Switchball hit the Playstation Network at the best time it could: when nothing else is really coming out. Coincidentally this works as a nice summary of the game's funability, which is a made up word but at this point I'm willing to do just about anything I can do to entertain myself. It may have been an interesting downloadable game when it came out on XBLA two years ago, but there's plenty more to mess around with and not lose interest in so quickly. But can two years really make such a big difference?
On first impression Switchball is pretty pleasing. It's a looker, the physics engine is dead on, and it plays pretty well. Atomic Elbow even incorporated the Sixaxis controller's motion control which can be toggled on or off—although the only time you'll ever turn it on will immediately show you why it's defaulted to off. The music is even kind of charming, but only "kind of". No, Switchball's problem is that it's incredibly lame. For something that prides itself on taking an arcade approach and rewarding players for speedily completing each level, nearly everything the game does feels like it's being played in ironic slow motion. I shouldn't be excited at the idea of falling from a ledge for half a second.
For this reason, Switchball is more of a Marble Madness game than the hyper-sensitive arcade style of Super Monkey Ball, and that isn't winning me over. The art design of the game furthers it's mundane feel by helping you feel like you're playing inside some 3D short film from the mid 90's, which is where the initially pleasing music starts to overstay its welcome by only complimenting this unpleasant vibe. It's obviously a puzzle game, and still not a very fun one. Most puzzles are arbitrary and laid out in a linear fashion with the only difficulties coming from interacting alongside the game's literal physics engine.
Obviously this will be a game that separates people based on a matter of taste; those who call it relaxing, and the others who will be bored within a couple of levels. Heck, it's not even saved by multiplayer, which (when it's possible to actually find one online) is at least where I would have expected to come up with some interesting things to do with the game. Don't feel obligated to call it anything more than a distraction from whatever you've been playing.
