The ‘Deluxe Edition‘ of Marble Madness was released the same year as ‘The Construction Set‘ edition and it contains a new set of screens to play through, plus the Construction Set editor, and the ten screens from the earlier release. It’s still complete and utter garbage, though…

The game doesn’t seem to be in any way improved over its massively flawed predecessor, and seems little more than a cash grab by publisher Melbourne House. No attempt seems to have been made to reduce the hideous sprite flicker, or address the dire collision detection, or the slow and turgid movement of the marble, or the stupid wait you have to endure for your marble to return after falling into a hole…

I can only assume that author John F. Cain (of Booty fame) wasn’t able to create the game he wanted and had to endure the embarrassment of having his name on this rubbish. At least I hope that’s the case, otherwise I’d seriously have to question his credentials… This is more like a bad clone of Marble Madness than an officially-licensed interpretation of it, and anyone who says that it’s “brilliant” (Your Sinclair magazine: I’m looking at you) deserves throwing into the sea…

Yes, you can make your own levels, but what’s the point of taking the time and effort to do that if the end result is like wading through sewage, waist deep? Constructing a set of screens using the editor does take time, effort and practise, but it’s just not worth it. The numerous screens provided with this “Deluxe Edition” prove that.

Having just spent the last few weeks playing every version of Marble Madness I could find, I now feel like I’ve been “reduced to the state of a bum” by playing this, but thank God it’s finally over…

More: Marble Madness on Wikipedia
More: Marble Madness: Deluxe Edition manual on gamesdatabase.org