Game: Super Monkey Ball
Console: Nintendo Gamecube
Developer: Amusement Vision
Release Date: 17th November 2001
Originally this review was going to only be for Super Monkey Ball 3D; afterall I've reviewed a few games in the series before and thought it'd only be more of the same. After playing the newest instalment in the series however, I felt that it was only right to review the original on Gamecube for comparison. Super Monkey Ball is where the series began, featuring progressively more difficult sets of platforming levels where the player's monkey must be guided to the goal. There are 10 beginner levels, 30 advanced and 50 expert for a total of 90.
Each set of levels must be completed from start to finish with 5 continues, each comprising of 3 lives with the chance to pick up extra lives by collecting 100 bananas throughout the course of the level set. While things start out fairly simple, even the last few beginner levels can be a little tough, and by the time players are ready for the expert levels, there are some near-impossible challenges ahead.
The controls are pretty tight and it's fun to pull off advanced manoeuvres once acquainted with them. Completing difficult levels comes with its own sense of achievement, and until things get far too hard, the amount of challenge offered by the game feels adequate. As the levels progress, bonus stages offer players a chance to collect more bananas, and thus earn a shot at an extra life.
Aside from the main mode, there are also party games and mini-games. The party games are Monkey Race, Monkey Fight and Monkey Target. Each of these features the 4 monkeys, still inside their capsules as they race, fight and attempt to land on specific areas of a target in a more multiplayer focussed effort. While none of these party games are excellent as stand-alone experiences, they're a fun addition and mean that the game can truly call itself a "party game".
As for the minigames, these require 2500 "play points" to unlock which means a significant portion of the main game must be completed before they can be played. Once unlocked players can choose from Monkey Billiards, Bowling and Golf. In each of these sports games, the monkey's capsule is used in place of the ball. These feel somewhat tacked on the end of the game, as there's a fair amount to do already. Graphically there are some nice backgrounds and effects featured in the game, though nothing is particularly impressive from a technical standpoint. The music in the game contributes to the overall mood and sets the style for the music featured in later games.
Overall the main game features a steep difficulty curve, and would have benefited from a level select system rather than requiring players to complete all of the levels in a set with a limited amount of lives/continues, however there's still plenty of fun to be had before the difficulty gets too high. The party games and minigames included add a little more interest to the game as a whole, but I'd have preferred some intermediate levels on the main mode.
Rating: 66/100
Grade: C
Game: Super Monkey Ball 3D
Console: Nintendo 3DS
Developer: Sega
Release Date: 27th March 2011
Having newly acquired a 3DS, the first thing I needed to do was buy some reasonably priced games from yesteryear. Amongst the titles I picked up was Super Monkey Ball 3D, a game that has no real use for 3D, but jumped on the bandwagon anyway. From the main menu, three game modes can be selected; Monkey Ball, Monkey Race and Monkey Fight. All of these are familiar options, and I thought I could predict what they'd entail (no monkey pun intended).
Monkey Ball is the classic main mode, comprising 80 stages which are split evenly over 8 areas. While there's a loose theme for each area, none of them st
and out particularly and the overall level of challenge has been lowered to the point where the game can be completed in a single sitting, without prior experience of the series. Even the last level of the entire game is relatively simple, and there's barely any moving platforms or difficult bits anywhere in Monkey Ball mode as a whole. While there are various collectibles that can be earned in Monkey Ball Mode, it's hardly worth playing through multiple times to earn some of the harder to get ones.
Monkey Race mode has been upgraded from simple capsule-based Monkey racing to full blown Mario Kart clone, featuring an array of different characters, a choice of karts and tracks that seem to be a mix of Mario Kart ideas and Super Monkey Ball levels. There are various items which do much the same as items from the Mario Kart series, and gameplaywise there's the same issues with rubberbanding and unpredictability thanks to items. Considering it's a poor imitation, anyone wanting to play a 3DS kart racing game will choose Mario Kart 7.
What's worse, Monkey Fight mode has also been upgraded; this time from a vaguely fun button masher to a complete Smash Bros clone, complete with similar viewpoint and concepts. Players must compete to collect bananas whilst damaging opponents by taking bananas off them. The controls are pretty awful and considering there's a Smash Bros for 3DS now (though there wasn't when the game came out), there's honestly no real reason to use this mode either.
While the game looks good overall, there's no real need for 3D in any of the game modes; it's not a bad addition, but it doesn't add much. I honestly wish that the fight and race modes weren't such blatant rip-offs so that they could have had their own character and perhaps made better use of the 3D features. Musically the game is far less charming that previous instalments of the series, and left the whole experience feeling rather tepid.
Overall this doesn't compare in any way to the original Super Monkey Ball, it's levels are too easily completed thus lending it no replay value, there's less party games and minigames, and what there are have been taken from other games, and perhaps most damningly it's the first game in the series to blatantly show what a hollow concept the entire idea is.
Rating: 50/100
Grade: D
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