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WHAT IS THE
DEAL WITH THESE MONKEYS? WHERE DO THEY COME FROM?
SUPER
MONKEY BALL
Written By Shaun McCracken
Super Monkey Ball. What a concept for a game! I mean really, monkeys in
a ball? But as obscure as this concept is, Monkey Ball is really about
classic arcade game play with a twist. Once you play, it may seem like
you may have done this before, perhaps back in 1984's Marble Madness.
But Monkey Ball is longer and much deeper than the arcade classic. A
launch title for the GCN, Monkey Ball looked like a game that would
appeal to a select few. But you would be wrong. As one of the Cube's
earliest big sellers, Sega's arcade port provided more that a 30-minute
experience. With so many single-player and multiplayer modes, Super
Monkey Ball stands as one of Gamecube's highest replay value titles.
There is just so much to do!
Monkey Ball's main premise is actually very simple. If you've ever
played Marble Madness, or the wooden Labrynith games (which is how this
controls), then you know it's all about going from start to finish in
complex mazes. But Monkey Ball takes this a step further. The early
courses are pretty easy, but then paths start to narrow, parts of the
course move and even knock you off. In later stages, Monkey Ball starts
becoming less fun and more of an infuriating addiction. You scream and
swear every time you lose to the point of extreme hatred, and yet, you
can't stop playing. And just when you think a course is damn-near
impossible, you complete it by a stroke of luck and move on. And every
course IS passable.
But the Main Game is only half the fun. The other half lies within the
mini-games that you can play and unlock. You can partake in racing
events, fighting, hang gliding, bowling, billiards and golfing. And
best of all, you can do this alone or with friends. Nothing is reserved
only for multiple players, everything is open. While all have their
certain charm, some stand out as really good games. Monkey Target and
Monkey Bowling turn out to be the most addictive, because it's the most
fun. Monkey race has you going around a course and, what else, race.
It's nice, but a little limited. Monkey Fight is just as it says, you
fight. Knock off other opponents on three different boards. It's ok,
but lacks much depth. Monkey Target is one of the best games. It's a
mixture of hang gliding and target practice, but the mix of the two
proves to be challenging. Monkey Billiards is basically pool. A nice
looking table and surroundings, but is fairly limited. It's also kind
of hard. Monkey Bowling is also one of the best. Other than the aiming,
bowling is actually a very accurate game with realistic sound effects.
Monkey Golf is the hardest. It's miniature golf, but so much harder.
Too many places to fall later on. You'll find what you're looking for
in at least one of these games.
The graphics is not a showcase for the GCN's power. A game that could
have been easily done on the Dreamcast, Monkey Ball offers a smooth 60
frames of animation but with not much detail. But as funny as it seems,
the GCN version looks a lot better than the bare-bones arcade version.
There's actually more detail in the home version than the arcade
version. But at least everything looks sharp and looks really smooth.
So Sega did the most they could with what little they had.
Sega is known for odd music. It doesn't matter what game they do or
did, from Daytona USA to Sega GT to Sonic Adventure, Sega has had some
weird or awkward music that goes into their games. It's way too
Japaneesy, it's very very pop. And Monkey Ball is no different. The
music is mainly upbeat in the Main Game, and not too bad, but then get
to the Monkey Bowling and it sounds like a really awful rendition of
one of Micheal Jackson's songs of the early 80's. It's pretty hit and
miss. And the monkeys are annoying as hell. And YOU CAN'T TURN THEM
OFF. So you have to tolerate it or turn off the sound altogether. It's
not the most impressive sound package, but in a game like this, what do
you really expect.
The control is actually pretty easy to get the hang of and really
really easy to remember. The only thing you need to know is that the
stick moves the ball. That's it. Some game modes make you use A, but
really, that's it. Probably the simplest control scheme ever devised.
Controlling the ball is pretty tight and accurate, but on the narrowest
of parts, it seems impossible to make it across. But that may be me. I
don't have a really steady thumb.
Super Monkey Ball is a very addictive game with so many options to
satiate your gaming needs for quite a bit of time. Just be prepared to
deal with a high level of frustration.
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Published
By :
SEGA
Developed
By:
AV
Year Published :
2001
Players :
1-4
ESRB Rating:
EVERYONE
OVERALL
SCORE
8.8
VISUALS |
8.1 |
AUDIO |
7.7 |
GAMEPLAY |
9.1 |
REPLAY
VALUE |
9.4 |
INNOVATION |
8.8 |
It's simple and addictive, but it can also be tough as hell.
Marble
Madness
Super
Monkey Ball 2
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