Switchball - Review

Added November 29th, 2007 by LightK

Developer Atomic Elbow has brought the PC game Switchball (originally called CrazyBall) to the XBLA. In Switchball, you maneuver a marble through challenging three dimensional puzzles laden with traps and obstacles. Your goal is to make it to the end of the level and board the Gyrocopter, which carries you to the next level.

Working your way through an airship that appears to have been pieced together by an eccentric inventor is a wacky experience. Rolling around and viewing the panoramic scenery is a delight. Figuring out how to reach the end of the level is oftentimes another story. You’ll be presented with many puzzles in the form of switches, magnets, fans, boxes, rolling balls and more. Check points are abundant, thank goodness, as you’ll find yourself falling off the ship, rolling off teeter-totters, tearing through cloth, and more.

Throughout the game, you’ll be able to acquire a multitude of powerups. To access the powerup, you roll into a Morph to switch your ball. The Morphs include a yellowish Morph which will grant you the ability of the Marble ball (able to push small, lightweight objects out of your way); a bluish Morph to change into a Metal ball which is heavier and can push larger objects; and a pinkish Morph to turn into an Airball that can be pumped up and levitated when rolled over an air vent.

There are five worlds (Skyworld, Iceworld, Caveworld, Couldworld and Lavaworld) with six levels apiece. Controls are fairly simple. You navigate your marble by use of the LT and the A button to dash and jump. The RT controls the camera. This can become bothersome as not only does it control the direction, but also the zoom.

In single player, you have the choice of timed (reach the Gyrocopter before a set time to earn a bronze, silver or gold medal) and free play (play as you like). In multiplayer, you can play co op or race each other. At this time, there’s just not enough players with this downloaded to jump into a game whenever you like. In fact, I tried four days running at various times throughout the day and was only able to jump into one game.

The music is bland and uninspiring, but it works and won’t distract you from the game. The leaderboards weren’t working last time I checked but hopefully, that’ll be fixed in the near future.

All in all, this is a nice addition to the XBLA collection. When you’re ready for some “down” time from the hectic fraggin’, Switchball is a good change of pace.