If you prefer puzzle-oriented Marble Madness clones, Neverball takes the cake.īut if you prefer arcade-oriented games with clever, insidious, physics-defying level designs, check out Hamsterball from Raptisoft - but be warned of potentially high frustration quotient if your reflexes are not up to par. If you don't want to play both games, the choice should come down to what type of ball games you prefer. With pleasant graphics and solid gameplay, I find both Neverball and Hamsterball to be worthy of our Top Dog tag. Then a double-sided path takes you to an elevator. First, there is a vacuum sucker which takes you up. In a tournament, if you press it, you get an extra five seconds. There is a button with a number 5 near the goal. Play with mouse, keyboard, joystick, trackball, or anything you want Try it now and see why Hamsterball was voted the Downloadable Game of the Year (2004) by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences What's New: New levels, party games, new music. It has vacuums and boosters to take the player up to the goal.
Although the twelve courses in Hamsterball may sound small compared to over fifty levels in Neverball, each course is huge, spanning many screens that are filled with obstacles and insane (read: addictive) routes.Īs befits a shareware game, Hamsterball sports more polished graphics and gameplay, although I feel the $19.99 price tag is a tad too steep. The Up Race is the sixth race in a Hamsterball tournament. Your objective in both games is similar: guide a ball (or a hamster-trapped-inside-a-ball in Hamsterball) safely to the exit before time runs out. Neverball and Hamsterball are two superb Marble Madness-inspired games from a freeware and an indie developers, respectively.