Exactly what it says on the tin....! (Super Monkey Ball (GC))

Member Name: Cryguy

Product:	Super Monkey Ball (GC)
Date:	02/08/02 (62 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great looking, Tremendous challenge, Different

Disadvantages: Sounds nuts, Variable difficulty

"...and then I said to my mate, 'yeah, this new game I got, I have to roll my monkey who sits in a large glass ball around these huge different neon-coloured levels making sure he doesn't fall off the side and it's really fun', and he just looked at me really weirdly. I don't know why or anything...."

A true conversation I had, (okay, maybe not), but you can understand where I'm coming from of course. Tell somebody about this game and they're likely to admit you hastily to the men in white coats before you can say "but it's for real....". The main game of Super Monkey Ball features your choice of one of four monkeys rolling about in a glass ball in around 100 levels with the overall aim of gaining as many bananas as possible and completing the courses in the shortest time possible. You actually control the movement of each course itself in the main game as opposed to the monkey, and deft movements on the analogue joystick are required not to mention an incredibly steady hand and patient temperament in most cases! Otherwise monkey falls off the sides or ends of the course after one jerky movement too many! The monkeys squeal as they plummet to their death and you can't help feeling just a little guilty as they luckily manage to reincarnate themselves just one more time!

Three levels make up this main single player area, Beginner (10 levels), Advanced (30 levels) and Expert (50 levels) should you make it that far. Apparently there is then another level unlocked should you complete all these 90, but precious few will ever get to see it (what will they call it, Evil level?!) Once you've started an individual course, it becomes available in the Practise Mode whereby if you get stuck on one, you can practise it with no risk to number of lives lost as often as you like. A downside here however, is that upon returning to the main game mode, you have to start that difficulty level from the
beginning again so if you get caught up on, say, number 28 of the 30 Advanced levels, you'll have to play through the 27 previous ones again before you can have another crack at it.

There are party games aside from the main mode, Monkey-Target sees you trying to land your gliding monkey on targets out to sea, Monkey-Fight sees you trying to punch up to three other monkeys off the edge of different arenas, and Monkey-Race sees you rolling around different courses based on real levels in the game using whatever weapons and pick-ups you can find to finish first. Getting a certain amount of points in the main game then also unlocks Monkey-Billiards, Monkey-Bowling and Monkey-Golf.

Super Monkey Ball is ultimately intended for multi-player antics and that is where most fun is to be had. Sure, the one-player modes will keep you occupied for some time - there's something about the game that will have you throwing your joypad at the telly in frustration, but still picking it up again 'cos you're convinced 'one more time' will see you clear that level. Sega brilliance that is. In fact you can even play single-person in the multiplayer modes as you can use monkey 'bots' to make up numbers - not quite as fun though as whapping your mate at Monkey-Golf!

Super Monkey Ball is hard. There simply will not be many people who see all this game has to offer. As much as I love it, I don't expect to myself! Difficulty levels can be random once you get into the Advanced level. One easy course seems to be followed by one inexplicably difficult one, with the next relatively straight forward again. The whole game has such polish though, you will want to persevere with it - hell, even the closing credits of the title have Sega turned into an interactive game! Well recommended.

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