Marble Saga Kororinpa
Marble Saga Kororinpa allow fun customizations like designing the ball with attributes to helping you navigate through stages easier, to Miis and preset fun images, to an Edit Mode which allows for custom design of a unique stage. 4-person multiplayer mode allows players to compete with three other opponents on the same map as each race to the finish line. The Wii Connect 24 (enables you to remain connected to the Internet while the console is on standby) feature allows you to share the unique stages created with you friends or to receive extra stages from Hudson after the game’s launch via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Wi-Fi Leaderboards let you compete online against others to see who can navigate through the world the fastest.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Phenominal. Marble Saga is the type of game for which the Wii is truly intended.
Marble Saga is a GREAT game. It’s 2006 predecessor (Kororinpa:Marble Mania) was the best and most underrated game of the Wii’s first year, along with RE4 & Zelda:Twilight Princess. This is the sort of game for which the Wii is truly intended: It’s a game every man, woman, child, and grandparent can enjoy, and it makes great use of the Wii Remote and hardware.
Marble Saga is everything Kororinpa:Marble Mania was and more. Marble Saga is pick up and play, but challenging as well. The first Kororinpa had 45 levels, Marble Saga has 180 (150 Wii Remote, 30 Balance board. For those complaining about balance board support, this game’s balance board support is 2/3 of the entire original game for $20 less than the $50 original).
Marble Saga is a modern re-imaging of old hand-held “labyrinth” marble games. However, instead of tilting a board to have a marble navigate a maze, the player tilts the Wii controller, leaning the game’s entire 3-D environment in order to navigate various obstacle courses. For example, when you tilt the controller forward, the course tilts that direction, and what was previously a level surface becomes an incline that the ball rolls down until it either hits an obstacle or the controller is tilted a different direction. The balance board levels you use your body to complete the levels, similar to the mini game in Wii Fit, however these Balance Board levels here are long and well thought out. I would compare Marble Saga to Super Monkey Ball, but it really is the Super Monkey Ball killer. Once you play this, you could never go back. Farewell to the frantic race to get to the end, and welcome to the mind bending challenge and completely unique control that Marble Saga offers.
The most fulfilling puzzles involve quickly rotating the game board onto its side so that walls become floors. It’s a simple game mechanic that makes incredibly full use of the Wii Remote and Balance boards unique control via motion. In fact, the controls are responsive and tight without ever becoming too frustratingly sensitive.
Also challenging you will be cannons, sliding panels, ice, sticky floors, tubes, piball bumpers, and more. Marble Saga boasts 180 levels, (30 Balance board levels, and 150 Wii Remote levels) and a handful of special courses. This is a lot compared to Kororinpa:Marble Mania which had a total of 45 (and then let you play mirrored versions of the 45). Each course will take the average gamer a minute or two in the earliest levels, and more than 10 to 15 minutes on the more advanced levels. The last 75 to 80 levels provide a significant challenge.
There are a number of unlockable levels and marbles. Early on, the slow marbles are the best choice for simply completing the courses, while the fast and heavy ones are more dangerous, but reward the skilled player with a better time. Some marbles are lightweight, quick, and darting; others are heavy, slow, and unwieldy.
The 4 player multiplayer provides longevity to the experience, though your competitors appear as ghost marbles only, maybe next time you will be able to bump them off the mazes.
Like the original Kororinpa:Marble Mania, Marble Saga remains one of the best uses of the Wii’s unique controller I’ve experienced. It offers some very fun gameplay as only available on the Wii remote and Wii balance board. 5 out of 5 stars.
Buy this game now, the first game is VERY hard to find and often sells used for more than $50. There’s a reason for this… this is the type of game the Wii was made for, get this one now before it become a rarity as well….
5 Stars Great game
This game is awesome with or without the wii balance board full of thrills and excitement this is a game you can play over and over for hours
5 Stars A new favorite
I had owned the original Kororinpa and absolutely loved it. I finished all levels and traded it in at one point which I regretted later. I was so happy this one was being released and ran out to buy it. The fact that all levels cannot be played with the balance board does not bother me in the least. I am glad for the option and expect to get a nice little core workout when I opt to use it but knowing the difficulty of the levels to come towards the end of the game and how some of the boards have you upside down etc., I don’t see how it would even be possible to use it for all of them. For me this is the best of both worlds…just like the original and a bonus balance board game!
2 Stars balance board support
The thirty balance board games on this one is pretty decent, but after that, kind of disappointing. My gf loved the balance board portion of it, but after that, not much else. Everything else uses the wii remote.
3 Stars Good game UNLESS you want to use it with balance board.
This game was heavily advertised as a balance board game, (I’ve been reading reviews for months) but no where I ever saw stated “but you can only play CERTAIN levels with the Wii board.” (until the reviewer right before me. should have checked Amazon right before I bought it.)
The graphics are nice, and the controls are very intuitive and fluid. If you enjoyed the first one you’ll probably enjoy this one, just note that despite the fact that the set up for the balance board is there (shown in the fact that you CAN play a handful of levels with it), it is not really a balance board game. Why the company did not make it an option for all the levels when they already created the programing for a few levels, (and not the story line levels) I would really like to know.
For me, the fact that SOME levels can be played with a balance board but not all, really alters my opinion of the design of the game. It should be either none or all.
Filed under: Nintendo Wii Games Reviews