Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll Review

If you've never played a Monkey Ball game before then here it is in a nut shell. You play as a monkey which is placed inside a ball, you then run around inside the ball to control, move, balance, rotate and steer yourself around an obstacle course picking up bananas on the way. Whilst making sure you don't roll your ball off the platform, you must find the goal at the end of each level to complete that stage, more on this later.

To play this game, I found you need a lot of control and coordination as you use the Wii controller or Wii balance board to steer your monkey ball. Some games which support extra peripherals like the Wii balance board don't always play well with normal controllers but I am pleased to say that with this one it seems to be a lot easier to play it with the controller. Even down to the fact Amusement Vision have added extra obstacles when using the Wii controller which are not in the game when you play with the Wii Board which should tell you that even game makers believe the Wii board is harder to use. So if you don't have a Wii balance board I don't feel you are missing out on much with this one.

There are two primary modes:the main game and mini games. In the main game you have single player, multiplayer, marathon, practice and tutorial/training. In the single player mode you play a series of levels in six different worlds which get progressively harder with each new world you move on too. Co-op mode wasn't exactly what I was expecting either, with most co-op games you have a split screen, but with Super Monkey Ball you instead work together to go through each level playing alongside each other. One of you controls the monkey in his ball with direction and movement, the other shoots bananas at obstacles that are physically in your way. Throughout the levels you can upgrade to gain new ammo and gun effects such as a bazooka mode - although they only last a certain time or limited ammo. The Marathon option is designed for you to play through all the levels in one go. You have three different stages: Marathon Exercise, which is where you play through world 1 to world 3; Half Marathon Maniac which is worlds 4 through to 6; and Full Marathon, which is all six worlds. After ten stages (the completion of each world) you given the chance for a a short break before the game continues into the next set of stages.

The multiplayer mode in mini games, is the more traditional multiplayer mode using the split screen view, which I must say works very well. With just over 20 mini games to be played through, there seems to be enough in this area to keep you and your friends and family busy with this mode.

The beginning of the game seems quite easy and short, but then as you progress through it, it gradually gets harder and you start to feel the game lengthening out. The first level is quite straightforward, nevertheless as progress further you begin to realise there is a lot more to the game than first thought, the difficulty increasing more as you journey through each world.In some ways the game becomes quite tough, especially if you're like me and aren't very good with your coordination skills, therefore you need a lot of patience with it.

I foundd the game to be addictive,for example when you are struggling on a level, instead of just giving up or asking someone to do it for you;I found that I had to keep on trying and I was determined to finish the level myself. That aspect and the part where it's one of those games you could play for hours on end, and have completed it several times already but like playing it for a laugh with friends and family, also makes it addictive. I did like the option of being able to save the reply at the end of each level, what better way to taunt your friends when you beat them.

One of the really frustrating things I found about the game was in World modes every time you get to the end of the 10 levels you get to the rolling end game credits. Now,it's done in a comical way, where the people's names in the credits are balls which drop on to your platform, you then have to tilt the platform too make the balls fall down holes, your score is being tracked whilst you play.While this is fun first time around,I found myself resetting the Wii just to get off the credits as you get this every time you finish one of the six worlds,

The music is okay and not hard on the ears, however the voices of the monkeys were. Whenever a monkey hits an edge, encounters an obstacle, or even if you pick something up,it makes an annoying squeaking noise, which did wind me up at times.

On the whole, this is a very pleasing game and a great way of having a laugh with people, even though there are slight let downs, which, I must admit, every game has. However, this doesn't stop the game from being enjoyable to play for the solo content, or playing alongside others.