Touch My Monkey Balls! (Super Monkey Ball Touch (DS))

Member Name: Recon

Product:	Super Monkey Ball Touch (DS)
Date:	28/01/08 (114 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Colourful, Fun, Mini-Games

Disadvantages: Low replay value, No storyline, Nothing special

This game was released on the 17th February 2006. It is exclusive to the Nintendo DS, and makes good use of the touch screen, which is used to control your monkeys! Along with 100 challenges, 50 of which are new and exclusive to the DS, there are also six mini-games, and the opportunity for wireless play too. This game is much fun, but can also be really frustrating as you can imagine. It is based on the classic idea of Super Monkey Ball games, where you have to guide a monkey in a ball around a course to the finish line. Sounds easy eh? Think again. The levels get insanely hard with moving interactions, narrow roads and more that can make you fall off. The idea is to get to the end without falling off the level.

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Story
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Not much of a story at all really. It is more like one of those games where you are chucked into situations and just have to complete them. There is no storyline at all. There are no cut scenes or anything that could be interpreted into a story. The idea of the game is to complete each 'world', which there are ten of. In each world there are ten levels, one of which is a bonus level to collect bananas, which mean points.

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Controls
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You can either use the stylus or the D-Pad to control your monkey. The controls are simple, and I much prefer using the stylus as it gives you more control over the monkeys, because the game requires precision and accuracy or you won't get through the levels without falling off. By using the stylus, you simply push towards the top of the touch screen to increase the speed of your monkey, and hold back to reduce the speed. To turn, you push to either the left or right side of the screen to turn left or right respectively. If you choose to use the D-Pad, which I would not recommend, forward is the top button, backward is the bottom button and left and right are obvious. The controls have to be the simplest controls in any game really. These are the only controls you will need to know, as all it is about is moving around. To navigate through the menus, you can either tap with your stylus or use the D-Pad and A button, which is simple enough. When playing one of the mini-games (the race one), you can pick up power-ups. To use them, you simply tap the corresponding button on the D-Pad, as your power-ups are assigned to a certain D-Pad button.

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Gameplay
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The gameplay is pretty fun on a whole, although it can get boring after a while and if you are skilled at the game, it won't take long to complete. However, there are other aspects to the game such as the mini-games and wireless play. The levels can get really hard to get round, and you only have 10 lives per game. For example, in one world, you have 10 lives to get through all the 10 levels in one go. However, bananas are along the road in each level if you dare to get them, as some are in tricky places. Once you grab 10 bananas, you gain an extra life. Couldn't be simpler, it's all about 10! The gameplay is reasonably stimulating but can be frustrating too. It can be very hard to control your monkey to get over some of the really hard levels. Some are just really hard to get over, and this is what makes the game a bit better, rather than easy. There are a few levels in different worlds shaped as a circle with a decreasing diameter as you go round it towards the centre. Some of these are really hard, as not only do you have to gradually slow down to turn more, but they are also sloped in different parts at different angles, making it difficult to reach the finish without falling off.

Other levels include ones with interactive objects that may knock you flying off the level, or they may bring you to the other side. For example, one level called 'Free Ride' has a kind of trolley that you simply bored, and it takes you across to the other side. However, with no walls and a moving trolley, it can be hard to stay on. Another example is like the swinging ball toy you get, where marbles on the end of rods are lined up and you lift one up at one end to let go so it sends a vibration through the resting marbles it hits to make the one at the other end go up to the same height...physics, I was never good at it. Anyway, on this level, you have to get onto one part of the pendulum that swings, and the second part beside will fall and hit the platform you are on, sending it flying in the air. It is very tricky, but what you have to do is make a quick switch to the pendulum that has just come down, before you go flying off yours. It really is difficult as you could imagine, and a pain to complete, requiring perfect timing and skill. I normally lose all my lives on one level has hard as this, making completing the worlds quite hard indeed!

There are six mini-games with various options to keep you going:

Monkey Race - Here you can race against the computers, with 6 different tracks and the choice of one course, a Grand Prix or a time trial. You pick up power-ups along the way to knock out your opponents and to give you a better chance at catching up, or tripping those up behind you!

Monkey Fight - This is a pretty fun game, where you are in charge of a big boxing glove attached to your monkey ball, and you have to knock the others off the level, with various power-ups that you can pick up. It is played from a birds-eye view.

Monkey Bowling - You can do the standard mode, just like any bowling game, or you can do the challenge mode where you have to complete different bowls by knocking over certain pins, which I can never do.

Monkey Hockey - You can choose the line smasher version or the Classic version. In the line smasher game, you draw your own line with the stylus, which you use to hit the putter. In the classic version, you are given a standard putter which you use in defence of your goal. It's like that game you get at the arcade.

Monkey Wars - This one is my favourite. You walk around in your ball, picking up extra weapons as you go. You then tap the screen to fire your weapon, and literally beat the living hell out of the other monkeys, gaining points for hits and kills. There are some fun weapons to use like watermelons which fire really fast. It's like a kid's version of Halo.

Monkey Mini-Golf - You can do the standard 18 hole course, or choose to do 9 holes. You can also do time attack, where it records the time it takes for you to complete every hole. It will also take into account your score.

All of the mini-games have scoreboards in one section of them. This way, you can keep track of your best scores.

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Sound
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The music in the game is actually to my liking. Each world has a different theme, and therefore a different theme of music too. However, going through each level in the same world doesn't change the music, but I wouldn't expect this anyway. The songs are quite basic, but some are catchy too, perfect for the game. The music has a very bright and jumpy feeling to it, which is emphasised by all the vivid colours and 'dings' when you are clicking through the menus. The menu music is really repetitive, as it plays the same music throughout all the menus, which lasts about 10 seconds and is then repeated. When you are in the menus for a long time scrolling around, it can really do your head in, with the frustrating bonus of the 'dings'. The monkeys also make noises, which can do your head in, as they just sound annoying. I think it is fair to say that this game is designed for the younger ones.

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Graphics
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There is nothing wrong with the Graphics. They are pretty good for a Nintendo DS game. Each level has either a picture in the background that looks alright, or some kind of moving background to put you in an atmosphere, such as a storm. The sound and colours all suit the Graphics and look of each world. The Graphics are of good quality due to the simple shapes and designs of the levels, which allows the graphics to be enhanced to a higher level. Overall, they are not great, but much better than other games I have seen.

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Replay value
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The replay value for a game such as this is low. Although there is a lot to do, you will only have a good go at it for a month perhaps, and then it will be shut away in your bedside draw. However, despite having thought this even when I bought the game, it turned out I played it randomly a few times after my main addiction to the game. There were a few levels that I missed playing, and then you get carried away once you switch it on, as it can be quite addicting. Overall, the replay value isn't bad - it is better than I imagined.

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Other features
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You can do wireless play with a friend. They do not need to have the game cartridge, so you can play with just one copy of the game. Together, you can play some of the mini-games. It does not have wi-fi connection, so you cannot play online unfortunately. You can also record your runs on different levels by hitting the camera icon in the corner of the screen at the end of a level. This way, you can record those completions of the really hard levels to watch in months to come to remind you of the good times. Even if you complete a level really fluky, it is best to just record it and save it to the game. You can only record a maximum of 8 replays to save them to the game, but it is a good bonus feature.

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Final Score
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Story: 1/10
Controls: 9/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Sound: 6/10
Graphics: 6/10
Replay value: 5/10

Overall: 5.6/10


With 5.6/10 as a final score, I would not recommend it to anyone unless they have younger children, which it may be to the liking of. This game is designed for younger ones, but can still provide a good bit of fun for the older generation.
- Available at Amazon.co.uk for £14.47 and in offline shops for around £19.99

Thanks for reading and rating! Comments appreciated as always.

- Recon -

Summary: A good game for the little ones, but a bore for the more mature gamers.