Switchball

Switchball is a 3D action-puzzle game, made by the Swedish developer Atomic Elbow, which was released for Microsoft Windows on June 26, 2007, on Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360 on November 7, and on PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3 on September 17, 2009.[1] A HD version of the game was released on Steam on May 17, 2021.

Switchball
Developer(s)Atomic Elbow
Publisher(s)Vivendi Games[lower-alpha 1]
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 (XBLA), PlayStation 3 (PSN)
ReleaseWindows: June 26, 2007
Windows Retail: October 23, 2007
Xbox 360: November 7, 2007
PlayStation 3: September 17, 2009
Genre(s)Puzzle
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay
Gameplay screenshot

The game puts the player in the role of a ball, which is guided through various courses suspended in mid-air in five different environments: Skyworld, Iceworld, Caveworld, Cloudworld and Lavaworld, each one having six courses.

Each course contains multiple puzzles for the player to solve. The ball is used to push around objects, activate switches, among other things. Using PhysX as its core physics engine, the game features many physics-based puzzles. Obstacles, traps, and other objects are common throughout the game. Some common objects include boxes, switches, fans, cannons, magnets, and rails.

The ball can be morphed into four different forms, each one having unique traits. The Marble Ball is the default ball that every level starts with, and it has no special traits. The Steel Ball can push heavy objects around. The Air Ball can be inflated in order to float for a short period of time. Lastly, The Power Ball can be charged to have one of three abilities: a dash ability, a jump ability, or a magnetism ability. Each ball reacts to the environment in different ways; For example, Steel Balls will tear cloth platforms and be drawn to magnets, while Air Balls are very easily blown by fans and can be popped by nails.

Each level is timed, and players are rewarded with Gold, Silver and Bronze medals, depending on how quickly they complete the level. A scoreboard is available for each level, displaying the top seven players who completed the stage the fastest.

Development

Originally called Crazy Ball, the game won "Best PC Game" during the 2005 Swedish Game Awards and was a finalist in the "Technical Excellence Class" during the 2006 Independent Games Festival. Crazy Ball was developed in five months.[2]

The gameplay is similar to Atari's 2004 game Ballance, but features worlds instead of levels.

Reception

GamesRadar awarded the PC version of Switchball 8 out of 10, praising the AGEIA physics engine, commenting that "the rolling and bumping and knocking and flinging are all exquisitely well done. And physics, the best thing to happen to games since explosive barrels, has a way of making you care".[6] Team Xbox awarded the Xbox 360 version a 9.4 of 10 and called Switchball as one of the best puzzle games for Xbox Live Arcade.[10] IGN commended the AGEIA physics engine, calling it a major star of Switchball.[7]

CVG criticized the difficulty of the later level puzzles in its review of the PC version: "It doesn't run out of brains, but in later chapters it does succumb to that misguided urge to crank up the pressure. This goes badly. Switchball is a thoughtful puzzle game, but neither its camera nor controls are up to the dexterity-driven tasks it sets here".[3]

Xbox Live Arcade re-release

Switchball was re-released on March 26, 2008 on Xbox Live Arcade with a patch that enhanced graphics and tweaked the scoring.[11]

See also

Notes
  1. Released under the Sierra Online brand name.

References
  1. "Sony Online Entertainment Gets the Ball Rolling With Switchball for the PlayStation Network". Sony Online Entertainment. 2009-09-18. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
  2. "2006 IGF Competition Entrants - Crazy Ball". Independent Games Festival. CMP Media. Archived from the original on January 11, 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. Francis, Tom. "Switchball". CVG. Future Publishing. Archived from the original on September 21, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. Bowden, Mike (November 18, 2007). "Switchball". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on January 16, 2017.
  5. Navarro, Alex. "Switchball Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. Francis, Tom (October 16, 2007). "Switchball review". GamesRadar. Future US. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. Ahearn, Nate. "Switchball Review". IGN. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 10, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. Price, Tom (December 2007). "Switchball". Official Xbox Magazine US. No. 78. Future US. p. 73. ISSN 1534-7850.
  9. "Store Roundup: Switchball". Play. No. 191. Imagine Publishing. May 2010. p. 93. ISSN 1747-7859.
  10. Tuttle, Will (November 2, 2007). "Switchball Review (Xbox 360)". TeamXbox. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 5, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  11. Ransom-Wiley, James (March 24, 2008). "This Wednesday: TiQal blazes XBLA, Switchball re-released". Joystiq. Weblogs. Archived from the original on March 25, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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