Finally a Marble Maze type game that doesn’t suck, EDGE, is in the App Store now.
Edge won the Milthon award for Best Mobile Game of 2008 at the Festival du Jeu Video, Paris and is nominated for the Excellence in Gameplay award at the International Mobile Gaming Award competition. It’s clear in your first few moments of EDGE that these accolades are well deserved.
Come with me as we journey to the EDGE, and back.
EDGE is a 3D isometric platformer. To play you navigate you cube along the path and try to get to the end. You can choose between a virtual stick control or tilt. As you progress the game incrementally teaches you new skills like hanging. If you run through the game all at once and not worry about score there is probably about 2-4 hours of gameplay.
The touch controls feel good. Playing with tilt is fun, but impractical. The default control option is used by moving your finger in the direction you want to go, and holding it. Like using your thumb to move an analog stick. The difference is to change direction you don’t need to return to center, you just slide your finger in the direction you want to go. It’s like a blend of an analog stick and gesture controls, and it’s brilliant.
Although the overall gameplay is short this game has incredible re-playability. Re-playing the level in many ways is more fun then when you go through it the first time. There are many hidden places and challenges in each level that add depth. There is also a lot of skill required to discover some of these areas so you may find some places that are unreachable until you play through the game a second time.
The level of polish in this game is also amazing. I love just moving my cube around and “feeling” it move, hearing it hit the tiles. The colors and style are fresh and beautiful. The soundtrack is excellent. Even without headphones you easily get lost in the experience. The menus are quick and clean so getting around in the game is perfectly unencumbered. Even the tutorials are built into the game in a way that does not impede your gaming experience.
While playing EDGE I felt the same way I did playing the original Mario Bros. or Marble Madness. It’s immersive and fun. I find myself enjoying EDGE even more than some longer titles like Rolando. Bottom line, this game is awesome. It is worth the $5.99 price.