I remember my first ball rolling game, which was the original Marble Madness, and boy was I terrible at it. However, my gaming prowess has improved over the years, and so has the ball rolling puzzle formula as well. Despite looking infinitely better than its spiritual grandfather, the game is a wonderful physics based puzzler that will have you rolling balls for many hours to come.

Switchball is a puzzle game at heart and almost completely a solitary experience, though there is some multiplayer later on we'll talk about. Much like Half-Life 2 and the episodes following it, the levels in Switchball are almost all physics based, featuring many puzzles that rely on weight, such as needing to be strong enough not to be blown away or push heavier objects around, or being light enough to float or get a boost to cross a gap. Besides many puzzles being weight sensitive, others are focused on things such as gravity and the magnetic ability of objects. Switchball, like all puzzle games, starts off easily enough, but once all the pieces start coming into play, it can take quite some time to figure out a specific puzzling section of a level and get through it.

Switchball has you playing as a ball as you navigate levels floating in the sky, where there isn't just one puzzling spot to solve in order to beat the level, but instead you'll have to navigate through several tricky situations before you finally get to the gyrocopter at the end, signaling your escape and advancement on to the next level. There aren't a ton of levels, but there are enough to satisfy most people, and given their difficulty, you won't be breezing through them in minutes anyways, and will be spending a few hours fully completing them. The game also gives you timed and un-timed modes, and with medals being rewarded based on how quick you're able to beat a level, you'll probably be replaying some levels to perfect your times.

Besides being heavy on the physics based puzzles, another important part of the game's system comes from its title itself – Switchball. When you start a level off you are a simple marble that is easy to navigate around small areas, can push light cardboard boxes around, and can bounce and roll around on cloth since you don't weigh so much that you tear the fabric. The marble form isn't enough to help you complete the game, however, and so you'll find transformation stations placed in strategic places, signifying you'll need to utilize them to move on. A few of the transformations you'll make include a metal ball (can push heavier objects around, wind won't blow you around as much, you're attracted to magnets), an air ball (more susceptible to wind, you can float when pumped full of helium), and power ball (when charged up you can boost yourself over ramps and across gaps).

On the multiplayer side of things the game offers both co-op and races, allowing you either to work together (puzzles where you'll often have to help your partner cross paths and solve things) or race against each other to see who can complete a level first. There aren't many levels for multiplayer, but there are a few to give you a good sampling and satisfy you on that front, though Switchball is still a single-player game above all other things.

If you're talking strictly about gameplay mechanics, Switchball is near perfection. If you absolutely hate puzzle games Switchball probably won't change your mind, but everyone else really should love the intelligence needed to complete this game. However, the game is hampered somewhat by the camera, which is at its best when you're in total control, as the other two fixed positions don't follow the action well enough or place the camera in ways to properly see everything you need. The loose nature of a rolling ball also causes some frustration problems, as it's hard to sometimes control the ball with pinpoint precision, which will lead to many accidental deaths by rolling over edges.

The game is a bit too quiet on the audio front, but the peaceful melody that plays over the game is soothing. The best thing about Switchball, besides the physics, is how beautiful and clear the graphics are, featuring very sharp details, metal spheres that reflect light and objects perfectly, smooth and fluid animations (watch fabrics giveaway to weight), and the levels overall have a lushness to them that is amazing.

There's a few problems stopping Switchball from achieving perfection, but for everything it does wrong there are four more reasons why it's so good. If you love puzzle games Switchball is a game most definitely worth your time and Microsoft Points.

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