Throughout development, he was frequently impeded by limitations in technology and had to forgo several design ideas. Cerny applied a minimalist approach in designing the appearance of the game's courses and enemies. He aimed to create a game that offered a distinct experience with a unique control system. In designing the game, Cerny drew inspiration from miniature golf, racing games, and artwork by M. Marble Madness is known for using innovative game technologies: it was Atari's first to use the Atari System 1 hardware, the first to be programmed in the C programming language, and one of the first to use true stereo sound (previous games used either monaural sound or simulated stereo). The player controls the marble by using a trackball. It is a platform game in which the player must guide a marble through six courses, populated with obstacles and enemies, within a time limit. Marble Madness is an arcade video game designed by Mark Cerny and published by Atari Games Inc.