Marble It Up! Ultra Review: Keep Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin’

The latest game to carry on the surprisingly long lineage of marble-based platformers is Marble It Up! Ultra.

More in the vein of Marble Blast than Mark Cerny‘s Marble Madness, it revolves around the player taking on wild, Super Monkey Ball-style levels filled with challenging platforms to maneuver under a time limit. A superior version of the 2018 original, Ultra is a polished platformer that’s fun whether you’re ready to speedrun or just want clear each level.

Ultra features over 100 levels in total, which is a mix of remastered levels from the original game and entirely new ones. Over 60 are in the core campaign, which is a great amount as the game is able to introduce layers to its otherwise simple gameplay. This gives the player enough time to master the minutia. This delivers a satisfying difficulty curve throughout. By the end, you’re fully prepared for the wild levels and all the different power-ups that you need to use to complete them.

The power-ups vary from higher jumps to speed bursts, and add a whole different layer to the gameplay. It’s particularly fun coming up with strategies to better your time, as there are plenty of shortcuts and higher-level strategies to cut through the default route. Some levels, however, circumvent this by forcing the player to gather gems before they can finish. That means you can’t destroy them all in a few seconds like top-tier Super Monkey Ball players.

Beyond the allure of the leaderboard, there’s plenty of incentive to better your time in stages. Challenging bonus levels unlock based on how many levels you’ve achieved a gold rank on. You’ll unlock a ton of different costumes, effects, and accessories for your marble that range from wacky (like a marble that plays a game of Simon) to some really visually pleasing designs. You also unlock currency while you play, which can be used in the store as well. There’s always a good reason to keep playing.

While the lengthy single-player experience will likely take up the bulk of your time, Ultra also includes several online features that add to its overall appeal. Weekly challenges will appeal to more advanced players as they offer a set of levels and unique modifiers that keeps it feeling fresh. You can even view replays of high scores to learn new strategies.

There are also four online multiplayer modes included. These are admittedly a mixed bag, and it’s hard to see this becoming a part of anyone’s long-term rotation. Some are overly simple, such as collecting gems in the aptly named Gem Hunt, but I found the Soccer mode to be a fun diversion. Practically a budget Rocket League with seven different stages, you use your marble and power-ups to try to score goals against the opposing team. It mostly made me just want to reinstall Rocket League, but it was nonetheless still a fun time for the few matches I played.

Marble It Up! Ultra Review: The final verdict

You can tell that Marble It Up! Ultra had a great foundation to build upon, as it is as polished as the marbles you roll around inside the game. The difficulty curve is satisfying, and it’s genuinely fun to improve and start lowering your times in search of unlocking more bonus levels. While it’ll appeal to players that love time trials and a challenge first and foremost, there’s a lot of charm and fun to be had for any fan of platformers.

Disclaimer: Our Marble It Up! Ultra review is based on a PS5 copy provided by the publisher. Reviewed on version 1.000.011.