Super Monkey Ball 2 is somewhat of a paradox; Story Mode too hard for casual players, Party Games too simple for gamers.
Monkeys make everything better
Graphics (12.5%) - 8
Controls (15%) - 9
Variety (25%) - 8.5
Replay (25%) - 7
Sound (7.5%) - 7.5
Depth (15%) - 6.5
OVERALL - 7.76
Graphics - 8
The characters and worlds are very colourful and are well done, but there's absolutely no wow-factor here. The camera is solid and the view level, while touchy, is very helpful. The multiplayer games have less detail to them, but it's not really anything you'll notice.
Controls - 9
For a game called Super Monkey Ball 2, there isn't a much better compliment that saying that the ball physics are excellent. You are controlling a ball, and it always feels as though you're controlling a ball. The controls are very, very simple for the single player; move the ball with the left analog stick. That is all. There can be some camera issues, but overall it does its job well. For the party games, the controls are simple as well, although there is, of course, more functionality. Some of the games, though, particularly monkey boat and monkey fight, you can feel a bit out of control.
Variety - 8.5
Super Monkey Ball has two halves to it: main game and party games, which are completely different in gameplay. Main game is broken down into Story Mode and Challenge Mode. In story mode, you guide the monkey across the finish tape (which there can be more than one of), getting points for how quickly you reach it. Also along the way, you can collect bananas, which have no purpose other than high-score for the completion of the six-hour game (length is simply based off my completion time). For a numeric value on things, you have sixty seconds to complete each level; there are 10 levels in each world, and 10 worlds in total. The levels are very creative, and range from mind-numbingly simple to controller-smashingly difficult. Basically take marble madness and update the graphics and controls to get a good idea of what Main Game brings. Challenge Mode is simply beating a set number of levels as fast as you can with a set number of lives; you can choose Easy, Medium or Hard. I bow to he who can complete Hard.
Party Games offer 12 different games, ranging from tennis to a rail shooter. They include Baseball, Soccer, Tennis, Billiards, Bowling, Golf, Race, Boat, Fight, Target, Shot, and Dogfight. Baseball isn't exactly baseball; it's more like those toy baseball games that you spin the bat to try and hit the ball into different pockets; once you get the hang of it, it becomes much to easy to rack up the runs. Soccer, Tennis, Golf, Billiards and Bowling are what you'd expect, except in Soccer you move in only 8 directions and in Bowling there are various "crazy" lanes. Race is probably the worst kart-like racer you'll ever play. Boat has you controlling a boat with two paddles that you alternate; it takes some getting used to but can become addicting. Fight has you releasing spring fists to try and knock your opponents off of one of three "rings". Target is a game in which you fly then try and land on different targets for more points. Shot is a very bland rail-shooter. And Dogfight is self-explanatory. Overall, Soccer, Tennis, Bowling and Fight are well above their counterparts in quality. Each game offers AI, which is a huge plus.
Replay - 7
Getting through the story mode, while short in numerical time, feels lengthy. What feels artificial about the length is that simply beating the Story Mode won't garner enough points to unlock all of the Party Games, which is a hassle. Where I see replay value coming from are the Party Games, which you're sure to find at least a couple to enjoy. But if you like sports games, you probably already have far superior versions, and the Party Games feel like glorified Mario Party games. Fun for a while, but the games will grow tiresome. Basically, there's an assortment of games you've played better versions of previously. That's not to say the games aren't any good or aren't fun; they're actually quite fun with friends, but you'll probably feel as though you'd rather being playing a full game and not the stripped-down Monkey version. Super Monkey Ball 2 is somewhat of a paradox -- Story Mode too hard for casual players, Party Games too simple for gamers.
Sound - 7.5
The monkeys sound absolutely adorable, and are easily the highlight of the sound. They don't actually talk, but rather monkey talk; basically just saying "monkey" in different ways (except in their magical monkey chant in-between each world), much as pokémon do in the animated series. The actually music in the Story Mode is a bit repetitive and on occasion annoying, especially because each song is in the same semi-techno style. The Party Game music is better.
Depth - 6.5
You could chalk the Story Mode difficulty up to depth, but it continually boils down to trial-and-error until you catch a break and hit the finish line. The Party Games, naturally, fall into the simplistic range.
Overall - 7.76
Party Games basically boil down to this and Mario Party, so Super Monkey Ball 2 is not a bad choice at all. Where Mario Party may have 70 games, most lose their fun after a couple plays, while Super Monkey Ball 2 has longer-lasting games. It all balances out to a fun, although on occasion shallow, game.