Web	www.literaryillusions.com

There’s something Mythic about those Marbles

August 16, 2007

Mythic Marbles I am a child of the late 1980s-early 1990s. When I grew up, we played with marbles, we knew there were ways you could play outlined marble games, but we never really played them. My parents had played marbles with a circle around on the ground. They had told us kids that to play you had to hit your opponent’s marbles out of the circle without shooting your own out with them. The last person with one marble in the circle (or more) won the game.

This is the premise for a game developed by Playfirst known as Mythic Marbles. In the game, you aren’t playing with a circle. Instead you will have various game board structures with obstacles to avoid on your way towards being the person with the last marble standing. You can choose to play in two different modes when you play Mythic Marbles; Adventure and Arcade. Both have their own perks and let you explore the world of Mythic Marbles.

The graphics for this game are stunning. The game board is designed with an ancient perhaps Egyptian or Meditteranean type of feel to it. The music until you enter a game board is great. It sounds very Middle Eastern and is soothing on the ears. I actually prefer it to the music in the game board, which has more of a quest like feel to it. The game board music is fine at first, but after a while it can get a tad bit annoying.

In the Adventure mode, you will go through 10 different levels and follow a loosely related story. You play as a youngster who loves marbles. Your dad wants you to get another profession and actually make some sort of living, but you love your marbles so he sends you off to the main town to make it on your own with your marbles. From here, you have the chance to go through levels. You shoot your marbles against other pre-placed marbles. They are placed around obstacles. As you progress the ways to reach the marbles become harder as they are blocked by barriers, near dark hole whirlpools that suck any type of marbles (including your own) in, and morphing circles that send your marbles to other parts of the game board. You must get rid of all the marbles from the board and still have one of yours (at least) on the board.

At the end of each level, you must battle a town marble player who insists their skills are better than yours. To beat them, all you have to do is shoot all of their marbles off the game board before they shoot yours. This is easier said then done as most of them never miss. You will have to battle at the palace for the spot as the ultimate marble shooter when you reach round 10. This is the hardest round as you try to keep just one marble on the board, shooting around barriers on it to hit your opponent’s marbles.

In the Arcade mode, you go through each level and try to beat a player similar to the end of each Adventure level. You can redo levels as you try to get a better record (by having more marbles on the board at the end of each Arcade round). This makes the replayability level high for this part of the game in your quest to keep beating your last score. Ultimately, the entire game is fun to play over and over again, even if you have beaten levels previously.

Bottom Line: If you’re looking for a fun way to spend your free time try Mystic Marbles. It requires skill, practice, and a little luck. Hopefully, you too will soon be a marbles master and have a new appreciation for a game our parents or grandparents once used to play.

Rating: