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In an age before video games, kids used to gather around the playground and shoot marbles to add to their collection of color glass gems. Today the closest thing you get is on a TV screen trying to roll said marbles from point A to point B with nothing to collect except completing a level in the shortest amount of time. Games like Marble Madness have laid the benchmark for games like Super Monkey Ball and Hudson's latest offering on the Wii, Kororinpa: Marble Mania. Much like the Monkey Ball series, you start with your marble at a starting point and try to make its way around of mazes to reach a goal point. Yes, the premise is simple, but can be fun while it lasts.

Kororinpa isn't what you would call a game that will set any visual achievements, but it does look good enough to keep it interesting. The maze designs are varied, the backdrops keep the game from looking bland, but it's hard to call this game gorgeous by any means.

The gameplay itself is Kororinpa's strong point. Even with the Wii controller, it will only take a few passes through a maze to really get the hang of the motion sensor controls. This is a good thing considering a game that requires such precision and skill would be dead in the water with wonky controls. Just a few twists of the wrist and a steady hand are all it takes to be a winner here.

In Kororinpa, the maze designs range from the fairly simple, to complex, but none really get to the point of frustration. Even after 40 missions, you still are wanting more. For veterans of this brand of entertainment, you will pass through this game in a couple of hours with only better times as your replay value. Even gamers just getting familiar with the Wii shouldn't find completing this title too unbearable in a matter of hours. The multiplayer mode is just the arcade game and you try to race to the finish before your opponent. I understand that the Wii hasn't established their servers yet for online play, but with the Wii 24 connect you would hope for some downloadable levels or something to add a bit more bang for your buck, but alas what you see is what you get.

If this game were a budget title, I could see investing in it if you were a huge fan of this style of game play, but due to the 40-dollar price tag and short game play experience, I can hardly recommend anyone to rush out and buy it. Once the game reaches a 20-dollar price tag, by all means, it is worth having in your collection, but until then, maybe you should just stick to playing Monkey Ball while you wait.