Anyone remember "Thrust" and "Asteroids"? They were great, although simple to understand. The entire essence of the games were based upon gravity. Indeed, many university essays were scribed discussing the finer points of a small rocket’s trajectory over a small screen while attempting a difficult task. Most people who remember it would agree when someone demands a modern day version of Thrust. They would all think it’s a good thing. They would all be wrong…

Balls Up is basically Thrust, but with knobs on (Any jokes about Knobs and Balls should be made by you at this point. I can see the joke worthy material that I have written, it’s just too easy to be funny)
The main aim of Balls Up is to get your little rocket to the goal circle thing as quickly as possible without hitting anything that will destroy the ship. To make things harder, doors are put in the way, and you can only open them by dropping your balls (Ahem) into the right coloured bucket. The door opens, and you can go. That’s it. No really, that is it. Short objectives list, isn’t it.
Oh yeah, and there’s gravity, forcing you downwards into walls. Mustn’t forget that. The balls are connected to your craft by a strange elastic beam thing, allowing you to drag your balls wherever you want them. They are following the rules of gravity too, meaning that they roll down hills, launch themselves in the air, fall down, and when attached to your craft, you can swing them like a pendulum and release at the right time for it to hurtle in the direction you want it, like a sideways bucket, or a long canal. Top notch gravity maths at work here. Sadly it is the only good thing about the game.
The premise is a little flat in terms of content. There is no "Story", and no decent puzzles either. Everything is "Take Ball A to Lock B to Navigate Door R Near Exit Z", which gets repetitive after a while, no matter how many variations you throw at it.

The entire look of the game says the word "Unprofessional". The game is technically in 3D, as in everything is rendered and has depth, but it is a strictly 2D game, and thus the 3D is almost pointless. All the objects are plainly made, with little or no imagination used to make it interesting. Everything is distinguishable by colour alone (e.g. Blue Ball, Red Bucket, Green Ball, Orange Bad Thing, White Fan, Evil Dark Grey Wall, Yellow and Black Exit), with hardly any difference in construction between similar items bar it’s colour. Simply made objects floating about the place with no alterations between twins.
The severe lack of music in the game forces one to focus on it’s sound effects. Not good. Not good at all. The "Bumper Book of Budget Sound Effects" must have been read, as the effects (although few), are crap. A monkey with a microphone could do better than the pathetic whimpering thrusting and "Elastic beam holding device on" noises we are subjected to.

This game is not really a game. It is an example in physics that an aspiring game developer uses to get his foot in the door to the games industry. Do not pay for this ex-CV material. Just get an emulator and play the originals, not this poor excuse for a software title.

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