If nothing else, how Marble Madness made it to these 8-bit computers, and what it did when it got there, is a fascinating story. Instead of Mindscape or Tengen, the usual companies responsible for bringing Atari Games' arcade games home, Marble Madness was licensed and ported by Electronic Arts. The Apple II and Commodore 64 versions were then programmed by Will Harvey. Harvey, like original Marble Madness designer Mark Cerny, achieved success early in life, starting work on the famous Music Construction Set when only 15 years old. Marble Madness was his next commercial project, finished and released well before his 21st birthday.
When looking at each version by itself, Apple II and Commodore 64 Marble Madness seem like fair representations of the arcade game. Each is a little slow, especially the Apple II version, but they look about as good as one could expect, and they play decently, even if the game physics are obviously stripped down. Sound could have been better, especially on the Commodore 64, and there are fewer enemies to challenge, but overall each port comes off as "good enough."
When comparing these two releases to each other, however, it becomes obvious how much work was recycled between the two, and it seems both could have been much better if code had been written more specifically for each system, instead of written to be shared as much as possible. With the Apple II's greater memory (128kB is required to play Marble Madness), perhaps that version could have had a better physics engine. With the Commodore 64's better support for scrolling and animation, perhaps that release could have played a little faster. The Commodore 64 definitely could have had better music, instead of tunes that sound like they were plunked out by someone just learning the piano.
An interesting Easter Egg hidden in the first race, exclusive to these two ports, proves that at least a little thought went into their production. But the rest of each game really suffers from the compromise. Players who have only an Apple II or a Commodore 64 can make do, but there are much better versions available on other systems, ones that didn't have to share their work.