The original Super Monkey Ball on the Gamecube can be consider as the best in the series. The simple concept of rolling around collecting bananas and avoiding the many dangers in the cute monkey world made it appealing and addictive. A sequel soon followed with more puzzling levels and entertaining multiplayer games.
But then came Super Monkey Ball Advance for the handheld console (Game Boy Advance), which ruined the unique control system and game play. The simple fact was Monkey Ball just doesn’t work well on a portable system – just look at the horrible reaction for the ill-fated Nokia N-Gage version.
And yet the monkeys are back with Banana Blitz. The new game uses the Nintendo Wii motion-sensor controller to aid the adorable monkeys around the level. The control system might feel strange at first – the player had to twist and tilt to move – but after a short while, becomes more natural to the user.
The challenge of Monkey Ball was about managing your movement and momentum around a tight and twisty stage. These involve narrow ledges, moving floating platforms and numerous nasty obstacles designed to knock your monkey right off the course and into oblivion.
A strict time limit is also added to the game play experience, ensuring a more urgent involvement to complete the level. These basic elements made Super Monkey Ball a rewarding game for the player. The ability to navigate a set amount of courses with the quickest time or the most bananas made the game a lasting appeal.
With Banana Blitz, the magic monkeys have the ability to jump over obstacles. This can be done by pressing the A button on the Wii remote control. It sounds simple and yet, changes the whole game dynamically. The levels have undergone a slight alteration including some platforms to jump onto, and even though it feels intense, it’s not as challenging as the first two Super Monkey Ball games.
As you progress through the eight different worlds that compose the single-player mode in Banana Blitz, you’ll encounter the end-of-level boss. These usually involve taking on a larger-sized enemy with a single weak spot that you have to figure out how to exploit. The most frustrating aspect in this new boss fight can be experienced with the inability to control the game’s camera… Due to the way it locks onto the boss during these sequences.
Moving on, the multiplayer mode was the best part of any Super Monkey Ball with a collection of fun and crazy sort of games to test your skills. These include such favourites like Monkey Golf, Monkey Race and Monkey Target. But with Banana Blitz, there are now 50 different types of multiplayer games on offer. Great you think – but quantity doesn’t always count for quality…
Despite that, there is a nice variety in the mini games. All of them require the use of the Wii remote, with a number of them also requiring that the Nunchuk be attached. But in some of the games, the controls aren’t responsive enough to support the mini game concepts, and you get the occasional mini game that isn’t much fun to play…
On a whole, the new Super Monkey Ball for the Nintendo Wii is still great fun with the innovative controls. The presentation of Banana Blitz seems more cartoon-like with bright colours and flat shading on the monkeys and the environment. When viewed in High Definition mode (480p), the visual quality gives the game a nice look.
Even though the multiplayer mode suffers between good ideas with bad control system, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz is definitely one highly recommended launch game. These monkeys still have the magic to entertain.
