Neverball Download

• Developer: Robert Kooima
• Genre: Arcade
• Works On: Windows 95-98, Windows XP

Reviews

Moshboy
Neverball is quite simply one of the best freeware games I have ever played. Not only is it an original, but it is a stunningly addictive and frustrating masterpiece. The game sounds so simple but be warned. This is one of the most challenging games you will ever play.
You control a ball on a 3d playing field. Your aim is to collect a certain amount of coins and reach the exit within a time limit. You control the ball with your mouse. But here's the evil twist that will eventually make your eyes roll in their sockets with frustration: you do not just simply roll the ball around with your mouse. Instead of the traditional way of controlling the ball in ball games such as this, you can tilt the playing field in any direction by moving your mouse. In turn, the ball moves accordingly, depending on how far you tilted the landscape.
You will not understand until you have actually downloaded and played this, just how refreshing it makes the game play feel. It is by all means, just as frustrating as it is fun. Those up for a decent challenge will have a ball with this. There are a decent amount of levels to wade through, with varying difficulty and for the most part, they are extremely well designed. For every easy level, there is always another level lurking around the next corner that is incredibly challenging.
The graphics are a knockout with beautifully rendered 3d landscapes and objects, although unfortunately this means that the minimum specs on this game are going to be a little bit high for some freeware fans out there. The sound is decent, although maybe not quite as impressive as the graphics, with some decent speech samples and a soundtrack that becomes relatively monotonous after a while.
There are not too many games I would recommend as much as this one. It sets new heights for freeware games everywhere to compete with. Highly recommended for almost anyone, except people who suffer motion sickness.
The DJ
Neverball uses the simple concept of rolling a ball around while picking up coins exiting. At first this seems like it would make for boring gameplay, but that changes entirely once you start playing it. The game is absolutely never get "from point a to point b" simple. Once you throw in stuff like gates, jumps, and halfpipes it gets to the point where you start thinking that this is just an awesome game.
As a warning to all people who play this game, I would like to tell everyone how hard this game is -- hard enough to scream like a 4-year-old. This is not for people who don't play a lot of games because it will take you forever to get past the first four or five levels. For the most part, this is for gaming veterans only.
Aside from that, this game is a gem. This is something that I would like to see an arcade version of. You could work wonders in this game if you could have a built in joystick. It would make the game easier because the mouse control is very difficult to learn how to use. It took me about two hours to get the hang of it. Fortunately, the game provides levels that will help you learn how to use everything and master the controls.
Overall, I think that this game is good enough to deserve a sequel. However there is one thing that really holds the game back: dull music. the music that the game has gives it a droning on feeling. Most of the time I will end up playing the game without any sound. I know that the designers had to make the music fit the theme of the game, but it just did not come out right. It needs more music and music with a bit more spice to it.
My rating: 9.5 out of 10
It would have been a perfect ten with better music.
Neville
As much as I enjoy real tilt-and-roll games, this seems like it would have been fun. But unfortunately, in my first play, the ball movements seemed to have nothing to do with my mouse actions, and the display was skipping and the camera vantage seemed to have no consistency.
So, I dropped the resolution and graphic detail as low as possible, and then found it was consuming all of perhaps 10% of my CPU. So that wasn't the crux of the problem.
Still, gameplay was very non-intuitive:
Q: Does left mouse mean tilt left as the camera looks, or what it meant before the camera moved 180?
Q: Is it mouse position or mouse movement that counts?
Q: Why does it show a close-up of the ball, but not the whole table?
In all, if there was (1) variable mouse/joystick sensitivity, (2) a simple tutorial to show how movements correlate to game play, and (3) a wide-angle view with no camera movements, then it might be worth the download.
Aerofoxx
Neverball is a game that sports playability and sleekness together to create a unique gameplay experience. There is even another game in it:
Neverputt. Neverball even has three difficulties, all with there own stages!
BUT, indirectly controlling the ball by controlling the enviroment is INFINITELY easier said than done and that's not mention collecting enough coins to enter the next stage. Once the easier stages are complete, the
REALLY difficult stages begin! The game also needs a decent computer so if you have slow one, don't even think about it. In the end, if you meet all the requirments (good PC, easy temper and patience - LOTS of patience) then you may find this game extremely fun.
Dan
You will need a more powerful computer for this professionally made freeware game, if you don't want it to skip or lag. I would also recommend you use an optical mouse.
The graphics and colors are very eye-catching; a beautifully made game. I do not recommend this game to people who easily get motion-sick. Eventually you'll get more experience with the controls and it will get easier, however the levels only get harder. There are plenty of levels to give you hours and hours of gameplay.
Energywalker
Remember those wooden boxes that you move the marble through? I thought I was good with a mouse. This game takes mouse skill to the next level and beyond. At times I wish it was easier. The higher levels do become more like hard work rather than fun, which is like turning the music off at a party. It simply stops being fun. Overall, the challenge is worth it. You do need a decent computer for this game.
Anonymous
This is by far one of the greatest "Ball Rolling" games I have ever played. The gameplay is simple, all that you do is use the mouse or the arrowkeys to move a ball around the playing feild. But then when you add in time and coins, this becomes one of the most frustrating and addicting games ever.