Here we are on the brink of Thanksgiving…  I got to thinking about things I’m “thankful” for.  A rant just seemed out of place today, so fortunately I have my second ever “Rothbart’s Rave” for you just in time for the holidays.  And it’s a tasty little gaming morsel at that!  Loosen your belt a notch and enjoy!

Here’s my typical reaction to XBLA releases and announcements: Read the headline… *yawn*… move along.  The week of November 7th, 2007, the ominously titled Word Puzzle and Switchball were released.  Oh great, Word Puzzle sounds like a TOTAL winner and Switchball?  It’s probably just another Zuma, Luxor, or Bejeweled clone I bet…  I would’ve heard of it before if it were any good…  I ignored it.  A few days later, in passing, NateDogg on the GamerCast Network forums mentioned that Switchball was “awesome.”  I couldn’t tell from that simple little post if he was being sarcastic or not (an occupational hazard I guess) but I was really bored that night so I downloaded the demo just to check it out for myself.  Wow!  A gem of a game almost slipped by unnoticed.

Switchball is billed as an “action puzzler” that uses puzzle-driven gameplay combined with real world physics.  That’s a fairly accurate summary of the game other than it doesn’t account for how well it’s done. The game certainly made me think of other games I’ve played, such as Roll Away (or Kula World depending on where you live) on the original Playstation or even Archer Maclean’s Mercury on the PSP but it manages to pull off both great looks and  great gameplay at the same time.

The premise of the game is simple enough and it’s this simplicity that helps refine its elegance.  You play as a ball and your goal is as simple as to get from the starting point to the ending point of the level.  You control your ball’s movement with the left stick (you actually move the ball, there is no Monkeyball-esque level tilting) and your camera with the right stick.  The A button enacts whatever appropriate action your current form allows.  Throughout various levels, you can change between the following forms: metalball, powerball (which has multiple “charge” abilities such as dash, jump, and magnetism), and airball.

The full version of Switchball has 30 levels in five themed worlds (ingeniously titled Skyworld, Iceworld, Caveworld, Cloudworld, and Lavaworld) and includes over 40 physics abiding items such as wooden blocks, cloth, fans, magnets, cannons, etc.  While the game’s levels always give you access to the necessary items and ball types to get by each level, there is still quite a bit room left for interpretation.  There are multiple paths, multiple solutions, and a lot of room for some truly 3D spacial thinking in the game.  I was pleasantly surprised to see the puzzle solving difficulty ramp up nicely as opposed to relying on twitch gameplay, timers, or other “cheap” difficulty-enhancing devices.  It’s clear a lot of thought and effort went into ensuring you enjoyed the entire game, not just the minimum required to get you to buy it only to smack you in the face with a brick wall of difficulty a few levels later.

So far I’ve only played through the single player game in free mode (no timer), but there is also a timed single player mode as well as both co-op and competitive racing modes as well.  For $10, this game is a great value.  The prospect of downloadable content seems to be a no brainer even if you didn’t notice the ability is listed on the Product Info page, although nothing specific has been announced yet.  Hhell, I didn’t even know the game was coming until it was out, I half-way suspect the DLC will be the same way.

To me, this is EXACTLY what Xbox Live Arcade should strive for.  It’s unusual, gorgeous (wait until the night time levels and check out the lighting), and it really makes you think in the later levels without clobbering you with horrible difficulty.

I encourage everyone to download the free demo and assure you that if you remotely like the demo, the full game is worth purchasing.  And if you know anything at all about me, you know I wouldn’t be recommending an Xbox Live Arcade title unless I truly thought it was something special… and Switchball is just that.

Tweet This Post