Super Monkey Ball (Import)

Pros • Many, many gameplay modes and mini-games • Very simple, but very addictive • Sharp graphics • It's damn funny too	Cons • Unless you've imported the game and GameCube from Japan, you can't play it at this writing.
Bottom Line More fun than a barrel full of...well, you know. To say that Sega’s debut title on the GameCube is more fun than a barrel of monkeys would be an understatement! Sega is taking their newfound third party developer status to the GameCube the way Michael Jordan takes the basketball to the hoop: with some swagger, finesse and plenty of authority. Super Monkey Ball for the GameCube is superb! It’s actually a port of a coin-op game that was released in Japanese arcades in May of this year. During my last trip to Japan, I played it in the arcades and at SpaceWorld on the show floor. Now I am lucky enough to have a GameCube in my living room with all three launch titles. Graphically Super Monkey Ball on the GameCube looks as good as the arcade version, but it is jam packed with plenty of new gameplay modes and mini-games.

The rules of the game aren’t complicated. All you need to do is tilt the table using the controller to roll the hero Aia, his wife MeiMei and Baby (all cute monkeys) to a specified area called the goal, all the while picking up Dole bananas. If you have ever played that old classic Marble Madness, that will give you an idea of what you can expect from Super Monkey Ball on the GameCube.

This is one game that will entertain the entire family, and it’s easy to plug the game into your system and begin playing. The hard part is putting it down, turning off the system and going to bed.

Using the analog stick on the GameCube controller, you direct your monkey and go up and down hills and around obstacles. There is a time limit, so you will have to keep the ball rolling in order to be successful.

Of course, as you are rolling your monkey, the levels are constantly changing, and the terrain often shifts before your eyes as you maneuver the characters around the many obstacles. On certain boards you will be able to take shortcuts, sometimes on purpose. Other times you will just fall into them. On one board, I rolled off of an upper ledge and down to the bottom of another, right next to the goal. This was luck, but also part of the game.

There are over 110 levels that get progressively harder as you make your way through the game. There are 10 Beginner levels, 30 Advanced and 50 Expert. Finish those without croaking and Beginner Extra, Advanced Extra and Expert Extra levels will be unlocked. Get through those without dying (by some miracle), and the Master Mode will be at your disposal, but be forewarned, getting to this point is very difficult. Sega told us that its best testers went through 80 to 100 monkeys on one level in this mode alone. What makes the game so difficult in the later levels is that paths branch, flat boards become bumpy, and there are more twists, slides and drops.

Don’t let this talk of progressive difficulty scare you away, because after you collect 100 bananas on any one level, you will be rewarded with a Continue. If you love puzzle games (and we all know you do), this game takes the genre to an all-new level.

The arcade mode is just one part of this game. Super Monkey Ball is loaded with gameplay modes that boost the replayability to Mario Kart 64 or Wave Race 64-like status!

The Monkey Race mode is basically a race with monkeys, across bumpy, twisty boards. You can do a single race, or take part in a kind of primate Grand Prix that consists of five laps. In this mode you will come across power-ups that will turn you or the other monkey racers to ice, sending them reeling or hitting the bumpers that will bounce them off the track.

The analog stick is used to control the monkeys and the A button gives them the momentum you need to try and get to the finish line first. The control is spot-on and this mode is loads of fun. Even during four player mode there isn’t any slow down.

Monkey Target is a mode that features a giant slope that players must roll their monkeys down to gain speed. Upon reaching a ramp, you must hit the A button and your monkey’s wings will appear and will keep it airborne. The object in this mode is to land your monkey safely on any one of a number of islands for points. Landing your monkey on the fringe of the island won’t get you many points, but landing it in the middle will score you more. Keep in mind that when you land you will roll and there is some strategy involved.

I almost forgot to tell you, there are several obstacles that you will be faced with in this mode, including having to spin the Wheel of Danger. Before you take off for the ramp you will have to spin the wheel, which will tell you if there will be airborne spiked balls or bombs or other obstacles on the islands that should be avoided. Remember your monkey is inside of a ball and balls do bounce. Where you land and where your momentum takes you are both things to consider.

The next mode is Monkey Fight, and it's basically a version of King of the Hill with monkeys wearing boxing gloves. One monkey is on top of a hovering platform and the idea is to knock him off for points. Power-ups will fall into the arena from above and they will have different attributes, such as increasing the size of your monkey’s boxing gloves or adding force to your punches. The monkey who has managed to push the most monkeys off of the platform and has the most points when the timer runs out, wins. Once again the analog stick controls your monkey and the A button will deliver the punches. This is by far my favorite gameplay mode.

All of these modes that I have just mentioned are four-player compatible and can be accessed from the moment you plug the game into the GameCube system.

Sega didn’t stop there. They added a number of exclusive mini-games to the title that players will need to unlock with the Play Points that they earn as they make their way through the game. Each mini-game will cost you 2500 play points. You should be able to reach the required number of points as you make your way to more than half way through the first set of Advanced levels in Arcade mode.

The mini-games include Monkey Bowling. This is a blast to play and is a very realistic take on the sport using--you guessed it--monkeys! You can get a strike, spare or the dreaded seven/10 split. The A button once pressed will allow you to produce a beam that will show you the direction the monkey ball will go. Once you let your monkey ball fly down the alley, you can rotate the ball using the R button on the GameCube controller to spin the ball to the right or the L button to spin the ball to the left. This game also allows four people to take their turn and play one after the other, just like in real bowling.

Monkey Billiards is a game of Nine-Ball--except instead of billiard balls you will be required to hit monkey balls (get your mind out of the gutter, this is a family game). Instead of using a pool stick, the monkeys hit themselves. Players line up their shots and send the monkey balls flying across a realistic looking billiards table. You will be able to go up against the computer or take turns with your friends or family. You angle the shots using the analog stick and the B button is used for sending the ball across the table with some omph. The Y button can be used to change the camera angle to view the action from the top. The physics are perfect, the control is excellent and the fun factor is out of this world!

My favorite mini-game is Monkey Golf. It too has to be unlocked and your monkey becomes the golf ball. You can play this mini-game in stroke or match play and rotate between your friends or family members. The analog stick directs your shot as you play through the 18 different holes, each with their own level of difficulty. The A button sends the ball down the fairway or towards the pin. When your monkey is headed towards the pin you can use the R button or L buttons once again to make your monkey roll to the right or to the left. Gamers will be able to choose the size of their club by hitting the Y button or see the layout of the course using the X button. I am a huge golf nut and this game takes a little bit of getting used to but it's a blast!

Super Monkey Ball is like a chocolate sundae, with extra chocolate sauce, some bananas and a cherry on top. That cherry is comes in the form of an incredible replay mode. That allows gamers to save their best moments to a GameCube memory card. You will want to get a memory card for this game alone.

Sega didn’t monkey around with any part of this game. At offers up an all out assault on your emotions. Super Monkey Ball had me chuckling one minute, laughing on the floor the next and swearing like a drunken sailor the next!

I cannot say enough about this game, except that if Sega continues to deliver this kind of quality from a graphics and a gameplay standpoint, then they will reach their goal and become the top third party publisher in the gaming world in no time flat. In my opinion, Sega already has the best third party line-up for the GameCube with Sonic Adventure 2, Virtua Striker 3 and Super Monkey Ball. We are also hearing that they have a few other surprises in store for you on the GameCube, the Xbox and the PS2. But we don’t want to take the peel off of the banana just yet.

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