Mindball Play

Genre: Racing

Players: 1-4 Competitive (Local Split-Screen), 2-8 Competitive (Local Wireless), 2-20 Competitive (Online)

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Review:

Mindball Play is a Racing game released on PC in 2016 and ported to Nintendo Switch in 2019. In this game, players guide a marble down one of various complex race courses, trying to be the first to reach the goal.

The presentation here is an unusual combination of very very good and somewhat mediocre. On the one hand, the graphics here are superb, with some really nice texture work and reflections that give the environments in the game a very “real” look to them. The framerates do have a few hitches here and there, but mostly this is an impressive-looking game.

Having said that, so much about this game seems forgettable and generic. The menus are ugly and difficult to navigate, there’s little sound beyond the sound of power-ups and music, and that music, while fittingly energetic synthesized fare, is nothing especially memorable or noteworthy. In fact, this game overall feels like it’s lacking any sort of identity.

The core gameplay starts with a decent premise, and there’s some good variety to the tracks and conditions you’ll race in, but unfortunately this game’s physics are extremely unforgiving, making it take far too long to pick up speed, and then far too difficult to turn or stop once you do.

One other element I should note here is the multiplayer. Playing this game in four-player split-screen removes much of the impressive texture work I complimented earlier and drops down the resolution, but otherwise the game performs well. Don’t go into this game expecting online play though – at this point the online servers for this game are abandoned.

II really wanted to like Mindball Play more than I did – the initial impressions here are wonderful, with the game’s slick graphics really making it stand out. Unfortunately, this game fails to build on those graphics with quality gameplay or any sort of identity that makes this anything memorable and not just a nice-looking tech demo. In the end, it’s not without its charms, but it definitely feels like it could have used more work.

tl;dr – Mindball Play is a Racing game where players try to roll their marble to the finish line first. The visuals in this game are fantastic, but beyond this the game is completely lacking in personality, and the physics are extremely unforgiving. It’s not terrible, but it definitely could have used more work.

Grade: C

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