and cut corners, but you need those precious seconds. Pistons, hammers, icy terrain; nothing can stand in your way.
Then you see him on the course ahead: Your dark nemesis. Do you evade, feint, play the eternal game of cat and mouse? Or charge straight for him, feeling the impact, shell against shell, praying to the spherical gods that he shatters before you succumb? There is no choice. You must take the short path, danger be damned. You are fast, you are strong, you are blue. You are MARBLE.
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