Marble Madness/Versions

Arcade
The arcade version provides trackballs to control the players. It may also provide the player an option to continue racing the other player if he dropped out.

Apple II
Contains a secret Water Level that is rather difficult to complete, possibly requiring the use of two players.

Commodore 64
Despite the limited graphical capabilities of the Commodore 64, this is a fairly good conversion of the game. Graphical resolution is much lower, but the SID chip does a good job with the music. Developed by Will Harvey, and published by Electronic Arts. Like the Apple II release, this version contains a secret Water Level.

Commodore Amiga
Ported by Electronic Arts, and can be run from Workbench.

Control orientation is rotated 45 degrees clockwise: a downward pull on the joystick or mouse results in the marble moving downward and to the left. In addition, the button on the controller may be held for a turbo boost.

Game Boy
A rather poor conversion that doesn't control well, and is missing several stages. Graphics are about as good as one can expect from four shades of gray.

Game Boy Color
Developed by Digital Eclipse, this version is substantially better than the release for the original Game Boy. All stages are present.

Game Boy Advance
Part of the Marble Madness + Klax cartridge. Like the version for the original Game Boy, this is a very poor conversion that is lacking several stages.

NES
A reasonably accurate conversion that plays well, despite lacking a track ball controller. Players can choose between holding the control pad in a standard horizontal orientation, or rotated 45 degrees clockwise to make diagonal movement easier. The button may be used to move more quickly. Colors are not as vibrant as the arcade version, however.