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The Super Monkey Ball launches strongly. The Super Monkey Ball franchise has been one of the Gamecube’s most unique and strongest, although it started to recycle too much and lose some of its diehard fans. The Wii launch has strengthened the latest release, which is one of the best in the series and a good display of the Wii’s unique capabilities.
Banana Blitz has a decently-sized multiplayer portion that includes eight worlds and some boss fights. Most of the levels have time limits so you have to be careful and skillful the complete the tasks in the given amount of time. The bosses are oversized enemies that are harder to destroy. Most of them will require tight maneuvering on your part but are quite fun to play. The singleplayer mode will entertain most players for about six or seven hours, although experienced players can shave an hour or two from that.
Super Monkey Ball is a perfect fit for the Wii Remote because of its simple control system. All you really needed was the analog stick, which is perfectly replicated by moving the Wii Remote in the desired direction. The controls are sensitive enough to play the game well although you have to be conscious of the fact that your hand movements are essentially controlling the character and it is possible to inadvertly move somewhere if you aren’t careful. Banana Blitz adds the ability to jump to the series which changes its play style more than you would expect. The first few levels were designed with this in mind and are fairly easy, although the difficulty progressively picks up from then on. Part of the difficulty stems from the ever-decreasing time limits, but the level design incorporates it, as well.
Although the singleplayer portion is a bit on the short side, the game has a full-fledged multiplayer component. The game has 50 multiplayer minigames, most of which support four players although some are just two player affairs. In some of the games, everyone plays on one shared screen, in others you play in order, and yet in orders you play in split-screen mode. The games make good use of the Wiimote, although some also use the Nunchuk. Minigames that you can expect include ring-toss, a mini first-person shooter, Simon says, and many more.
Graphically, the Super Monkey Ball series has never pushed the envelope. Banana Blitz is an obvious step up from the last-generation games, not necessarily technically but the art style is cuter now thanks to flat-shading, softer colors, and enhanced animations. The levels are quite varied as well. HDTV owners can take comfort in the fact that the game runs in 480p and widescreen. The sound is equally plesant. The sound effects are pretty good and the charming soundtrack will have you humming for days.
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz makes great use of the Wiimote and is one of the most enjoyable Wii games currently available. It’s a great showcase for the unique capabilities of the Wii and an undoubtedly fun game on its own. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Dec 3, 2006
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