Marble Sequel Gets Name Change

When Kororinpa: Marble Mania debuted on the Wii in 2007, many hoped it would be as good as the NES classic, Marble Madness. Overall, Kororinpa was not a bad game, despite being a bit shallow.

Konami announced a few months ago that a sequel was set to hit the Wii in mid 2009. Now, that title is undergoing a name change for Europe. The game will be called, Marbles! Balance Challenge in Europe, and will keep its original title, Marble Saga: Kororinpa in the US.

First of all, I think marbles are worthy of being exclamationized. I mean, they are bright and colorful, and fully deserving of such prestige punctuation. But I would think Konami would want to have some sort of name recognition to the first title. Then again, I'm really not sure what a "kororinpa" is in the first place.

In Marbles! Balance Challenge, you guide a marble through different stages in order to get to the course goal. Using the Wii Remote flat, you gently tilt your way through different obstacles. New in the sequel, is full Balance Board compatibility. The game also includes more of a story mode that centers around helping a new ant character. Hopefully a new story, new environments and a new control option will help make this game more of a success than it's predecessor.

Marbles! Balance Challenge aka Marble Saga: Kororinpa, should release later this year in the US, and on May 1 in Europe.