Choose your monkey!

If you think of Sega Genesis, you think of Sonic. If you think of Nintendo NES, you think of Mario. If you think of Nokia N-gage, the question is: what do you think of? At the time of release for N-gage in 2003, everyone didn't really think of much at all. That's because this system never came out with a genre-defining game that clearly place N-gage apart from the rest. N-gage's opening game library showed the world that Nokia knew how to bring the graphics but not necessarily the value (nor presentation) you'd expect from a true 32-bit handheld. But having already been on Gameboy Advance, and with the constant claims from devout gameboy loyalists about the advance version being the best, not to mention being seen everywhere for all systems (even today), Super Monkey Ball for N-gage fell through the sand hardly being noticed as a hardcore reason to get an N-gage. In fact, until I saw the opportunity to review it at our very own http://www.epinions.com here, I almost forgot it even existed. So if you're a new N-gager eager to discover the best games N-gage has to offer, allow me to give you the low-down on Super Monkey Ball so that you can decide.

WHAT IS SUPER MONKEY BALL?: Are you kidding??? What ROCK have you been living under???? Well, Super Monkey Ball is a home game that debuted on the Nintendo gamecube and is derived from the critically acclaimed Arcade game where players move a virtual landscape around by tilting it in any direction while a tiny monkey inside a transparent rolling ball moves across the little narrow roads of the landscape. If you're not careful, your monkey will fall off the platform and you'll lose a turn.

The concept of this game itself is ultimately derived from the classic wooden board game we all remember in which a small marble is moved around a wooden maze board that the player tilts around to make the marble reach the finish hole.


ON N-GAGE AND PROUD OF IT: Super Monkey Ball is certainly, in some ways, a proud addition of N-gage and one of their showcased titles at E3 and EB/Gamestop stores across America. Despite what super-freak Nintendo fans may assure you, the N-gage version certainly defeats the Advance version in the graphics department. The polygonal count is larger, more colorful, and more detailed, not to mention more realistic looking and much prettier to look at. The one advantage of the advance version is that it moves a bit smoother and faster (just a bit, mind you. Just a bit).

As far as how it controls, both N-gage and Gameboy Advance feel just fine. Personally, the disc-like feel of N-gage's pad is always preferrable to me. Steering the monkey around feels precise enough to get the hang of it really fast. The 5 key can be held down to really speed up how fast you roll, and pulling back while pressing it acts as a brake that keeps you from rolling out of control. Everything feels pretty good. I guess 1 star is deserved.

WAIT! NO 2-PLAYER MODE!?!?!?!!?: There is no multiplayer mode. Considering the N-gage version features 4-player mini-game events, why in the world would they not include the ability to play bluetooth wirelessly against other players??????? Pretty stupid! That takes away a whole star of this review.

DO YOU GET A LOT TO DO?: Well, once you go past the gorgeously colorful title screen, you have two simple choices. Main Game, and Mini-games. In the Main Game, you can choose from Normal Mode, in which you can play through 10 levels in Easy Mode, 15 levels in Normal Mode, 20 levels in Expert Mode, and a special unlockable for completing all 45 levels), and Practice Mode where you can practice any level you want to. Levels in Practice mode, however, are only available upon having reached them in Normal Mode.

Every level is somewhat challenging and definitely will keep any severe Monkey Ball fan happy when there's literally nothing to do. But these levels, I feel, are not so challenging that you can't beat them after trying a couple times. But also, you can acheive a perfect score for grabbing every banana as well as going through the finish line. NOW THAT'S A CHALLENGE!!! To this day, I can't even manage it for most levels.

And of course, like the advance version (I would imagine. Never really played it long enough to know for sure) you can rack up points for completing levels that can be spent like money to unlock mini-game events. Only three, but they're pretty fun. "Monkey Race", "Monkey Fight", and "Monkey Target". Monkey race is certainly what it sounds like. Completely simple. You and three other monkey racers race around a circular track and whoever gets to the goal first is the winner. Monkey Fight pits you against three other monkeys, all attached with boxing gloves on retractable springs, like you, and your mission is to punch each other off the cliffside. Whoever gets pushed off the least amount of times wins. Once again, these two mini-game events just scream multi-player and it's really insulting to not have available. Perhaps some horrible mistake was made.

Plus, like the gamecube version, Monkey Target takes your Monkey ball dude and shoots him off in the air. You open your ball's two halves like wings and try to glide to one of the bulls-eye targets along the sea below and drop your monkey from the sky at the right time. Lots of fun, and makes for a good 1-player mini-game.


WHAT ABOUT THE LITTLE THINGS: Yes, there's always those little extras that make games more enjoyable. But Super Monkey Ball for N-gage doesn't catch some of 'em. An ability to save your place in a game would be nice, but when quitting your game, you'll have to start all over at the beginning next time if you want to get back to the levels you didn't beat yet.

In the options menu, you can select "low, middle, high" for music and sound (or you can turn them off). If you want to sneak in a game during class, you'll have to hold your finger over the speaker really tight because the loud music blasts the second the title screen comes on before allowing you to go to options to shut it off. I sure wish the N-gage's sound volume was on the unit itself.

I certainly have to condone buying Super Monkey Ball for N-gage, mainly because of the big price drops it's gone through in the past couple of years. Plus, it's a very entertaining game. It's just a bloody shame the Advance version excells past it in terms of multiplayer. Seriously, what were those Nokia guys thinking???