Super Monkey Ball - Banana Blitz

Publisher: Sega

Platform: Wii

Category: Arcade / Puzzle

Rating Info

Release Date: 08/12/2006

Member Rating:

Number of Players: 1-4

Super Monkey Ball - Banana Blitz Description

The Monkey Ball series makes its triumphant return just in time for the launch of the Wii, and it comes in the form of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz. And frankly you could be forgiven for thinking that the Wii control system was designed by a mildly crazed Monkey Ball fan over at Nintendo for the simple purpose of playing Monkey Ball. For those of you not familiar with the franchise, Super Monkey Ball is based around the delightfully simple concept of getting a monkey (in a ball, if you weren't clear on that) from one end of a level to the other. The ingenious twist is that you do not control the monkeys - you control the environment. You tilt it like an old-world ball bearing maze game. So what more perfect a controller could there be than that deployed with the Wii? The answer is...none. Rather than using an analog stick to control the movement of the environment as past instalments in the series have demanded, Banana Blitz allows players to make full use of the Wii control system. A feature unfamiliar to fans of past incarnations is the addition of the 'Jump' movement in the game. Being able to jump adds (literally) another dimension to the game. Banana Blitz comprises a whopping 50 mini-games, along with the main game, in which around 100 levels are available across the eight standard and two unlockable worlds. The mini games offer a huge amount of variety, and gamers will find themselves doing anything from competing in a traditional fixture of ring toss to smacking pesky underground rodents in a game of Whack-a-Mole. Two new characters are added to the mix: a teenage girl monkey named Yanyan, and a little old man Monkey called Doctor. Aside from more character choices, the pair bring slight weight variations to the roster, an important concern for this kind of gameplay. The combination of Monkey Ball and Wii offers up a unique new gaming experience that'll have your wrists aching in no time.

Screenshots

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Write a review of Super Monkey Ball - Banana Blitz

Reviewed by: manrose	Date: 23/04/2008	Rating:
Great!

Reviewed by: TeddyBare	Date: 02/04/2007	Rating:
I had tried Super Monkey Ball on the DS before I got the Wii version, and have to confess the main game never really got to me. With the Wii I found it very similar. I played the main game for a while, but soon got bored with the challenges, and moved into the mini games. Now these were great, and were aided by the fact that playing multiplayer, the losing player gets to choose the game to play next, which really means they can choose a game they are good at and level the scores. There's a great range of games, all making quite good use of the controllers abilities. I think this is a game I shall rent again in the future, maybe even buy, but it will be for the mini games rather than the main game.

Reviewed by: s33ther	Date: 15/05/2007	Rating:
I originally got introduced to Super Monkey Ball on the Gamecube after a night of partying with my friends. We all sat down and just had a blast. Played this Monkey Ball by myself, and I did get bored extremely quickly. My 3 year old niece thought the whole thing was a riot though. The bright colours and cute characters appeal to the younger audience. This game is for groups of friends just out for a laugh or kiddies looking for a giggle. If you're looking for engrossing single player activity. This game isnt it.

Reviewed by: ShadowDoGG	Date: 09/12/2007	Rating:
The concept was better on paper than in reality. The single player wasn't too bad but got a little boring after a while and you began to think the controlling was very annoying since you didn't feel you were totally in control of the direction. The minigames were at first interesting to play with a friend but after a while you just got bored of it and then couldn't be bothered to play it again.

Features

Party Games - Scores of party games have been creatively designed to take advantage of the Nintendo Wii controller.

Puzzle Levels - A huge number of puzzle levels have been designed for players of all standards. Easy to learn but difficult to master, these puzzle levels bring the classic Super Monkey Ball gameplay to the Nintendo Wii for the first time.

Boss Levels - After completing puzzle levels the game heats up with some serious boss battles. Each of the bosses will challenge you to find their weakness to defeat them.

Monkey Jump - For the first time in the Super Monkey Ball universe AiAi and his friends will be able to jump using an upward flick motion with the Wii Controller.

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