Electronic Gaming Monthly, April 2007:
With chirpy music and candy land levels, Kororinpa: Marble Mania comes wrapped in a deceptively unassuming package. You simply navigate a marble through a 3D puzzle, tilting your Wii-mote to move the board while collecting gems en route to the exit. The most fulfilling of these puzzles involve rotating the game board onto its side, so that walls become floors. It’s a simple game mechanic that makes full use of the Wii Remote’s range of motion while not being too sensitive. In fact, the controls are responsive and tight, and each unlockable marble has its own weight and physics. Nice.
Splitscreen competition (the second player uses the Nunchuck or Wii Remote) is uninventive: Each marble mundanely races against the other marble’s “ghost” toward the goal. Here I’d hope to, oh, fight for gems or bump my opponent screaming over a ledge. Missed opportunities and some perspective glitches aside, though, Marble Mania is a solid, charming puzzler.
