If I had a penny for every time I've played a game with both monkeys and balls... I'd be a very poor man. Now that I think about it, only a privleged few games have featured monkeys at all. The first that comes to mind, is the infamous Donkey Kong. Yes, the original arcade game. The one which introduced Mario (Known as Jump-Man, the carpenter in that game) and Donkey Kong amoung the gaming public. As we know, both these characters evolved into their own seperate and successful brands. I mean, Donkey Kong had a freaking cartoon made after it! And he's still around... Wait a sec... Where's our Gamecube Donkey Kong game? Curses...

Another game that features these primitive primates, was Ape Escape. As you can easily find out (by reading CheesyBoy's review), that too was a successful game. Well, it didn't have a cartoon made after it or anything... But still! But now, we have Sega's version. Considering how much more successful Donkey Kong was, there must be something special about monkeys and arcade games. Hey, Sega makes arcade games too! Hmmmm... Should be a perfect match, right? Well, Sega certainly took their monkeys in a whole 'nother direction. In Super Monkey Ball, the monkeys are placed in... well... balls... Inside these balls, they steer around small courses, searching for bananas. That's right, Bananas... And these aren't just any bananas! Yup, they're Dole bananas! Every single banana you collect has the Dole logo on it. Mmmmmmmm... Bananas...

The first time I had played this game was over at a friends house, so I needed very little introduction as to how to play it. However, I had only played one of the multi-player modes (Monkey Golf... ahah... Those were some good times, eh CheesyBoy?). But, I'll go through my first re-introduction to the game... So, I toss the GC disc (jeez... I still can't get used to how small these things are!) into the Gamecube. Yea... Nintendo logo... Sega Logo... (jeez... I still can't get used to seeing the two logos next to one another!) And now... A MONKEY APPEARS ON THE SCREEN!!!! Yeaaaa!!! The anticipatin builds... Monkeys AND balls in one game! So, I begin a game in regular mode, the one from the arcade. The first thing that strikes me, is the controls. They are... well... unique. I mean, it almost gives the sensation of steering the ball from the inside. But I digress... The first several levels weren't too difficult... The general idea was to cross the finish gate thingy, but collect as many bananas as possible on the way there. Simple, yet wierdly addictive. It's almost like a puzzle game in some ways, trying to navigate around increasingly difficult courses. And I was doing pretty well until I discovered the evil joy of pushing the monkey over the ledge, and causing it to fall to the ground, many miles below... Muwahahahahaha... er.... Yea, onto the review then!

As I've come to expect from Sega's arcade titles, the graphics are top notch. I mean, they're not realistic or mindblowing. They're just easy on the eyes. Hell, I never thought watching a monkey would be this enjoyable! Ok, I'll start describing the graphics rather than babbling on and on... ;) Due to the nature of this game, the graphics don't need to be incredibly detailed or insanely realistic. I mean, the areas you are navigating over, and thus what the Gamecube has to render polygon / texture wise, is rather small and insignificant. So, this game isn't maxing out the hardware or anything... But they're colorful! Lots of colors! And really cool water/ice/wave effects! Cool perks like that give them a good rating in my book.

Ok, I'll be blunt with you. This is a Sega game we're talking about. A Sega ARCADE games. I mean, come on, have you ever listened to the music in Virtua Fighter? As a matter of fact, anything from AM2? It's defined as "mediocre". It's just the sort of reputation that Sega has for arcade games. Well, this is sorta true with Super Monkey Ball. It's not bad, but it's not really good either. It's not incredibly bad on the ears. It's actually quite nice to listen to at times... Uggg, now I'm contradicting myself. Basically, it's all nice, simple, catchy tunes that somehow will slither their way into your mind and make you a slave... To a monkey... So, I'm stuck between giving it a so-so score for not being epic monkey music. Or giving it a 9 for just fitting in with the game, and being quite catchy. Ok, what the heck... I'll give it a 6.5.

Don't doubt the monkey. Monkey's are cool. We like monkeys. Monkey's in balls are even cooler. Monkey's in balls in arcade games are next to pure genius, I think. Ok. So, maybe it's true that monkey's aren't at the real core of the game. So, why is the game any good?

Let's start by saying, this is sort of a puzzle game. No, it's not like a jig-saw puzzle. In this sort of puzzle, you need navigate the monkey in the ball (thus, the name Super Monkey Ball) across a platform, which is suspended in mid-air, high above the ground. On this platform, there are many obstacles such as pits, blocks, and whatever that are in between you and your objective. This objective can be very different, depending on the gameplay mode. In the Arcade mode, the goal is to navigate across the platform, and cross the gate. During your journey, you can collect bananas which raise your score. It sounds simple, almost boring, but it can be really fun. Sort of. It's much more fun in multi-player form. Well, only if your obssesed with raising your score (which you can't do in multiplayer... *sniff*). Which you will really want to do, because it will unlock the various mini-games that ARE fun.

And before I go any further, let it be known that Super Monkey Ball has one of the most well done physics models I have ever seen in a game. It's neccesary for it to be good too, since much of the game would be mindless guessing games otherwise. In this game, you actually have to THINK about how hard you want to wack that ball, or at want angle you want it to bounce off a wall. And the best part is, it adds a great flavor to the gameplay. Something I can't really describe, but makes the whole experience very refreshing.

Alright, on the game modes. My personal favorite is monkey golf. Basically, its golf. You aim the monkey ball in a direction, input the amount of force you want to hit it with, and let 'er loose. It's best played with three friends, and alot of free time to play all 15 or so rounds. My second favorite, is Monkey Target. In this one, you launch the ball off a ramp, and use the opened up ball as a hang glider (you have to see to understand). You attempt to fly down onto a "point pad" which is floating on the water. If you land on one, you get whatever amount of points are listed on it. If you miss, you drown in the water. CLOSE THE BALL AND DONT DROWN THE MONKEY IF THIS HAPPENS!!! (It's a manner of honor, not neccesity). After this, there is Monkey Billiards, Monkey Bowling, Monkey Race, and Monkey Fight. All of these come together to offer a great variety of multiplayer gameplay.

However, there is a downside to all of this. It's still can't deny it's arcade origins. I personally have trouble sitting down and playing this game solo for any decent amount of time. It's fun, but it's an arcade... Made for short bursts of pleasure. Multiplayer, on the other hand, is lots of fun. Sadly though, this game doesn't appeal to everyone for some reason, which I haven't quite figured out. But other than that, its still a fun game.

I like the Gamecube controller. That's a well known fact. It's like a breath of fresh air, after you leave the school locker room. The control for Monkeyball is good. There are some unique points in the game, where the control affects both your character and the enviorment at the same time. They can be a pain, but really interesting to play with. The camera follows the control stick, so the camera will dip when you move from side to side. But, in general, the control is pretty decent. You'll need good thumb reflexes, because some of the levels require almost perfect precision in navigation. Thankfull, in times like these, the control delivers... Provided that you've practiced a bit. Yes, the control is a bit may be a bit of a challenge to learn, but that's part of the fun.

Although the single player mode isn't the deepest or long lasting gameplay experience ever, the multiplayer more than makes up for it. You laugh at the fact that you're navigating a monkey, and cry at the fact that you lost your 130th round to your best friends. Overall, this is fun aracde game. Exactly what we expect from Sega.

+ MULTIPLAYER MODE!!!

+ Awesome physics make gameplay fresh and fun

- Single player mode, doesn't last long

? Are they really monkeys? The look more like chimps.

Overall (not an average): 7.5/10
In the end, its one of the best multiplayer games for Gamecube.