If you have friends who hate puzzle games or short minigames,don't get this for it's multiplayer cause' they'll hate it.
This game is easy to pick up and play from start.Even if you've never played a Monkey Ball game before,you'll find it incredibly easy since basically you're only needed to move the left analog stick and move the ball to the end while collecting some yellow fruit on the way.
You also get 12 minigames,all multiplayer enabled.The multiplayer in this game is quite good actually.you'll probably be playing the minigames' multiplayer more than the actual ball-roling game.
The graphics in the cutscenes are pretty nice to look at (by no means is it realistic) and the graphics in the game itself are rendered with colourful (That's colorful for you Americans) blocks and the backgrounds for the areas look pretty good.
As for the sound,it's not exactly impressive,but they do the job pretty well.You get monkey screams,bumps,pops and other odd sounds.
Now for the negatives.The story mode gets VERY difficult after a while,and you might stop playing because the gameplay is very repetitive.
Multiplayer on the actual game is fun for a while,but since you don't get all the selectable stages in story mode,you will get bored after a while.And like I said earlier,if your friends hate puzzle games,skill games or short minigames,this game will not impress them much.The minigames are pretty limited in choices and options,and they don't have much longevity so you'll probably get bored of them after playing them or countless rounds.
The music in this game are usually unappropriate.There is no voiceacting,though the monkeytalks do sound a little like japanese.It would've been nicer to have real voiceacting and not reading off wordbubbles.That's what comics are for.And the monkey screams get VERY annoying after a while since you keep hearing the same yell over and over againwhen you fall down.
Bottomline is if you like puzzle,skill or party games,just get this game but if you want really good and long singleplayer experiences,go look for another game.