Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz Review - Wii

7

Gameplay: 8
Graphics: 7
Audio: 4
Multiplayer: 7
Innovation: 6

Ever wondered what rolling around in a clear ball as a monkey would be like? Look no further, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz is here. The Nintendo Wii has had its hits and misses when it comes to games that are packed full of mini games using its innovative Wii remote and nun-chuck system, so which is Super Monkey Ball? Given it’s the only game at the moment where you can pick up a racquet and actually move to a position to take a swing, we’re fairly content in saying Super Monkey Ball is a hit, and squashes its competitors.

Please excuse the Sliced Gaming team while they murder this writer due to his puns.

Gameplay

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz is an early Nintendo Wii title, and it seems the singleplayer mode was made before the multiplayer part, as the controls are very basic. You control your primate in a ball with the simple tilt axis inside the Wii remote, and press A to jump. They’re the only controls you get, making the game suffer in the innovative area compared to other Wii titles, but they’re actually the only controls you need. The camera angle does get a little frustrating from time to time, but it evens out and usually stays behind the ball at all times.

The object of the singleplayer game is to get from one end of a level to the other. Sounds simple enough, rolling along with the tilt/pivoting system of the Wii remote, and it is fairly easy at first, but there are a lot of levels. Some levels you’ll fluke the first time, other levels will take a dozen tries to get through. For this reason, and this reason alone, you need bananas. Bananas do go towards a total score that you get at the end of each “world”, but they are most useful in assisting with giving lives. You only need 20 bananas to get a free life, and they can build up quite easily, but you can lose them just as fast in some of the harder levels.

All up, even the singleplayer game can be great fun with 2 players taking it in turns of life and/or level. Every level only takes 60 seconds or 120 seconds, and by that we mean there’s a time limit which forces you to complete it in the set time. All the environments of the singleplayer mode are great, and each world brings a new light to the game, along with challenging new physics and puzzles that will keep you entertained right through to the end. With many worlds full of many levels, the singleplayer game will take even the greatest Wii remote master a while to conquer.

After completing the singleplayer, it (continued next page)