The Xbox 360 has been in homes for a little over two months now and although the 360's Live Arcade functionality brought much amusement in the first few weeks, since then we've only had two additions to the downloadable titles since its inception. Last week however, Garage Games pushed that number up to three with the release of Marble Blast Ultra and while the game itself is very reminiscent of the classic Marble Madness, there are plenty of additional features that set this title apart and truly make it a worthy download.

As you can probably guess, in Marble Blast Ultra you're tasked with controlling a marble and navigating it through a number of obstacle courses (sixty in total), attempting to reach the goal under the course's par time. To complicate matters, some levels have a specific number of gems that you must collect before the goal becomes active and you're allowed to complete the level. So not only do you need to find the quickest way through each course, but at times you must incorporate the most efficient path to collect all the gems as well.

Now, if simply rolling your marble through a level was the extent of the gameplay, this would be a fairly boring game. However, Garage Games have spiced things up by giving your marble the ability to hop, in turn letting you cross short gaps, jump over small obstacles, or climb mild inclines. Your marble also has a blast meter that slowly fills during play. If you happen to reach a spot on the course where a normal jump won't do the trick, while at the jump's peak you can let loose a blast that will propel you that extra distance, letting you reach higher plateaus or traverse longer crevasses.

Not only are each of the levels challenging in themselves, but as you make your way through more difficult courses you come across terrain covered in ice, fans that try to blow you off the level, moving platforms, pinball bumpers, or even gravity modifiers that flip the level's gravity 90-degrees, giving you access to locations that were previously impossible to reach. The courses aren't the only things with tricks up their sleeve either, as you also have access to various power-ups to get you through any situation. These include speed boosts, super jumps, increased effectiveness of blasts, a hover copter and even a power-up that makes your marble gigantic.

The levels are designed very well, with a selection that includes a great mixture of both large and small maps, and there is usually more than one way to tackle the situations provided in each. The difficulty also gradually increases as you make your way through the Beginner and Intermediate levels, then you'll find a drastic increase on all levels within the Advanced category. Many times this will leave you banging your head against the wall attempting to figure out the best way to reach the goal in the allotted time. Fortunately you do have the option of simply skipping levels if you get too frustrated and come back to it once your nerves are a bit calmer. This creates yet another 360 Live Arcade title that takes very little effort to learn but a lifetime to master.

Something else that caught my eye after hours of playing is how much detail went into creating each environment and marble. The textures on the level's surfaces are spectacular, as you can see the small imperfections on the tiles and a slight reflection on surfaces coated in ice. The marbles, though, are the real eye candy, as each has its own personality. For example, some are translucent with a colored hew and others have patterns such as an eight ball or a smiley face. My favorite would have to be the marble that is simply a polished steel ballbearing that reflects the entire environment in its surface. The physics applied to each marble are also wonderful, as a simple understanding will let you predict how a ball behaves fairly accurately.

However, where the level design and overall gameplay leave little to be desired, there are some other aspects that may have players wanting more. The most glaring of these is the all-too-close camera angle that the developers chose to stick with. While this does allow you to see the detail put into each of the marbles, you cannot zoom out. Eventually you get used to this angle; however you'll find yourself attempting to adjust the camera to get a better view of the playing field while trying to safely navigate a narrow pass on more than one occasion. Also, the same background is used for each level and while it doesn't interfere with navigating the courses, I would have enjoyed a bit more color variety for the backdrop. Finally, the same music track is used throughout the entire game, some portions of which sound remarkably similar to Gunther Levi's Ding Dong song. That being said, you may find yourself switching over to a custom soundtrack shortly after starting your marble navigation.

Once you're finished with the single player mode (or just too frustrated to continue), Garage Games has included an interesting multiplayer feature where up to eight other marblers can battle to obtain as many gems as possible within the given time period. To aid in your gem collection, all of the game's power-ups are available, some keeping their main function, such as using the super jump to reach gems on a higher platform, where others have taken a more sinister route like the size boost, which lets you barrel through the competition and smash them into oblivion. As you could guess, Marble Blast Ultra's multiplayer can get pretty hectic. Unfortunately there is only the one multiplayer game type, so after a while you may begin to tire of the same old gem collecting and wish to get back to the single player mode.

Having Xbox Live not only allows you to compete interactively with other Marble Blast players, but your completion times are also uploaded to the leaderboard at the completion of each level. This allows you to see how your marble skills rank with other players around the world in each of the sixty levels. And although there hasn't been official word on future expansions, this game is an excellent candidate for new Live Arcade downloadable content, such as new levels, and of course new marbles.

Marble Blast Ultra drives the point home even further when compared to the launch lineup of the 360 the Live Arcade may just be where the bulk of your enjoyment is had with the system right now. This title brings back all the memories of Marble Madness but with countless alterations and improvements. There are a few things I wish could be improved, such as the camera and music, but these shouldn't prevent you from spending £8 for all the content this game provides.

Reviewed by Zach Lark for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).