Marbles Multiball 3D, a labyrinth-style game from Mad Processor, is available from the app store. Marbles Multiball 3D combines fiendishly clever level design with an intriguing theme and decent physics to create a fun, albeit short, gaming experience.

There are 42 levels available in the game, some of which are fairly simple, requiring but a few seconds of patient play to pass. Others will have you spending considerable time cursing at your iDevice before you’ll finally conquer them. Most levels will require you to manage multiple balls at once, hence the “multiball” portion of the game’s name. The goal is to get each of the balls into its goal, a slightly depressed circle that will hold a ball in place through minor rocking of the iDevice. More significant twinges will send the ball back into play, so be careful how you move. Each level has a time limit, dictated by the difficulty level (noob, med, or master). Once all balls are in their goals (some goals are color-coded when differently colored balls are in play), you will move on to the next level provided that there is still time on the clock. There are plenty of obstacles to make you crazy, including ramps, slopes, gaps, areas without walls, deadly-to-the-touch skull towers, and more. Often, these obstacles combine to create a significant level of difficulty with which to contend. Despite this, we were able to complete more than half of the levels within our first half-hour of play on noob level, which doesn’t bode well for the game’s overall level of content or replay value. Med proved to be a fair challenge, while Master is horrifically difficult.

Graphically, we liked the look of the game, which is a 3D environment that takes place inside of a creepy castle. There are two-toned floors, bridges over rivers of both water and fire, and plenty of gradients that, while distinguishable from level surfaces, can be difficult to tell in which direction and how significantly they are sloped. The sounds are great, especially the ominous laughter when you fail. Controls are accelerometer-based, with spot-on physics that work fairly well. There are buttons to tap to advance to the next level and start each level. We found that these did not work well, often requiring multiple taps to register. This became an even more frustrating aspect of the game than maneuvering the balls through the various obstacles. The lack of tilt calibration is also a major flaw, requiring you to handle the device in the awkward, parallel-to-the-floor orientation that makes it pretty much impossible to play lying down.

Replay value suffers from a lack of significant content, as well as a lack of scores, times, achievements, leaderboards, a level editor, or any type of measurable statistics. Experiencing the other difficulty levels is about the only reason to play again once you’ve completed the game. There are several labyrinth-style games available on the iDevice and, while this one isn’t terrible, it’s certainly not our favorite. At $0.99, Marbles Multiball 3D feels like a good foundation upon which to build a really exciting game, but in its current form, it is just a 3-Dimple, run-of-the-mill physics game.

Marbles Multiball 3D Pros:

• Fiendishly clever level design
• Intriguing theme
• Decent physics
• Cool ominous laughter and other great sounds

Marbles Multiball 3D Cons:

• Unresponsive buttons
• Lack of tilt calibration a major flaw
• Lack of significant content, scores, times, achievements, leaderboards, a level editor, or any type of measurable statistics

Marbles Multiball 3D gets our AppSmile 3-Dimple rating: