Marble Madness

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Marble Madness
System(s): PC-9801 VM
Publisher: Home Data
Developer: Home Data
Supporting companies: Bandit
Licensor: Atari Games, Tengen
Original system(s): Arcade boards
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code JP 1991
Non-NEC versions Arcade Amiga Apple II Apple IIGS Atari ST Commodore 64 FM Towns Game Boy Game Boy Color Game Gear Master System Mega Drive Nintendo Entertainment System X68000

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Marble Madness (マーブルマッドネス) is an arcade game developed by Atari Games and released in 1984. Its popularity saw numerous ports to home platforms, including the PC-9801 VM for the Japanese market courtesy of Home Data.

A PC Engine version was planned, but cancelled. A prototype is known to have been in the possession of former Tengen developer Jun Amanai, who posted a gameplay video on YouTube, prior to July 24, 2017.

Gameplay

The object of the game is to move a marble down an isometric field from one point to another, making sure not to fall of ledges or be damaged in other ways. The original arcade release relied heavily on a trackball controller, but the console ports rely on directional pad or another peripheral, meaning the control is less accurate. On the PC-9801 VM, the mouse is used to simulate the trackball, though the arrow keys may also be used to move the ball in the on-screen direction of the key press. For example,  🡩  will move the marble vertically up on the screen, with the respective effect in the arena.

Production credits

Atari Games Staff

• Designer/Graphics Programmer: Mark Cerny
• Game Programmer: Bob Flanagan
• Animator: Sam Comstock
• Sound Design: Hal Canon, Brad Fuller
• Hardware Design: S Ly, J Margolin, D Paauw, D Snyder
• System Support: C Downend, M Hoff, J Ritter
• Software Support: M Albaugh, M Mahar, R Moore
• Hardware Support: J Castillo, E Durfey, P McCarthy, N Minh

Home Data Staff

• System & Enemy & Graphics Programmer: Ofu
• User C-G & Text Programmer: Powered by Honda
• Game & Trap Programmer: Alice Kagamino
• Sprite & Graphics Design: Nan Chan, Y.Zinnai, Q.Zenba
• Sound Design: Home Data Sound Team "Eurythm" Endodon, Junichi Ueda

Special Thanks

• Tengen Staff: Mr.Matsunaga, Mr.Amanai
• Bandit Staff: Mr.Kurata

... And any others, and you

© 1991 Home Data

Source:

In-game credits

File:MarbleMadness PC9801VM Credits.pdf

Magazine articles

Main article: Marble Madness/Magazine articles.

Physical scans

PC-9801 VM, JP
Cover

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
?	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1

References

Sega Retro has more information related to Marble Madness

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