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May 11, 2006 | 6:27 PM PST
by: Brian Langlois
Sega’s monkeys aren’t done with GameCube just yet. Super Monkey Ball Adventure brings Aiai and company into completely new territory, the five expansive worlds of an action adventure game. Developed by Traveler’s Tales, the creators of Sonic 3-D Blast, SMBA is a refreshing look at the “modern classic” Monkey Ball series.
The main aspect of Super Monkey Ball Adventure is the game’s Story Mode, which tells the story of the four magical monkeys who saved the kingdoms from certain doom. You begin in a village populated by monkey inhabitants. You can talk to them with the Y-button, though it is a bit more fun to roll over them and flatten them into the ground. The demo only features this village, but there is plenty to do. You can roll up hills and cliffs and across bridges. Ramps allow you access to hard to reach banana bunches and there are flower blossoms that bounce you high into the air. The demo is really intended just to give the player a feel for the game, which it does quite well.
One thing that might have concerned fans of the series who are anticipating this game is the control scheme. It is a pleasure to report that the control scheme and physics from the series remain totally intact. Instead of tipping a small floor to roll your monkey around you now get to tip the entire world, or so the camera would make it seem. The movement is fluid and exactly what you would expect from a Monkey Ball title. What will take some getting used to is doing things that you have never done before with your monkey. Climbing up the slopes to high areas can very easily lead to a plunge into the blue ocean and the classic “Fallout” call from the announcer. Exploring the village is fun and shows a lot of promise for the full game.
If adventure mode is not your thing though, don’t worry. The disc also includes an assortment of party games for multiplayer monkey business. The selection includes: Monkey Race, Monkey Target, Monkey Fight, Monkey Bounce, Monkey Cannon, and Monkey Tag. The new Monkey Target is a bit different in style and offers new challenges. The game is rendered in a very natural way with rocks for obstacles and grassy target areas with white point values. The control is actually much easier as you really seem to be flying. Gaining altitude is no problem as it has been in the past, so grabbing power-ups is a bit less challenging. One thing of note on the party games is that there seem to be a lot of monkeys that can be unlocked. The character select screen shows several rows of small and faded icons of several of the characters from the Story Mode. It looks like there will be a plenty of partying with the monkeys this summer.
For those itching for some classic Super Monkey Ball, there is also a new Challenge Mode. This mode features traditional labyrinth style levels in which you roll your monkey through the goal. It is interesting that they changed some subtle things like the sound the ball makes as it rolls. Also, the speed seemed slightly slow, but that may be corrected before release. Fortunately, the familiar voice of the announcer can soothe the minds of players who resist change. It is always great to hear that echoing “Ready, Go!” before taking off on a course. The announcer also has some new inflections for his sayings, so expect some tiny surprises.
The game has very solid visuals, but it is hard to judge it compared to previous incarnations due to the drastic difference in style. The game looks different and more natural than the bright and garish colors of previous Monkey Ball worlds. The Story Mode world has an impressive depth and the game does run in widescreen, which is a much needed addition. The environments are well designed and very natural looking. The world is lush and full of well rendered greenery. Overall, this game looks to be one of the prettiest SMB games to date, though the next-generation version is right around the corner.
Fans of Super Monkey Ball will really appreciate this game. It is a little different, but change is not always bad. This game proves that Monkey Ball really is a franchise, and can lend itself to myriad incarnations with ease. It should be noted that the demo was somewhat buggy and crashed several times. It was running on development hardware though and the Sega representative stated that it would be completely fixed before release. Look for a review here at GameCube Advance in the coming months.
The main aspect of Super Monkey Ball Adventure is the game’s Story Mode, which tells the story of the four magical monkeys who saved the kingdoms from certain doom. You begin in a village populated by monkey inhabitants. You can talk to them with the Y-button, though it is a bit more fun to roll over them and flatten them into the ground. The demo only features this village, but there is plenty to do. You can roll up hills and cliffs and across bridges. Ramps allow you access to hard to reach banana bunches and there are flower blossoms that bounce you high into the air. The demo is really intended just to give the player a feel for the game, which it does quite well.
One thing that might have concerned fans of the series who are anticipating this game is the control scheme. It is a pleasure to report that the control scheme and physics from the series remain totally intact. Instead of tipping a small floor to roll your monkey around you now get to tip the entire world, or so the camera would make it seem. The movement is fluid and exactly what you would expect from a Monkey Ball title. What will take some getting used to is doing things that you have never done before with your monkey. Climbing up the slopes to high areas can very easily lead to a plunge into the blue ocean and the classic “Fallout” call from the announcer. Exploring the village is fun and shows a lot of promise for the full game.
If adventure mode is not your thing though, don’t worry. The disc also includes an assortment of party games for multiplayer monkey business. The selection includes: Monkey Race, Monkey Target, Monkey Fight, Monkey Bounce, Monkey Cannon, and Monkey Tag. The new Monkey Target is a bit different in style and offers new challenges. The game is rendered in a very natural way with rocks for obstacles and grassy target areas with white point values. The control is actually much easier as you really seem to be flying. Gaining altitude is no problem as it has been in the past, so grabbing power-ups is a bit less challenging. One thing of note on the party games is that there seem to be a lot of monkeys that can be unlocked. The character select screen shows several rows of small and faded icons of several of the characters from the Story Mode. It looks like there will be a plenty of partying with the monkeys this summer.
For those itching for some classic Super Monkey Ball, there is also a new Challenge Mode. This mode features traditional labyrinth style levels in which you roll your monkey through the goal. It is interesting that they changed some subtle things like the sound the ball makes as it rolls. Also, the speed seemed slightly slow, but that may be corrected before release. Fortunately, the familiar voice of the announcer can soothe the minds of players who resist change. It is always great to hear that echoing “Ready, Go!” before taking off on a course. The announcer also has some new inflections for his sayings, so expect some tiny surprises.
The game has very solid visuals, but it is hard to judge it compared to previous incarnations due to the drastic difference in style. The game looks different and more natural than the bright and garish colors of previous Monkey Ball worlds. The Story Mode world has an impressive depth and the game does run in widescreen, which is a much needed addition. The environments are well designed and very natural looking. The world is lush and full of well rendered greenery. Overall, this game looks to be one of the prettiest SMB games to date, though the next-generation version is right around the corner.
Fans of Super Monkey Ball will really appreciate this game. It is a little different, but change is not always bad. This game proves that Monkey Ball really is a franchise, and can lend itself to myriad incarnations with ease. It should be noted that the demo was somewhat buggy and crashed several times. It was running on development hardware though and the Sega representative stated that it would be completely fixed before release. Look for a review here at GameCube Advance in the coming months.
November 20, 2009
