Fear the Sphere- Madballs in Babo: Invasion

From the recent releases of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra to the upcoming inauguration of Lego Rock Band, there seems to be a proliferation of games based on the toys of our youth. When I first heard an announcement that developer Playbrains was reinvigorating the antiquated Madballs with an Xbox Live Arcade title, I felt of tinge of skepticism; how could a studio construct an interesting game around a series of grotesque rubber balls?

Had Playbrains not taken creative license with the property, gamers would have likely been subjected to yet another tedious Super Money Ball clone. Luckily, the designers seemed to have drawn inspiration from the overhead shooters prevalent during Madballs reign of popularity. Modeled after the run-and- gun style of titles like Ikari Warriors and Assault, Madballs in Babo: Invasion prudently focuses on firepower rather than mere environmental navigation. Players fluidly roll through each environment with the left stick while a tap of the right trigger unleashes a ballistic barrage. Players use the right stick to aim, which simultaneously rotates the screen around the player. At times, each Madball feels like a nimble, spherical tank as it rolls through the colorful terrain.

Madballs has a surprisingly broad selection of fifty unlockables that works well to maintain the player’s interest. Gamers can unlock additional character balls, which vary in size, speed, defensive armament, and offensive capability.  An array of auxiliary weapons is doled out to the player; each gun requiring a different tactic. One example- the beam gun sends out a devastating ray, but forces gamers to retreat while charging, which is quite different from the less powerful, but steady-firing machine gun. Each Madball’s capabilities allow for a different route through the environment; meaning subsequent level play-throughs will be varied.

The game’s multiplayer options include the requisite skirmish, team skirmish, and capture the flag variations. Some modes allow the gamer’s Xbox avatar to be transformed into a humorous-looking, rolling cranium hell-bent on destruction. Clearly, Madball’s most innovative contribution is the title’s invasion option, which allows teams to construct the game map through a Carcassonne-like tile placement system. While a near-limitless amount of environments can be created, most end up being simple affair with a single route or two. Allowing participants to choose a larger map size would have been advantageous to this game mode.

The game’s central caveat stems from the game’s large levels. Like the shooters of yesteryear, background pieces are recycled often enough to make stages appear visually tedious. While this may not unsettle veterans of the Genesis/Super Nintendo era, who are familiarized with tile sets, others may be vexed by the lack of graphical diversity. A secondary criticism has to do with the game’s pacing- while early levels contain infrequent antagonists, as the player preservers, groups of foes unexpectedly appear on-screen. With little forewarning, the player can be quickly surrounded by a team of attackers, altering the typically laid-back style of the game. Although Madball’s framerate is typically fluid, dips transpire when these assaults from multiple opponents occur.