Super Monkey Ball Adventure

The Super Monkey Ball franchise just proves that adding monkeys to your Marble Madness-inspired puzzle game makes for good time because - let’s face it - what gamer doesn’t like great puzzles and controlling monkeys encased in a protective bubble? Yet the main reason the franchise is so addictive is the variety of race-to-the-finish-line-style puzzles that require some thought to complete successfully. Super Monkey Ball Adventure for the GameCube is the latest addition to the franchise but, sadly enough, this isn’t the best game in the series to grace our favorite cube.

Instead of relying on the things that worked the first time around, Super Monkey Ball Adventure included a Story Mode that spins a confusing and uninteresting lengthy tale of returning monkey favorites AiAi, GonGon, Baby and MeeMee (known by long-time fans as the Super Monkey Ball Team) who are sent out into the five kingdoms in Monearth to bring joy to the monkey populace that has been bummed out lately. Sent by the King, your quest takes you through Jungle Island as well as areas like Zootopia, Moonhaven as well as Monkitropolis while completing tasks for various monkeys you might encounter. 

The problem with the game’s Story Mode isn’t the various side quests (most of them are actually fun while others just fall flat) or the poor storytelling but it’s the fact that the story elements just keep gamers from jumping into the Puzzle Realm to complete the familiar Super Monkey Ball puzzles fans of the series have come to love. In this game, the puzzles can only be reached by entering a hub that transports you to a puzzle but to get there you have to open up new areas on the world map. This is too bad since the puzzles are actually inventive and really entertaining. It also makes going back to replay a favorite puzzle a royal pain. 

You’ll encounter a number of monkey friends who will offer quests for you to complete. Often it's just fetch quests that are easy enough to complete while others require some work to complete successfully. For example, one monkey might ask you to collect bees that managed to escape from him so you’ll be breaking beehives by landing on them. In another quest, you’re asked to wake the sleeping guards high up in the trees by being shot from a cannon to hit a set of massive gongs. Other quests just aren’t fun at all like the ones where you need to hand over a set number of bananas or pose for a picture for the local photographer. Sorry, Sega, but these platformer bits just serve to alienate older gamers who have enjoyed a series that caters to gamers of all ages.

While we’re focusing on the negative, another major gripe I have comes in the form of the framerate. The game’s fast pace of the game is held back by the occasional framerate stutter. This becomes particularly annoying when it happens at crucial moments like when you’re bouncing on a flower or navigating through a thin pathway. Another major annoyance comes in the form of the camera that isn’t always great at giving you a good view during some dangerous moments during the platform bits as well as navigating through the puzzle mazes. 

The 50 puzzle mazes you’ll encounter in the game, though, are great. Gamers new to the series or returning fans will certainly find more than a few favorites in this game like Tongue Twister (where the long ramp looks like a waving tongue) as well as a few other innovative puzzles that will have you replaying them again and again. Unlocking monkey ball powers are also a good element that opens up some fun possibilities during the game’s story mode whether you unlock the ability to punch or catch on fire.

Four players can take each another on in six different party games that have you monkey boxing (called Monkey Fight) or racing Mario Kart style with Monkey Race. There’s also Monkey Target (flying to various targets), Monkey Bounce (bounce along the map in order to change the squares on the floor into your own color) and the new Monkey Cannon (firing monkey balls at your rival’s castle in order to steal their bricks). In addition, there’s Monkey Tag where you collect balloons or attempt to steal balloons from your opponent. Not only are the multiplayer games fun but also they’re the reason you will want to continue playing the game.

Super Monkey Ball Adventure looks decent enough on the GameCube, although we have seen better from this series. The five worlds look pleasantly colorful and while they’re not filled to the brim with astonishing detail, the worlds look good. The monkey animations are just Ok but at least the visual effects look good in action. There’s nothing quite like watching a monkey in a ball being shot out of a cannon. As for the game’s sound, though, this is where things fall apart. The game’s soundtrack isn’t bad at all even though it tends to repeat itself at times and the sound effects are pretty decent. What doesn’t work is the monkey voices that are composed of an odd gibberish that mixes in the word “Monkey!” and the even more annoying “Mon-Kiki!” Thank God for the mute button.

Even a strong love for cute monkey-related antics can’t hide the fact that Super Monkey Ball Adventure lacks the addictive nature of past games in the series and sadly makes this one a game you might want to skip. While you’ll find a number of great puzzles and some platform gaming goodness wedged in-between, the story-related missions and hub worlds just hold back the fun rather than enhance it. If you’re a hardcore fan of the series, you might want to rent but everyone else can just wait for a next-generation Super Monkey Ball game that should pop up on the Wii soon.

Gameplay: 6.2
The great news is that there are loads of puzzle stages that are not only innovative but also downright fun and a few story mode quests that make for some equally entertaining platform goodness. The bad news is that not all the story-related quests are fun and the story just serves to annoy. There are also framerate-stutter problems and really long load times.

Graphics: 6.5
This isn’t the prettiest Super Monkey Ball we’ve seen on the GameCube but it isn’t bad either. The backgrounds are wonderfully colorful and easy on the eyes and so are the funny little character animations. The visual effects work well but you cannot help but feel like the GC has seen better-looking games.

Sound: 4.0
No other game has made me reach for the mute button faster than this game and the second a monkey opens his or her mouth you will see why. Annoying monkey gibberish aside, the soundtrack isn’t bad at all, although it is a bit repetitive and the sound effects aren’t bad at all.

Difficulty: Medium
Some puzzles in the Puzzle Realm will really give you quite a challenge but there is nothing here that will really stump you. The various side-quests are the same way, although you will find easier quest objectives than some truly brain-twisting puzzles.

Concept: 6.2
If there’s one great thing that can be said about Super Monkey Ball Adventure it’s that there are a large number of extras to want to keep playing the game. There are a number of unlockable goodies like extra characters to unlock as well as party games worth sharing with up to three other friends. The Monkey Ball Powers add a nice twist to the platforming.

Multiplayer: 6.0
The multiplayer party games are actually fun and worth sharing with friends. Each game mode is nicely designed but the best mode just so happens to be the new Monkey Cannon mode. Plus, who doesn’t like a good monkey fight?

Overall: 5.9
Unfortunately, there’s nothing very super about Super Monkey Ball Adventure and that’s thanks to a poorly conceived story mode that takes us away from the familiar elements we love the most. While there are some fun side quests various characters will offer and loads of goodies just waiting to be unlocked, it’s the puzzles that are the star of the series so it’s sad to see them take a backseat to the mediocre platformer elements. Here’s hoping the series will return to what it does best … provide lots of challenging puzzles with our favorite monkey friends.