Super Monkey Ball

Skill/Party game                       3 memory blocks

Super Monkey Ball is a collection of many games into one.  The main game requires you to to have good reflexes and fast thinking.  Then there are the party games such as monkey race, monkey fighting and monkey target.  The mini-games include billiards, golf and bowling.  There is so much included in this game that you won’t get bored easily.  All of the games are monkey themed and the funniest part is that your monkey is inside a transparent ball during all of the games.  Your monkey serves as a bowling ball, billiard ball, golf ball, even the races have the monkeys inside a ball.  You move him or her by moving the field, which is an interesting concept.  I still have not figured out why they are inside those balls though.

The graphics in Super Monkey Ball are good.  The monkeys are cartoon-like and very cute.  They have different animations that indicate that they are going to fall off a ledge or they are moving extremely fast.  The monkey world is lively and somehow bizarre because it is made of floating platforms.  The introductory movie is also very funny. Watching your character dance after he or she finishes the level or scores some points is simply adorable. 

The sound is ok.  The music is the same trough all the levels of the main game.  However it does not get boring.  It is just sad that there could not be more variety in the music.  There are also not that many sound effects but they are good.  You could say that this game has quality over quantity when it comes to sound.  You can hear your monkey laughing when the reach the goal or crying when you have to use a continue and even when they are about to fall. Its hilarious! 

The control is different depending on which game you are playing.  The main game just requires you to guide your monkey by moving the analog control stick.  It is rather easy to learn.  The Monkey race is the same use the analog control stick for movement and A to use a special item.  Monkey fight uses the same controls but you A is used to punch your opponents.  In the billiards game you use A to shoot the ball, C to move the camera, Y to change the type of shot and change from top view to side view.  The golf game uses the same controls as the billiards game except that you use B to change the type of shot (10 feet shot, 20 feet shot, etc.).  Monkey target uses different controls; you use the analog control stick to move your monkey in the air Up goes down and down goes up and A button converts the ball in which your monkey into wings.

The gameplay is fast, simple and fun.  It is very easy to get addicted to this game. You move your character in field that is suspended in the air and you do this by moving the field, not your character.  Each field has its own obstacles such as moving platforms, holes, bumpers, and other stuff.  Each field is designed very well to provide you with hours of replay.  The Mini-games and party games found in the game also offer hours of gameplay.  Mini-games have to be unlocked by collecting points in the main game.  All I can say is that the games are pretty well planned.  The billiards, golf and bowling parts of the game have a power bar and you must press the A button to make it stop since it constantly moves up and down.  So it might be a little difficult to control the power.  The best thing is that all games support multiplayer mode so you can compete with up to three of your friends.

    In conclusion Super Monkey Ball is an above average skills game.  It is hard to believe but your reflexes will be tested on every game in Super Monkey Ball.  From the main game to the golf game.  Each game has its own way of doing this.  This game became a best seller a long time ago.  It is because is offers a lot of replay value and four player gameplay.  Super Monkey Ball 2 will be released on September 2002 though that is why this game has dropped in price.  Still, Super Monkey Ball is an incredibly fun game to add to your collection.

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