The Marbians Review
Price: Free
Version: 1.0.0
App Reviewed on: iPhone 3GS
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iOS users are no doubt familiar with games like this: cute, colorful visuals, a well-produced and appropriate soundtrack, a simple key gameplay mechanic, as well as the inescapable draw of scoring all three whatevers on each level so that they can brag to friends, unlock more levels or both. In The Marbians' case, the mechanic I'm referring to is the flickin' and a-rollin'. Each level is cleverly designed around the tiny aliens' ability to ricochet off of everything, often requiring players to fire them off at specific angles in order to bank around turns and avoid obstacles and hazards.
As with virtually all Cute & Colorful Mascot iOS games, The Marbians uses a three-tiered scoring system that correlates directly to nabbing items. In this case, moon rocks. Three of the little blue things are scattered around each level, and while merely completing a stage is usually fairly easy (except for that group in the third toy box), doing so and grabbing all of the rocks is anything but. It's exactly the kind of simple-yet-addictive structure that never fails to get its hooks in. That and the way the levels build upon themselves, steadily adding new elements like switches, oil slicks, a second Marbian and more make for yet another hard to put down game.
As I've said before, The Marbians has all the hallmarks of another classic (and lucrative) iOS title: It's vibrant, fun, addicting, adorable and a buck. Cute mascot puzzle game enthusiasts definitely need to check this one out. Just be aware that the full game has to be unlocked through a $0.99 in-app purchase.