Series Review: Super Monkey Ball

Game: Super Monkey Ball Jr.
Console: Nintendo Game Boy Advance
Developer: Sega
Release Date: 4th April 2003

The third game in the Super Monkey Ball series behind 1 and 2 (which I'll be discussing in my review of SMB Deluxe), Super Monkey Ball Jr. attempted to take the fun of the console installments of the series and put them into handheld form. Although not as long or complex as its console counterparts, the game still allowed players to enjoy multiplayer modes and minigames.

The concept of the game is to steer a monkey inside of a ball through maze like levels without falling off. The player can choose to collect bananas as they go for a chance to get more lives. With 3 main sets of levels as well as 1 bonus set for a total of 65 levels, 4 multiplayer minigames and 4 characters to choose from the game isn't short of things to do. Some of the extra features require unlocking however it's not too hard to do once you're playing the game.

There's a little preview of each level before you attempt them, and in the simpler levels its easy to see how to get to the goal. The level of challenge increases quickly between Beginner, Medium, Expert and Master with the latter two taking a lot of skill to get any way into. You're given a fair amount of lives and continues with which to attempt levels though, and the time limits are generally fair (with the exception of Master Mode). The levels are pretty well designed and can be good fun.

The minigames include Monkey Bowling, Boxing and Golf. Bowling is pretty fun and easy to control, and challenge mode is a nice addition. Boxing mode sees a free for all between competing monkeys to knock each other off the level and score points; this is probably the best multiplayer experience. Finally, Golf doesn't play quite as well as the others with the control and level design feeling a bit underwhelming. It's a good attempt at a minigame idea but poor execution.

Graphically the game isn't particularly detailed but it doesn't seem to be an issue with the simple style of levels and characters. It's easy enough to see where to go, and the only real graphical issue is the draw distance which can be fairly short at times. There's only one or two tracks to accompany gameplay which is disappointing, but understandable due to the restrictions with the game cartridge.

Overall Super Monkey Ball Jr. is a decent attempt to work the console game onto a handheld. With a good amount of levels and minigames included as well as decent level design and bonus unlockables, it makes for a fun experience even if it doesn't provide the same number of levels as the console version.

Rating: 61/100
Grade: D

Game: Super Monkey Ball Deluxe

Console: Sony Playstation 2

Developer: Sega

Release Date: 15th March 2005

More of a collection than a new game in the series, Super Monkey Ball Deluxe combines 114 stages from the first game, 140 from the second and 46 exclusive stages as well as 12 party games from the first two installments. Upon playing some of the levels in the game, it became clear that Super Monkey Ball Jr. had taken a lot of its stages from the first two games in the series. 

The aim of the game is much the same as that of the handheld version, although now there are two main game modes; Story and Challenge. Story mode allows you infinite tries at completing 10 stages from a selection of 20 to progress through the game's story. Challenge mode gives you a set number of lives and continues towards completing a set number of stages across a specified difficulty. 

Strangely you're only allowed to control your monkey with the left analog stick, which feels quite different to the d-pad on the Game Boy. It's not so much difficult to control as harder to get used to than the previous control system. The camera can also be a little troublesome at times, as any movement of your monkey will change the camera angle slightly which means at times it will be facing entirely the wrong way. 

The level design is generally good although taken mostly from the first two games in the series. As the story mode progresses the levels get significantly harder to a point where it's difficult to find 10 out of the 20 that you're able to complete. Challenge Mode has a slightly better idea of it's own difficulty level with beginner, advanced and expert modes fitting their names well. 

The minigames features are a mixed bag of concepts that work well and others which aren't quite as good. Monkey Race, Fight, Billiards, Baseball and Bowling are amongst the best games included and are fairly self explanatory. Fight is probably my most recomended mode, with boxing gloves extending from players monkey balls in order to knock other players off the play area. Monkey Target feels a little like a Mario Party style game, as you attempt to launch yourself toward a target and score points for where you land. 

Monkey Golf, Soccer and Tennis are three sports based minigames that don't work as well as they could but could hold a little multiplayer fun. Monkey Shot and Dogfight are shooting based minigames; one with a gun and one in an aeroplane. Both modes are fairly well presented and work well as concepts. The final game on offer is Monkey Boat which has almost broken controls and doesn't work well at all. There's a good selection of games on offer in Party Mode, but not a consistent level of quality. 

Graphically the game looks nice on PS2, especially compared to the handheld version of the game. While cartoon like and simple in essence the game remains sharp and colourful. The music in the game isn't particularly memorable and there's not a large soundtrack but it fits well and there's still more variety than in the handheld game. The sound effects used can be somewhat irritating after a while, especially on certain levels and minigames with the monkeys emitting panicked cries far too often. 

Overall this is pretty much the definitive version of Super Monkey Ball with its 300 levels and 12 minigames. While it can get a little hard to complete at times, there's enough easy levels to play around with and the only real downside is that you're not allowed to try all of them in Story Mode. The minigames offered are hit and miss but more often than not hold at least a little fun. If I had to recommend a console game to own from this series it'd be this. 

Rating: 73/100

Grade: C

Game: Super Monkey Ball: Touch and Roll
Console: Nintendo DS
Developer: Sega
Release Date: 17th February 2006

In the third handheld installment of the Super Monkey Ball franchise, the DS's touchscreen is added as another method with which you can control your monkey. Whilst this is innovative and can help to add precision movement in certain stages of the game, I mostly found myself using the d-pad of the DS due to its ease of use and a few difficulties with using the touchscreen as a mode of control.

Stage-wise Touch and Roll is different from the other two games with 12 worlds containing 10 stages each and no story whatsoever. Once all of these stages are complete, the credits play and new worlds are unlocked after 3 world completions. The difficulty curve of these worlds is fairly steep with a few semi-impossible stages here and there.

The level design is generally very good with some re-used ideas from previous games. There are some new ideas which is nice to see, considering the content of the previous two games was based on two Gamecube games. The top screen is used to display the level as is usual in Super Monkey Ball games and the bottom shows time remaining, lives, bananas, and speed as well as a monkey icon which animates as the player moves.

The 6 party games included are generally good with only one new addition to the selection, Monkey Hockey. This works well with the touchscreen and although a little difficult is fairly enjoyable. Other than this most of the party games remain unchanged with bowling, racing, and fighting included. As is common in this series, the choice of modes feels a little narrow with challenge, practice and party games being the only options.

The game's graphics look really nice and although hardly high definition they work well with the overall cartoon feel of the game. There's a much wider selection of music to accompany play than in previous installments also which makes a nice change. The voicing of the monkeys seems less annoying than in the other games too, with less vocalisations in general to interrupt the gameplay.

Overall this is the game that convinced me the series works best on handheld, with its well designed challenge mode that allows for short bursts of play as well as longer campaigns. The party games are probably the only feature which seems lacking in this version. Other than that this makes for a good addition to the series but also reaffirms my worries that save for graphical developments most versions of Super Monkey Ball are essentially the same thing.

Rating: 73/100
Grade: C