Super Monkey Ball

System: Gamecube
Release Date: 2001
Published By: Sega
Reviewed by: Darien
Rating:

I almost can't believe I'm giving this game a 5. I should hate it. This is not the sort of game I like. And yet, I've played the hell out of it, and I can't think of one single negative thing to say about it.

You want replay value? It lives right here. You can play this game for years and never be finished with it. The ten beginner boards are simple enough; you'll probably clear beginner the first or second time you try. But advanced is a huge step up in difficulty - not only is it thirty boards long instead of ten, but every single one of them (save the first two or three) is much harder than the hardest board beginner has to offer. After that, there's the epic, fifty-boards-deep expert mode, which you probably won't clear until you've played the game enough to unlock unlimited continues. If, however, you somehow manage to clear all fifty expert boards and the set (I believe of ten) of expert extra boards (unlocked if you clear expert without continuing), you can unlock the master boards. This is a feat I have yet to accomplish, and I'm mad hardcore.

The gameplay is as simple as can be. It involves no buttons whatsoever, unless you want to pause. Otherwise, tilt the stick to move. Shazam! That is all. Roll your monkey through the goal to win. Fall off the board or run out of time, and you lose. Collect 100 bananas for an extra life. And that, sirs, covers everything you'll ever need to know about how to play Super Monkey Ball. As I've always maintained, however, simple is really best. The game comes up with enough challenges and enough variations that the last thing you'll ever be thinking is that this is a simple game.

Visually, the game is appealing, though random. There are themes - jungle, ice, diner, and so on - and the various boards are themed to match. To be honest, it makes no difference whatsoever to the actual play; it's all just trimming, but it's very appealing trimming. The objects in the background, the music, and the track textures all are suited to the current theme. The background music is pretty spastic techno, which usually annoys me but fits perfectly here. Go figure.

Other play modes? Don't mind if I do. There are six mini-games, none of which annoy me, since they're all main-menu extras and the game doesn't force you to play them. Monkey Target is great fun with four players, and Monkey Fight and Monkey Race are good, too. Bowling, Golf, and Billiards are all fun for a while, but all go on way past the point at which they become boring. But it doesn't really matter if any of them get boring, since they're all just extras anyhow. I like that.

Honestly, I had no idea what I would think about this game when I got it. In retrospect, as I said earlier, I should hate it. But I don't. It's one of my favourite games on the Gamecube, and I'd recommend it to pretty much anyone.

Buy this game from Amazon.com!