'Ball Blaze' is a sport similar to soccer. You take control of your ball (called "Helions" in this game) and try to hit an inanimate ball into the enemy's goal. In Practice mode, the enemy can be controlled by the CPU or your friends and family, or, more suitably, your enemies. In Tournament mode, your enemy will only be controlled by the CPU. And, in that you're all balls of some sort, there's plenty of bouncing - off walls, enemies, or the ball in play. There are also obstacles that must be avoided or used to your advantage. Unfortunately, the tournament mode is not nearly as long as I feel it should have been. I finished it within fifteen minutes. But don't let that deter you from downloading this game, as 'The Quest' more than makes up for it.

'The Quest' is the heart of BBF. It's a complete arcade game in which you collect minerals and avoid obstacles. You're only allowed to carry a set amount of minerals at a time, though, so you will have to backtrack and deposit them in a teleport more than once before finishing a level. Like any true arcade game, you have a limited number of lives, which you can lose by touching a harmful object or an enemy, falling off a cliff, or getting shot. Every time you get to a new world (every four levels, total of four worlds), you'll be given a password which can be used to start at that place next time you lose all your lives. And you will lose all your lives. Don't be fooled by the first few levels; this game is as tough as nails!

True to its roots, the graphics are very reminiscent of old arcade games: heavily pixelated, but very colorful. In each mode, there are four different background themes (one for each world). Everything looks like it should. Sound is available, but I never listen to the sound anyway, and I have a tendency to lower my rating if I do, so I didn't.

Yes, BBF has a story. But BBF is an arcade game, and like most arcade games, the story is terribly unimportant. Nevertheless, I feel I should briefly explain it: you are these things called 'Helions'. Helions are creatures that live in a different dimension called 'The Source,' though they are able to visit other dimensions if they please. They play a sport called 'Ball Blaze' in their free time. When they're not playing that sport, they're collecting minerals called 'The Life Force'. 'The Life' Force' is vital to their survival as it lengthens their life span and helps them enter new dimensions.

The Bottom Line: In short, Ball Blazing Fantasy is a great arcade game, especially for fans of "Marble Madness" and the similar games. If a little more time and effort was put into the 'Ball Blaze' mode and a few bugs were touched up, this game could easily attain a 10/10 score.

If you plan on playing the game on Win 2000/XP or using sound, please pay attention to the author's notes below:

The strategy I mentioned comes in the form of "Which is more dangerous, the soccer ball or the beach ball, which should I eliminate first?" and "Should I take out all the big balls first and be left with alot of little ones, or take out one big one and it's little ones, one at a time". Nothing mind numbing, but still not as brainless as some shooters. The graphics are very nice and all the balls and your character are in 3D. The balls look very nice, particularly because of the nice 3D look when they rotate. Everything else is good, but nothing worth mentioning specifically. Same for the sound. The author says there are 30 levels, but admittedly I did not get that far (yet). So it should keep you busy for a while.