In Ambrosia Software’s GooBall, you’re the Goober—a many-eyed alien blob encased in a gooey ball of slime. That slime serves as both propulsion and protection as you collect points and wend your way through mazes on platforms floating high in the air. Cartoonish and colorful, GooBall is a fast-paced and vertigo-inducing thrill ride.
You’re not all goo. At the click of a button, you can change the composition of your goo ball from sticky to hard and back again—making it easier to jump, circumambulate, and even climb walls. This is useful because your goals—gems, aliens, and the like—are often just out of reach. Some platforms are separated by a distance that can be traversed only by building up momentum and timing your jump just right. Luckily, you can switch to sticky mode midflight to recover from a badly judged trajectory.
GooBall takes you through six worlds, each more difficult than the last. To play, you’ll need a G3 running OS X 10.3 or later. The game lets you choose your system settings, including resolution, volume, windowed mode, and difficulty. However, even owners of new Macs may notice sluggish performance when playing at high resolutions with all the graphics settings turned up.
The Bottom Line
GooBall is an interesting twist on the classic rolling-marble platform game—and quite a lot of fun. But don’t expect to get top-notch graphics and speedy performance.