Super Monkey Ball was a launch title for the Gamecube in Japan in 2001. The premise of the game is simple, you play as a monkey in a ball, trying to navigate through a series of stages and reach the goal. It is very similar to Marble Madness but with monkeys. A sequel was released a year later, and whilst it wasn't that much different, it gave fans exactly what they wanted; more stages and more party games.
Four years after the original appeared in Japan (and after an N-Gage version and a Gameboy Version) Playstation 2 and Xbox owners finally have been treated to Super Monkey Ball Deluxe. As if the wait wasn’t long enough, PAL gamers actually had to wait another six months, but the conversion has been brilliant. The compilation contains all the stages from the original game, as well as all the stages from its sequel. Sega have also developed fifty bonus stages exclusively for the game. This takes the total amount of stages to three hundred.
Look at that cute monkey!
The party games were often a great distraction from the main mode, and twelve of them have made the transition to this game. Some of the party games have actually had an upgrade of their own. The twelve games are Monkey Race DX, Monkey Fight DX, Monkey Target DX, Monkey Boat, Monkey Shot, Monkey Dogfight, Monkey Soccer, Monkey Baseball, Monkey Tennis, Mario Golf DX, Monkey Bowling and Monkey Billiards DX. These party games can be played one player, but are much more fun in multiplayer.
A new challenge mode has also been included in the game, which integrates skill, rather than selecting three difficulty settings the game gradually steps up the difficulty. This is better than just choosing a difficulty level, so we hope this mode remains in any future Monkey Ball titles.
The main mode of the game is still the story mode. Super Monkey Ball 2 implemented a storyline, and this has made it into the game. In the game Dr. Bad-boon (who is an evil scientist) has stolen all the bananas on the island, this sends the four monkeys Aiai, Meemee, Baby, and Gongon to go after Dr. Bad-Boon and navigate the mazes that they come across. The story is about as much as you can expect from a game where you roll monkeys around in a ball.
The story mode itself is broken down into worlds, all of the worlds are themed, such as magmas and water. Players need to complete ten of the maps to go onto the next world and progress in the storyline. Thus, in the last few worlds it is possible that the player has only completed about half of the possible stages.
The game play is where the game really excels. This game is just as addictive, and just as easy to pick up (and control thankfully) as it was in 2001. Failing the first time you attempt a level is nearly guaranteed, but the game keeps calling you back. Aside from the main mode the party games are most good, with monkey boat being the noticeably boring party game, that seems very out of place with eleven other really good party games.
So many selections
Super Monkey Ball has never been about the graphics. Whilst the graphics are fairly simple, the game runs at a very smooth frame-rate, which is the most important thing for a game like this. There is next to no loading, which ensures that the game is very free-flowing. The monkeys look good, and clear and it is visually easy to tell this is a Sega game. The game is very colourful, with the levels looking very vibrant.
The sound takes a big backstep in this game, quietly fading in the background. However, the monkey’s are very easy to hear, if not a little too easy to hear. The monkey voices scream over the quiet music.
The game itself will take an incredibly long time to complete. In single player there is the challenge mode, the story mode and twelve party games, which all feature their own objectives. Multiplayer can easily double the lifespan, with party mode being an easy way to lose the entire afternoon. Unfortunately there is no online component of the game, which seriously could have made this the ultimate multiplayer game. Due to Monkey Ball;s addictiveness, coaxing people to play with you is not exactly hard either.
This is wheely fun
We’ve also heard that if you had to choose between the Xbox or Playstation 2 versions of the game, it would be advisable to pick up the Xbox version, as it is said to have smoother loading and a more stable frame-rate.
Super Monkey Ball Deluxe isn’t a surprising game, we were expecting an addictive pick up and play title and we got exactly that. The single player mode is extensive enough to play solo, whereas the multiplayer mode is so well developed that it is like twelve multiplayer games in one. Those who owned the Gamecube versions may be a little more wary about picking the game up, but for those who have always wanted to try Monkey Ball on the Gamecube, this is the perfect opportunity. Prepare to be lost for hours in this game, either single player or multiplayer.
I'd dread to think how the PS2 version plays 
) Thanks for the information guys. 
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