Sega have done well, but seriously, how much can you do with a monkey in a ball.

User Rating: 6.4 | Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz WII
For those who have not played a Super Monkey Ball game before, it revolves around a monkey in a ball (what a surprise) rolling along paths, around obstacles and across ledges without falling off. After choosing one of the six monkeys on offer, you'll progress through eight worlds, each with their own visual style. Each world has eight levels and a boss battle. No, that's not a typo; you actually have to fight bosses. The first three worlds are very simple, the fourth starts to get interesting and the fifth begins to get hard. Each level runs on a trial and error basis where you must attempt each level until completed. And many attempts you will have, especially towards the end, often resulting in extreme frustration. Luckily you can choose to do levels in any order you wish within the same world.

Tilting the Wii remote actually tilts the world, allowing your monkey to roll down the slope you have created and although there is only so much you can do with a monkey in a ball it seems Sega aren't quite tapping into the puzzle potential. Graphically it is cartoony and simple though sharp and vibrant and does the job. For most part the music is made up of eighties electric guitar wailing with a dance beat and is just plain annoying.

Some of the levels are good; though rolling a ball along ledges begins to get uninteresting after a while. You can be grateful that there is a multiplayer and it's an integral part of the game and not just tacked on. With no less than fifty minigames on offer, this should be the ultimate party game. And if fifty sounds overwhelming, that's because it is. It will take a while to try every mini-game available and for most of them you will be wondering why Amusement Vision even bothered. There are Monkey Ball versions of all the Wii Sports games though you probably wont play them, as they are far inferior to the Wii Sports versions. Amusement Vision should have concentrated on making about twenty good games instead of fifty bad to average games. The best games in the bunch are a bit of fun though you probably wont play them more than a couple of times as they aren't nearly as good as some multiplayer games out there. Mariokart or Smash Bros. anyone?