There’s something gutsy about Madballs in Babo Invasion. Released amidst a plethora of big hitting, sure to sell arcade titles such as Marvel vs Capcom 2 and Battlefield 1943, it’s a bold move by PlayBrains to deploy their product at this time. It’s even bolder when you consider the license spews from the loins of 1980s mediocrity, as the Madballs world has rarely been praised lavishly enough to kick-start a triumphant return into the limelight. Fortunately, PlayBrains saw beyond the grotesque exterior of the spherical freaks, employing them to act as the (insanely repulsive) face of their debut downloadable title.

Luckily, true beauty comes from within (apparently), as the developers prove even the ugliest duckling can swim with the best. Madballs in Babo Invasion’s lack of aesthetic splendour doesn’t diminish what is actually a very solid and enjoyable product. Looking beyond the bland corridors and murky shades of brown that surround your rolling hero there’s plenty of entertainment to be uncovered. While 3D (or isometric, depending on your preference) dual-stick shooters aren’t uncommon on Xbox Live, it’s Madballs’ tendency to mix and match successful elements from other games that make it fun to play.

With a control scheme easy enough for a toddler to understand, the basic training session acts more as an introduction to the tinge of humour and outrageousness that drives the narrative. While we appreciated the premise of being told to attack an alien base and defend our own via an extremely shouty commander, the text dialogue is understandably aimed towards the younger generation of players, such is the emphasis on capital letters and exclamation marks. Adults will find the odd slither of humour that’ll make them grin, but other than that, it’s childish laughs all the way.

Once deployed into the single player campaign it won’t take long to acknowledge that this title isn’t going to stray too far from the simple formula established in the tutorial. You’ll often have to manoeuvre across tight bridges and overpasses, progressing from a cramped space into an open area where the conflicts take place. When approaching such a clash you’ll often need to find strategic positions within the battlefield to ensure you’re not overwhelmed by an onslaught of fire from the much bigger, deadlier looking balls. As with recent downloadable title Burn Zombie Burn, the ease of moving your character around the screen while eliminating the impending threat ensures the game is frantically fast-paced and undeniably satisfying, especially once you’ve cleared the each wave and moved past the next checkpoint.

Throughout each level you’ll reach areas of sanctuary where you can opt for a new character, regain health or change weapons. As you only carry two at a time it’s vital that you quickly find which is your preferred tool for disposing the limb-lacking weirdoes that want to fight. Each character also has a special ability, be it a speed boost or devastating electric burst; it’s your choice to get the balance that suits your offence. I often opted for the classic SMG (or Stitcher as it’s known here), rather than the Halo styled Beamer rifle, as the spraying of bullets provided a ceaseless and traditional thud towards the enemy. Once enough points have been gained however, you’ll drop these classic weapons in an instant, opting for the hugely more entertaining Butcher and, sometimes the Ruptor. While the former acts as a dual-wielding set of mechanical arms, the latter launches spinning blades at whoever is silly enough to get in the way. It’s great to feel the difference between each form of attack, as the Butcher has so much recoil that it’s literally impossible to move forward when firing. Throw in a selection of grenades, Molotov cocktails and other explosive launchers, and you have yourself a quirky set of entertaining ball-breakers.

With the aforementioned arsenal in place, we’re lucky that PlayBrains have produced a set of enemies that we want to slay with haste. Throughout your quest you’ll come across types suffering with elemental weaknesses (of which you should exploit), robotic guards and the usual abundance of drones to blast through. There are also some planet-sized bosses to defeat, most of which spew silly quips at your egg-sized soldier below. If you’ve ever wanted to see a giant ball of lava quoting Elvis whilst being a shot with a laser gun, then this title is for you.

For those wanting to take the world of Madballs into the online arena, there’s a substantial multiplayer mode here. Four-player co-op allows you and a team of ballers to tackle enemies together, but the true genius comes from the competitive games. Alongside the normal skirmish and team skirmish modes, the developers have thought outside the box, bringing an avatar-based face off and “Invasion” mode. This tasks both teams with building a quick base, and then forces them to attack their enemy’s personalised creation. This is superb fun, and really shows how PlayBrains weren’t satisfied to throw in the usual modes we have all played so many times. If that’s not enough, the avatar matches are hilarious, as you’re on-screen persona is placed into a special limb-removing machine before popping out as a head with guns attached. Seeing your avatar as a Madball is awesome, and definitely adds a tinge of originality to spice up the monstrosities you would have got used to playing with already.

Going back to Madballs’ timing, it seems that gutsy move had paid off. At only 800 MS points, there’s a remarkably complete and established game to play through, especially if you have your eyes set on some online competition. They may be ugly, as charming as a singing Cliff Richard birthday card and largely unknown to the younger gamers of today, but the Madballs world sits comfortably on this dual-stick shooter. A great addition to the arcade, Madballs in Babo Invasion launches what looks like the best summer yet for downloadable goodness.

Grade: B+