What’s it all about?
Monkeys in balls! And needless to say, they’re super. Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz is the first Wii incarnation of Sega’s much-loved rolling-simian simulation, and it’s shaping up to be a cracker.

The basic aim is still to roll a monkey in a ball around colourful landscapes, while collecting bananas and avoiding falling to your doom. The game is a mixture of single-player puzzle levels, and multiplayer ‘party games’.

Should I be excited?

Most definitely. It’s easy to get to grips with, as you tilt the landscape in order to move your monkey (and don’t worry, it’s way easier than that clunky description makes it sound). But if previous versions of Super Monkey Ball are anything to go by, the puzzle levels will be truly fiendish once you get a little way into the game.

Sega is promising a huge amount of levels, plus some new features. For example, there’s going to be boss levels, where you have to defeat bosses rather than find your way through a maze.

Does it do nifty stuff with the Wii-mote controller?

Oh yes. One completely new feature is the way the different monkeys can jump, with a quick flick of your wrist using the Wii-mote. This isn’t just for show either. Jumping brings a whole new dynamic to the game, opening up new shortcuts and possibilities. Plus it looks cool, of course.

Any good multiplayer features?

Just those 50 new party games, which are ideal for you and a bunch of mates to monkey yourselves silly with. They’re called things like ‘Fish Catch’, ‘Hurdle Race’ and ‘Ring Toss’, with each offering a completely different (and often suitably ridiculous) gameplay experience. To read more, I’d point you in the direction of IGN, which has run individual previews on a bunch of the party games.

Anything else I should know?

There’s two new monkeys to play, called YanYan and Doctor, in addition to the existing four of AiAi, MeeMee, GonGon and Baby.

In previous games, which monkey you played didn’t really make a big difference, but on Banana Blitz, they have different strengths and weaknesses in categories like acceleration, speed and jumping ability.

When’s it out?

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz is one of the Wii’s launch games, so you’ll be able to get your hands on it on 8th December.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, November 5th, 2006 at 10:59 am by Stuart Dredge
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