CNET Networks Entertainment GameSpot | GameFAQs | Metacritic | MP3.com | TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games Books TV
Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

Games

Playstation Reviews
PS3 | PS2 | PS One | PSP

Xbox Reviews
Xbox 360 | Xbox

Nintendo Reviews
Wii | DS | GBA | Cube | N64


PC | N-Gage | Dreamcast

How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Games In Our Forums

 

Upcoming & Recent Releases

sort by name sort by score

43 America's Army: True Soldiers
60 Arkadian Warriors
78 Army of Two
81 Assassin's Creed
54 Asteroids / Asteroids Deluxe
54 Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth
xx Battlefield: Bad Company
51 Beowulf
62 BlackSite: Area 51
54 Boogie Bunnies
xx Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
83 Bully: Scholarship Edition
88 Burnout Paradise
76 Chessmaster Live
76 Club, The
81 College Hoops 2K8
xx Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath
75 Commanders: Attack of the Genos
xx Condemned 2: Bloodshot
50 Conflict: Denied Ops
74 Culdcept Saga
67 Dance Dance Revolution Universe 2
53 Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Elements
xx Dark Sector
84 Devil May Cry 4
40 Discs of Tron
58 Dynasty Warriors 6
64 FIFA Street 3
63 Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess
76 Frontlines: Fuel of War
42 Golden Compass, The
72 GripShift
36 History Channel: Battle for the Pacific, The
32 Jumper: Griffin's Story
66 Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
69 Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore
54 Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom
78 Lost Odyssey
58 Lost: Via Domus
77 Major League Baseball 2K8
91 Mass Effect
xx Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
79 Metal Slug 3
xx Midnight Club: Los Angeles
xx Monster Jam
72 MX vs. ATV Untamed
84 N+
xx NBA Ballers: Chosen One
69 NCAA March Madness 08
72 Need for Speed ProStreet
47 NFL Tour
73 Omega Five
xx Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus
81 Poker Smash
xx PopCap Arcade Vol. 1
88 Rez HD
93 Rock Band
xx Rocketmen: Axis of Evil
40 Screwjumper!
xx Sega Superstars Tennis
81 Sensible World of Soccer
48 Shrek-N-Roll
51 Soldier of Fortune: Payback
xx Spectral Force 3
63 Spiderwick Chronicles, The
55 SpongeBob SquarePants Underpants Slam!
xx Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
77 Switchball
47 Tempest
xx Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2
62 Triggerheart Exelica
46 Tron
xx Turning Point: Fall of Liberty
69 Turok
76 Undertow
xx Universe at War: Earth Assault
xx Viking: Battle for Asgard
xx Warhammer: Battle March
44 Word Puzzle
xx World in Conflict
71 WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.



Switchball xbox360 Game Reviews
Switchball
Critic Score
Metascore: 77 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
9.0 out of 10
based on 23 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 6 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game

[Xbox Live Arcade] Switchball challenges players to control an ever-changing ball along a narrow and challenging course suspended in midair. A polymorphous ball exhibits different physical characteristics as it changes form as either a standard Marbleball, a feather-light Airball, an electrically charged Powerball or a dense and powerful Metalball. Players will have to solve their way through challenging levels packed with tricky obstacles, traps and mazes. With beautifully rendered 3D environments including Skyworld, Iceworld, Caveworld, Cloudworld and Lavaworld, Switchcball features an advanced physics engine, allowing players to interact with objects just as they would in the real world. [Sierra Online]

PUBLISHER: Sierra Online
DEVELOPER: Atomic Elbow
GENRE(S): Puzzle
PLAYERS: 2
ESRB RATING: E (Everyone)
RELEASE DATE: November 7, 2007

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

94
Team Xbox
All in all, Switchball is certainly one of the best puzzles games on XBLA, and is definitely the best, um, ball-based puzzle game of all-time. It’s a great looking game, offering a deep single-player mode and plenty of multiplayer options.
Read Full Review
85
Digital Entertainment News
Sure, it's too short, but it's also inexpensive, and it's so fun to play you'll be begging for more. Definitely worth a download!
Read Full Review
85
GameZone
Following the path of Marble Blast Ultra, Switchball delivers a well-chiseled puzzle experience to Xbox 360 owners everywhere. And for only 800 MS points, the experience is completely worth it.
Read Full Review
85
MS Xbox World
If you are into a lot of arcade puzzle games then this is a must have. It’s particularly enjoyable for all games players of all ages, there’s a lot to do and there is a good amount of challenging achievements to work for. So if you’re missing a game like Mercury on the Xbox then this is one to get.
Read Full Review
84
Gamers' Temple
Switchball is a nice blend of cerebral and manual challenge, and is a nice switch from your usual puzzle fare.
Read Full Review
84
IGN
There’s no doubt that Switchball is worth your hard-earned Microsoft Points if you’re into puzzlers. It offers an innovative look at ball-centric XBLA games with its different abilities that stay fresh throughout the five separate environments.
Read Full Review
82
Game Almighty
As far as XBLA games are concerned, this is a rare gem.
Read Full Review
82
Console Gameworld
Despite these minor flaws I found Switchball to be one of the better puzzle games based on rolling a ball around.
Read Full Review
80
AceGamez
A very addictive and innovative gameplay experience awaits anyone willing to part with their precious Microsoft points to purchase Switchball, although a little bit of patience is required with some of the harder levels, which some gamers may find tough to get to grips with.
Read Full Review
80
Jolt Online Gaming UK
With so many fast-paced action games clogging up Xbox Live Arcade, a slower-paced puzzler like Switchball really stands out. As to whether or not that’s a good thing, well it’s really up to you.
Read Full Review
80
Games Radar
Switchball is one of the finer, original Live Arcade titles to grace the service in a while, and is undeniably addicting. Even if you plan to play for just a few minutes at a time, you'll find yourself losing hours to the creative puzzles and intuitive game play.
Read Full Review
80
Official Xbox Magazine
This is the kind of game Xbox Live Arcade was made for. [Holiday 2007, p.73]
Read Full Review
80
Thunderbolt
Switchball is an innovative new take on the traditional marble game, with a plethora of interesting additions to spice up the old formula, and stunning graphics to please the eyes.
Read Full Review
80
Gaming Nexus
Not only is this one of the best puzzle games on the Xbox Live Arcade, but it's also a fantastic looking game with a compelling gimmick.
Read Full Review
78
Game Chronicles
Ultimately, this is a great game and easily worth the $10 you have to sacrifice to land a copy of it.
Read Full Review
75
The Onion (A.V. Club)
The game quickly runs out of maps, but for this budget price, it's an eye-pleasing, patience-testing distraction.
Read Full Review
75
GameSpot
This clever physics-based puzzler is both challenging and addictive.
Read Full Review
70
Video Game Talk
It’s very much geared toward a laid back style of play that’s surprisingly difficult to transition into when playing anything else on the Xbox 360.
Read Full Review
70
EuroGamer
At 800 Microsoft Points which equates to a couple of Big Mac meals and a side of chilli cheese tops, it definitely offers the kind of quality that some say is lacking at the moment at a more than reasonable price. However, do be warned that the game gets insanely difficult half way through and although the multiplayer modes are fun, it's fleeting.
Read Full Review
70
Talk Xbox
All in all, this is a nice addition to the XBLA collection. When you’re ready for some “down” time from the hectic fraggin’, Switchball is a good change of pace.
Read Full Review
61
Game Positive
If you enjoy 3D platform puzzlers, you could do a lot worse than purchase Switchball. However, some of the negative factors in the game can make it an incredibly frustrating experience.
Read Full Review
60
Xbox World 360 Magazine UK
One of the most inventive puzzle games on 360, ported from the PC with little love and attention. [Jan 2008, p.92]
60
X360 Magazine UK
"Marble Madness" with cannons. [Issue 28, p.118]

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this game is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 6 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Nick R. gave it a10:
When it comes to video games, my favorite gimmick is physics. My favorite genre is ball-rolling games. So Switchball almost feels made for me. It's absolutely gorgeous (by far the best looking XBLA game), surprisingly long, very challenging (especially the time trials), and a great value. The puzzles, especially towards the end of the game, are absolutely ingenious. Considering that it's only $10 (compared to the PC version's $20) and has a ton of features the original didn't, including co-op, multiplayer races, and leaderboards, there's no reason not to get it. However, definitely download the demo first; I played through it on an SDTV and had no problems, but some who have played it in HD have complained of tearing from lack of v-sync. It seems to affect people differently depending on their set-ups, so make sure to play the trial version first.

Marvel M. gave it a9:
Good grafics for a live game Extremly good psysics Game play is easy at first but becomes a challange in the end I dig the soundtrack and soundefx are okey.

Discuss this game in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | BOOKS | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

About CNET Networks | Jobs | Advertise | Partnerships                                Visit other CNET Networks sites:

Copyright ©2007 CNET Networks, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use