Super Monkey Ball Adventure – GC – Review

The Super
Monkey Ball franchise just proves that adding monkeys to your Marble
Madness-inspired puzzle game makes for good time because – let’s face it –
what gamer doesn’t like great puzzles and controlling monkeys encased in a
protective bubble? Yet the main reason the franchise is so addictive is the
variety of race-to-the-finish-line-style puzzles that require some thought to
complete successfully. Super Monkey Ball Adventure for the GameCube is
the latest addition to the franchise but, sadly enough, this isn’t the best game
in the series to grace our favorite cube.

Instead of
relying on the things that worked the first time around, Super Monkey Ball
Adventure included a Story Mode that spins a confusing and uninteresting
lengthy tale of returning monkey favorites AiAi, GonGon, Baby and MeeMee (known
by long-time fans as the Super Monkey Ball Team) who are sent out into the five
kingdoms in Monearth to bring joy to the monkey populace that has been bummed
out lately. Sent by the King, your quest takes you through Jungle Island as well
as areas like Zootopia, Moonhaven as well as Monkitropolis while completing
tasks for various monkeys you might encounter. 

The problem with
the game’s Story Mode isn’t the various side quests (most of them are actually
fun while others just fall flat) or the poor storytelling but it’s the fact that
the story elements just keep gamers from jumping into the Puzzle Realm to
complete the familiar Super Monkey Ball puzzles fans of the series have
come to love. In this game, the puzzles can only be reached by entering a hub
that transports you to a puzzle but to get there you have to open up new areas
on the world map. This is too bad since the puzzles are actually inventive and
really entertaining. It also makes going back to replay a favorite puzzle a
royal pain. 

You’ll encounter
a number of monkey friends who will offer quests for you to complete. Often it’s
just fetch quests that are easy enough to complete while others require some
work to complete successfully. For example, one monkey might ask you to collect
bees that managed to escape from him so you’ll be breaking beehives by landing
on them. In another quest, you’re asked to wake the sleeping guards high up in
the trees by being shot from a cannon to hit a set of massive gongs. Other
quests just aren’t fun at all like the ones where you need to hand over a set
number of bananas or pose for a picture for the local photographer. Sorry, Sega,
but these platformer bits just serve to alienate older gamers who have enjoyed a
series that caters to gamers of all ages.

While we’re
focusing on the negative, another major gripe I have comes in the form of the
framerate. The game’s fast pace of the game is held back by the occasional
framerate stutter. This becomes particularly annoying when it happens at crucial
moments like when you’re bouncing on a flower or navigating through a thin
pathway. Another major annoyance comes in the form of the camera that isn’t
always great at giving you a good view during some dangerous moments during the
platform bits as well as navigating through the puzzle mazes. 

The 50 puzzle
mazes you’ll encounter in the game, though, are great. Gamers new to the series
or returning fans will certainly find more than a few favorites in this game
like Tongue Twister (where the long ramp looks like a waving tongue) as well as
a few other innovative puzzles that will have you replaying them again and
again. Unlocking monkey ball powers are also a good element that opens up some
fun possibilities during the game’s story mode whether you unlock the ability to
punch or catch on fire.

Four players can
take each another on in six different party games that have you monkey boxing
(called Monkey Fight) or racing Mario Kart style with Monkey Race.
There’s also Monkey Target (flying to various targets), Monkey Bounce (bounce
along the map in order to change the squares on the floor into your own color)
and the new Monkey Cannon (firing monkey balls at your rival’s castle in order
to steal their bricks). In addition, there’s Monkey Tag where you collect
balloons or attempt to steal balloons from your opponent. Not only are the
multiplayer games fun but also they’re the reason you will want to continue
playing the game.

Super Monkey
Ball Adventure
looks decent enough on the GameCube, although we have seen better
from this series. The five worlds look pleasantly colorful and while they’re not
filled to the brim with astonishing detail, the worlds look good. The monkey
animations are just Ok but at least the visual effects look good in action.
There’s nothing quite like watching a monkey in a ball being shot out of a
cannon. As for the game’s sound, though, this is where things fall apart. The
game’s soundtrack isn’t bad at all even though it tends to repeat itself at
times and the sound effects are pretty decent. What doesn’t work is the monkey
voices that are composed of an odd gibberish that mixes in the word “Monkey!”
and the even more annoying “Mon-Kiki!” Thank God for the mute button.

Even a strong
love for cute monkey-related antics can’t hide the fact that Super Monkey
Ball Adventure lacks the addictive nature of past games in the series and
sadly makes this one a game you might want to skip. While you’ll find a number
of great puzzles and some platform gaming goodness wedged in-between, the
story-related missions and hub worlds just hold back the fun rather than enhance
it. If you’re a hardcore fan of the series, you might want to rent but everyone
else can just wait for a next-generation Super Monkey Ball game that
should pop up on the Wii soon.

Gameplay: 6.2
The great news
is that there are loads of puzzle stages that are not only innovative but also
downright fun and a few story mode quests that make for some equally
entertaining platform goodness. The bad news is that not all the story-related
quests are fun and the story just serves to annoy. There are also framerate-stutter
problems and really long load times.

Graphics: 6.5
This isn’t the
prettiest Super Monkey Ball we’ve seen on the GameCube but it isn’t bad
either. The backgrounds are wonderfully colorful and easy on the eyes and so are
the funny little character animations. The visual effects work well but you
cannot help but feel like the GC has seen better-looking games.

Sound: 4.0
No other game
has made me reach for the mute button faster than this game and the second a
monkey opens his or her mouth you will see why. Annoying monkey gibberish aside,
the soundtrack isn’t bad at all, although it is a bit repetitive and the sound
effects aren’t bad at all.

Difficulty:
Medium
Some puzzles
in the Puzzle Realm will really give you quite a challenge but there is nothing
here that will really stump you. The various side-quests are the same way,
although you will find easier quest objectives than some truly brain-twisting
puzzles.

Concept: 6.2

If there’s one
great thing that can be said about Super Monkey Ball Adventure it’s that
there are a large number of extras to want to keep playing the game. There are a
number of unlockable goodies like extra characters to unlock as well as party
games worth sharing with up to three other friends. The Monkey Ball Powers add a
nice twist to the platforming.

Multiplayer:
6.0
The
multiplayer party games are actually fun and worth sharing with friends. Each
game mode is nicely designed but the best mode just so happens to be the new
Monkey Cannon mode. Plus, who doesn’t like a good monkey fight?

Overall: 5.9
Unfortunately,
there’s nothing very super about Super Monkey Ball Adventure and that’s
thanks to a poorly conceived story mode that takes us away from the familiar
elements we love the most. While there are some fun side quests various
characters will offer and loads of goodies just waiting to be unlocked, it’s the
puzzles that are the star of the series so it’s sad to see them take a backseat
to the mediocre platformer elements. Here’s hoping the series will return to
what it does best … provide lots of challenging puzzles with our favorite monkey
friends.