Super Monkey Ball

(Super) Monkey Ball is an arcade platform game developed by Amusement Vision and distributed by Sega featuring 4 characters (3 in the arcade version) named Aiai, Meemee, Baby and (appearing only in the console versions) Gongon. The game debuted in Japan in 2001 as an upright arcade cabinet called simply "Monkey Ball" (which featured a banana-shaped joystick) and later that year was released as one of the three original Nintendo GameCube games.

Main Game

The objective of the main game is to guide a monkey character encased in a ball (hence the name "Monkey Ball") across a suspended series of platforms and through a goal. The main game is very simplistic--in fact the only control required is the directional analog stick. By moving the joystick, the player actually tilts the entire set of platforms that make up the level, called the floor, and the monkey ball rolls accordingly (hence, you don't control the character itself). Although practically this is virtually indistinguishable from actively moving the ball, it is revealed subtly in the general tilt of the camera when turning. While moving across the floor the player can collect bananas by rolling into them to score points and attempt to earn an extra life (earned at every 100 bananas). If the monkey ball rolls off the floor it is a fall out and the player loses a life. If the player can complete all of the floors in beginner, advanced, or expert difficulty without using a continue (10 floors in beginner difficulty, 30 in advanced, 50 in expert), extra floors are unlocked. Finishing all of the floors in the expert difficulty (including the extra floors) without using a continue unlocks the master difficulty, which contains ten ridiculously difficult levels. Very few people have seen the final master level, and it can be safely assumed that very few people ever will.

Strategy

Bananas are worth 100 points each and time left on the floor timer is valued at 100 points per second if finishing with less than half of time remaining or 200 points per second if finishing with more than half of time remaining. Thus, it is advantageous to make detours for additional bananas if it will take less than 1 second or 0.5 seconds per banana respectively. It may also be appropriate to sacrifice time and points if the player is close to reaching 100 bananas and an extra life.

Party Games

The GameCube version, known as "Super" Monkey Ball includes three party games for up to four players.

Monkey Race

Monkey Race is a lap racing game combining elements of the main game and racing classics like Mario Kart. There are a total of 6 tracks - Jungle Circuit, Aqua Offroad, Sky Downtown, Warp Pipe Tunnel, Frozen Highway, and Speed Desert.

A short cut has been found in the course Sky Downtown. The short cut is that a player must go over the speed boost right before the tunnel then go straight. The player will then crash into the sign and go into the tunnel.

Monkey Fight

Monkey Fight places four monkey balls with attached boxing gloves in a king-of-the-hill punching battle. There are three different battle arenas - a jungle stage, an ice stage, and a space stage.

Items are sometimes dropped during the game to enhance gameplay of a character. For instance, one item enables your Punch to be more powerful, and another enables your boxing glove to have a longer reach, and one final one enables your boxing glove to act like a Twister and hit opponents in a circular motion.

Monkey Target

Perhaps most original of the three, Monkey Target is an accuracy game in which the monkey ball is launched off a large ramp and splits in half to form wings, which the player must guide over a large body of water to floating targets of varying point values.

Monkey Target may appear simple at first but there is actually a great deal of depth. Upon further inspection of levels, one will notice little buoy type objects in the water. These are each worth 500 points, much more than any other part of the boards. Using sticky ball or magnet ball these become fairly easy to land on, but the ultimate challenge comes in landing on them without the use of any items, also known as "freeballing" it, or "dry pole-ing it".

Free balling is very difficult at first and requires lots of patience to master. Traditionally, in order to attain the low amount of speed needed to land on the buoys without rolling off, the wind must be against the player and rather high; above 10 miles per hour is optimal. "Sticking it" with a zero wind, or even backwind is possible, but incredibly difficult, and considered by many to be the apex of Monkey Target skills.

Mini Games

Three minigames are also featured in the GameCube release, based upon actual games and sports. These games must be unlocked by earning play points gained by repeated play of the main game.

Monkey Billiards

Monkey Billiards is a 9-ball pool game.

Monkey Bowling

This a stylized arcade version of the sport that features two modes. One normal mode and another mode called Challenge Mode where you can try your best to clear different bowling lanes whereby the lane moves around in various different ways.

Monkey Golf

This is an arcade miniature golf game. The monkey characters are of course prominently featured in the balls traditionally used to play these games!

Popularity

The popularity of the simple game in Japan, the United States and Europe has led to several sequels and ports: Super Monkey Ball 2 for the GameCube; Deluxe for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, which included levels from both GameCube releases plus original levels, as well as updating the party games; Super Monkey Ball Jr., a release for Nintendo Game Boy Advance based on the original title; a release under the original title for the Nokia N-Gage gaming system; and a release for the Nintendo DS entitled Super Monkey Ball Touch & Roll. It is also featured in the Sega SuperStars Eye Toy game for the PlayStation 2. The franchise will take a new direction in the upcoming Super Monkey Ball Adventure developed by Traveller's Tales for all platforms. Also scheduled for release in 2006 is Banana Blitz, exclusively for the Wii console.

Trivia

Aiai was also the Japanese name for Coconuts, an enemy from Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
The bananas in the game feature advertising for the Dole Food Company.

External links

Super Monkey Ball | Super Monkey Ball

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