We thought this was the extent of the monkey's appearance. That was until Eyetoy: Monkey Mania arrived. Eyetoy: Monkey Mania takes the monkeys from Ape Escape, utilises the Eyetoy and mixes in some elements from Mario Party. So, is it any good, or yet another quick fix Eyetoy game that tires quicker than you can say Pipos?
Eyetoy: Monkey Mania takes the Eyetoy concept and turns it into a board game. The object of the game is to play through the stage by spinning a roulette wheel. Every time a player makes a move they will land on a space, which could either signify a battle game, penalise a player, reward a player or trigger an event. Every action will award or remove pipos from the player. To climb up each part of the mountain, the player must obtain a certain amount of pipos, and there are generally three stories to each level. Every level varies, but the aim remains the same.
Players are able to buy traps to detract other players, descend down the mountain to win bigger, or just try to be the first to the top. The decision is with the player.
Some of the items you can buy (these are purchased from the item shop, which appears a few times during each story) include a fire extinguisher, home run bat and ballet shoes. Just like many board games, Monkey Mania can very often be a game of luck.
Oh, doesn't this look like fun!
Eyetoy: Monkey Mania features over fifty mini games and support for up to four players. Each player can save their profile to the memory card with a little photo, so it is a great party game - just like many of the Eyetoy titles. Although there are fifty mini games, they aren't necessarily any good, and we found that most of the games weren't that great.
We've included a full list of the mini-games, because just reading them can often be pretty self explanatory to what kind of mini-game it is:
- Simian Stylist
- Crash and Burn!
- Hockey Havoc
- Rolling Snowball
- Buoyant Balloon
- Jam Session
- Down the Chute
- Footprint Patrol
- Endangered Species
- Balloon Battle
- Hide The Banana!
- Peekaboo Pipo
- Push and Shove
- Barbells for Life
- Monkeys at Work
- Monkey Jumper
- Bananas or Bust
- Home Run
- Smack the Monkey
- The Great Ape Escape
- Pant Puller
- Ice Crusher
- Scratch Silly
- Coffee Carousel
- Who Doesn't Belong?
- Karate Master
- Card Flinger
- Ten Pin King
- Bomb Hockey
- Jam Session 2
- Exploding Pant Challenge
- Bust Out
- Bust Out 2
- Sillier Scratching
- Crash and Burn 2
- Crash and Cone
- Snowball Long Haul
- Rolling Stone
- Buoyant Balloon 2
- Deep-sea Diver
- Balloons and Spikes
- Column Jumper
- Hop Skip Jump
- Look Out Batter!
- Fierce Tops
- Who Doesn't Belong? 2
- Ninja Monkeys
- Target Bowler
- MORE Bananas or Bust!
- Run like the Wind
Aside from the board game mode players can go back and replay any mini game they have completed in the past; there is no real inspiration to do this and we doubt anyone would play these mini games alone. So, aside from the board game there really isn't much to keep the player entertained. Whilst Monkey Mania really is great fun in 4 player mode, it completely lets itself down in the single player mode. Just like in Mario Party, playing these kinds of games by yourself just isn't any good, and if we chose to play an Eyetoy game by ourselves, it definitely wouldn't be Monkey Mania.
The game play is pretty slow as well; at times we really found ourselves groaning at just how boring the upcoming mini game is. Two of our least favourite mini games are Jam Session (tap the music in line with the record) and Run Like the Wind (tap the left and right feet to make your monkey run faster). Some of the games feel like they have been developed in ten seconds and that's how long it will take to get bored of the mini game.
This kid seems to be enjoying the game.
The graphics in the game are pretty poor and it definitely doesn't look like a Playstation 2 game. The graphics are really basic and we suspect the Ape Escape game on the PSP will look better than this, or at least we hope it will. The highlight of the game is the level introduction, which does an acceptable pan of the level players are about to play; however, the monkeys are poorly animated and the mini games look really basic. Eyetoy games don't generally have fantastic graphics, but for a title to look like a Playstation One game this late in the Playstation 2's lifespan is not impressive.
The monkeys' laughing and the pretty average music basically ruins the entire game; "Why can't we be friends?" features as a song in one of the mini-games, and if that doesn't summarise how basic the sound is, nothing does.
The game has unlockable mini games (over fifty to unlock) and unlockable levels so it should last a long time. However, like most Eyetoy games, the appeal doesn't last too long and chances are this will be dragged out every now and then for the novelty. This isn't the kind of game you can sit down with by yourself for hours and be immersed in, but what Eyetoy game is like that?
Eyetoy: Monkey Mania could have been so much better. We will admit having our apprehensions, as we always do when we see a title that we haven't heard much about; however, just because we haven't heard much about a game doesn't mean it will be average. It is just that, in this instance, it is.
Push the boxes... very challenging really.
Eyetoy: Monkey Mania features poor graphics and sound, and game play that seems very familiar; the only place the game really shines is in multiplayer, but the Eyetoy camera already has a lot of games that are great in multiplayer, and they are a lot better than this game. Unfortunately, Eyetoy: Monkey Mania is another game we can add to the list of average Eyetoy titles.
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