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![review](https://bluestormvg.tripod.com/images/review.gif)
I COULD
MAKE A CRUDE JOKE ABOUT BALLS, BUT WHY?
SUPER
MONKEY BALL 2
Written By Shaun McCracken
Less than a year after the U.S. debut, Super Monkey Ball returns, and
this time there's more stages, modes and party games to keep you and
your friends satisfied for weeks, even months to come. If you're not
familiar with the Monkey Ball game/formula, it's actually quite simple.
You play as a monkey encapsulated in a sphere and try to navigate crazy
and sometimes ridiculous puzzles that are much like Marble Madness.
Except here, it's not isometric, and you move the board instead of the
ball. If this sounds complicated, it's not. In fact, the game is very
easy to get into. Putting it down, well that's another story.
This time around, MB2 has a plot of sorts. For the main game, anyway. A
new enemy named Dr. Bad Boon has come to AiAi's island, and has stolen
all his bananas to make them taste like curry, or something like that.
In a game like this, story is one thing you don't think of. In between
the stages, you see cinematics of AiAi and his friends going against
Bad Boon and chanting ridiculous phrases such as "Let Us Cooperate".
When they say that, it makes it seem like there was such an antimocity
towards each other before that they almost pray to God they work
together. But that probably has to do with poor translation. Unless
there's a point where AiAi screams "Bitch, I'm gonna cut you!", the
phrase makes no sense. And Ei-Ei-Poo, what's the deal with that? It's a
spell, but is never used. I played through the story mode 3 times, and
still do not understand what the spell means.
Now there's a good segue, let's talk about the story mode, which is a
big part of the game. Instead of going for the traditional arcade mode
that was done in the first MB, Amusement Vision has devised a story
mode that is broken down into 10 stages with 10 levels. Right there,
you get 100 puzzles. They take place in different settings such as a
washing machine, a clock tower and a amusement park, just to name a
few. And if you're worried that there is no traditional arcade mode
like I was at first, it's still there. I didn't know it was there until
I found out it was labeled "Competition Mode". There, you can go for
the Easy, Advanced and Hard modes, just like in the past. But here's an
added bonus: you can adjust how many lives you get instead of only
getting 3. You'll unlock a feature to get extra lives later on with
your play points, so you may want to wait until you tackle the hard
stages. Also, there are additional stages in the Competition Mode not
seen in the story mode. Sega claims there are 150 stages, and that
sounds about right. I didn't stop to count them all.
After you get sick of the stages, you can move on to the party games.
Now we have some new games added on to the old favorites of the first.
There's still Racing, Bowling, Target, Golf, Pool and Fight. But now
there's Tennis, Soccer, Shot, Boat, Baseball and Dogfight. The older
games have new features and changed level designs, so it still feels
fresh. Most of the games are self explanatory by their titles, but I
will go into a few. Target is where you launch yourself off a ramp, fly
in the air then try to land properly on a target below for points. Shot
is kind of like Virtua Cop without a gun, or real violence. You are
pretty much on rails, and shoot anything that comes up. Dogfight is
where you fly around and try to soot each other down. It's like a mix
of StarFox and Ace Combat, but very simplified. All are great
additions, and some make great games on their own. I do think that
there are some weak offerings. Boat is one that is probably the
weakest, since there's only 3 courses and has a difficult to grasp
control scheme. Baseball didn't wow me over as well. It's all about
preference.
Graphically, the game does look sharper than the first installment. It
still has a simple look, but there's more to look at here. I did find
some stages to be distracting, however. Notably, the Clock Tower.
There's so many moving parts in the background, that I found myself
looking off to the side than paying attention to the game. It's good to
have some visual depth, but to the point where it throws you off can be
a problem, at least until you get used to the stage. The game still
runs at 60 fps, except for one stage. I found that the stage "Switches"
slows down, and I think it's because of the fog and buttons that all
have a function. That was the only stage that slowed down, so that's
not bad. Even the multiplayer modes hold the frame rate up well.
The sound is average. The music can be both good or bad, depending on
what you like. The problem is that most songs run in 1 minute loops,
and you'll be on one stage for a fairly long time, and it's gets
annoying to a point. The worst music comes from getting a Homerun in
baseball, it's just plain awful. Of course, it's a game by Sega, and
they're not known for their music in a positive sense.
Overall, the game is as great as the first, if not better. Some of the
puzzles seemed easier this time around, while others were just
ridiculous. It's not an impossible game, mind you. I have completed
every single puzzle in less time than it took me to complete the Hard
mode of the first game. If you become frustrated with the puzzles,
there's always the party games, and they're good alone or with a
friend. To say this is a kids game is a gross understatement. Sure, it
has a cute exterior, but the game itself will frustrate anyone at a
certain point. I'm in my 20's, and I had a hell of a time with some
stages. A 7 or 8 year old would find this game impossible even on the
Advanced levels. SMB2 is a challenging package, but it is also
multiplayer friendly. Do not let some of the aggravation throw you off.
Many people dismiss this game simply because they can complete the
game. I think you're smarter than that. Just keep at it. It's not
impossible, trust me.
.
.
|
![gameinfo](https://bluestormvg.tripod.com/images/gameinfo.gif)
![](https://bluestormvg.tripod.com/images/smb2.jpg)
Published
By :
SEGA
Developed
By:
AV
Year Published :
2002
Players :
1-4
ESRB Rating:
EVERYONE
![theverdict](https://bluestormvg.tripod.com/images/score.gif)
OVERALL
SCORE
9.2
VISUALS |
8.4 |
AUDIO |
8.0 |
GAMEPLAY |
9.3 |
REPLAY
VALUE |
10 |
INNOVATION |
8.6 |
It's simple and addictive, but it can also be tough as hell.
![betterthan](https://bluestormvg.tripod.com/images/better.gif)
Marble
Madness
Super Monkey Ball
![worsethan](https://bluestormvg.tripod.com/images/worse.gif)
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