Game Classification

Switchball is a 3D strategy game where the player controls a marble through hazardous courses with different kinds of puzzles, with gameplay similar to Marble Madness or the more contemporary Ballance and Marble Blast. There are 5 worlds; Sky, Ice, Cave, Lava and Cloud, unlocked gradually and with different levels. Each narrow, winding course is played in mid-air and to complete a level the player has to guide the marble to the end where it boards a gyrocopter that transports it to the next course.

To solve the puzzles, the marble often needs to be rolled into Morphs that can switch the shape to four different balls: Marble, Metal, Air and Power, each with different abilities and characteristics. For instance, the Powerball can be charged in a generator, providing the ability to jump, dash, or magnetism. The Airball can be inflated with helium to reach higher areas. Supporting the AGEIA PhysX engine both through software and hardware, blocks can be pushed or topple down, cloth tears when the ball is too heavy and all kinds of items can be moved around. The nature of the puzzles changes with each game world, with fans, switches, and tubes.

The game is controlled through the mouse to move the ball, rotate and zoom. By holding down the left mouse button, the current speed is held to climb slopes or to move around without needing to move the mouse. Each level has gates that save the progress. When the ball drops down, the game is resumed for the last saved position. By completing courses quickly, players earn badges. [source:mobygames]

Distribution : Retail - Commercial
Platform(s) : Playstation 3 (PS3) - PC (Windows) - Xbox 360 (X360)

Links

• http://www.mobygames.com/game/switchball/