| Marble Madness | |
|---|---|
 North American arcade flyer | |
| Developer(s) | Atari Games Inc. |
| Publisher(s) | Atari Games, Inc. |
| Designer(s) | Mark Cerny |
| Programmer(s) | Bob Flanagan |
| Artist(s) | Mark Cerny Sam Comstock |
| Composer(s) | Brad Fuller Hal Canon |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Amiga, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Game Gear, Java ME, Master System, NES, IBM PC, Sega Genesis, X68000, ZX Spectrum |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Platform, racing |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players simultaneously |
| Arcade system | Atari System 1 |
Marble Madness is an arcade video game designed by Mark Cerny and published by Atari Games in 1984. It is a platform game in which the player must guide a marble through six courses, populated with obstacles and enemies, within a time limit. The player controls the marble by using a trackball. Marble Madness is known for using innovative game technologies: it was Atari's first to use the Atari System 1 hardware, the first to be programmed in the C programming language, and one of the first to use true stereo sound (previous games used either monaural sound or simulated stereo).
In designing the game, Cerny drew inspiration from miniature golf, racing games, and artwork by M. C. Escher. He aimed to create a game that offered a distinct experience with a unique control system. Cerny applied a minimalist approach in designing the appearance of the game's courses and enemies. Throughout development, he was frequently impeded by limitations in technology and had to forgo several design ideas.
Upon its release in arcades, Marble Madness was commercially successful and profitable. Critics praised the game's difficulty, unique visual design, and stereo soundtrack. The game was ported to numerous platforms and inspired the development of other games. A sequel was developed and planned for release in 1991, but it was canceled when location testing showed the game could not succeed in competition with other titles.