Super Monkey Ball is back for one it's best installments in years! Could of used a main game multi-player though.
First thing is the gameplay. In the main game you tilt the remote to move the stage around and then when need be you tap the A button to fling your Monkey Ball up in the air. There is a total of 6 characters, two of which are brand new additions to the Monkey Ball games. The story, well I guess something stole some golden bananas or something, the story is not what you're playing Monkey Ball for so let's just skip it. But one of the coolest features to the game are the new boss battles. The are challenging and fun at the same time.
The mini-games are fun, crazy, and sometimes clunky. While most of the 50 mini-games work like a charm, several of them don't stand up very well. One in praticular, Monkey Bowling, is severely disappointing due to the lack of crazy lanes we came to know in previous installments. And while mini-games are fine and dandy, there is no mode that allows you to play the regular style of game with more than one player. A HUGE disappointment.
The graphics in the game are near flawless, not perfect mind you, but near flawless, and the mild cel shading brings a feel like you were coloring a book in elementary school, unaware of what was happening around you. Then you realize the timer is running out of time and I better get going. The only time there are some mistakes are when you see the insides of the boss. But these mild graphical glitches occur in many many many many games.
The sound in the game is wonderful. All the music tracks fit the theme of the stage you're on perfectly. Even the Wiimote speaker is used well in most of the mini games. The only complaint could be the lack of use of the wiimote speaker in places that it would make perfect sense to use it.
Replay value in the game is greatly enhanced by the multi-player alone, but the single player mode will have you replaying some of the more fun levels over and over again. Also you may fallout and lose many many times throughout the game, but while it is frustrating it is also not like "GAHHHH I CAN'T PLAY THIS ANYMORE" it's more of a "haha let's try that again" thing that'll keep you playing for hours on end.
All in all this game is a fun addition to any Wii owner's collection and is more than enough to hold you off until the next great epic game comes out. This titles is worth the next-gen price tag of 60 dollars but thanks to the smart guys at Nintendo you will only be required to cough up 50 for it. And it's worth every penny.