Marble Madness
An arcade game played with a trackball.
Where Marble Madness comes up1 episode or test
- Marble Madness felt awkward on NES d-pad
- Smash TV also felt awkward on d-pad
- Tomb Raider clunky on PS1 d-pad
- Mario and Zelda suit the d-pad in 2D
- N64 stick: effortless to move Mario in 3D
Match the controller to the movement dimension
From Marble Madness page note
What was said about Marble Madness
Marble Madness, built for a trackball, felt awkward on the NES d-pad. Marble Madness was made for an arcade trackball, and its movement felt awkward when moved to the NES d-pad. The lesson is to match the controller to the dimension of movement the game needs.
The NES d-pad suits characters on a 2D plane like Mario and Zelda, but Smash TV also felt awkward on it. The same mismatch returned with 3D games: PS1 games like Tomb Raider felt clunky on a d-pad until the N64 analogue stick made it "effortless to move Mario about in a 3D world."
Controllers Control Everything
Built for an arcade trackball, it felt awkward on the NES d-pad pad.
Marble Madness, built for a trackball, felt awkward on the NES d-pad. Marble Madness was made for an arcade trackball, and its movement felt awkward when moved to the NES d-pad. The lesson is to match the controller to the dimension of movement the game needs.
The NES d-pad suits characters on a 2D plane like Mario and Zelda, but Smash TV also felt awkward on it. The same mismatch returned with 3D games: PS1 games like Tomb Raider felt clunky on a d-pad until the N64 analogue stick made it "effortless to move Mario about in a 3D world."
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