Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz

"If it wasn't so cute, no one would buy it."

Super Monkey Ball has tormented many lives. I mean, when you look at the cover of any of the games and see these cute little monkeys you think it's going to be a child's game. But no, it's a demon spawn. The sheer frustration you will feel with this game is unlike that of any game before. The game isn't necessarily hard, it's just doing simple things like going straight become a chore.

Graphics: 9/10
The graphics are pretty good. I mean, this is probably one of the best looking games on the Wii currently. Everything looks so cute, but paying attention to the details such as trees or water show that though it is not realistic by no means, it's still very pretty. There's no real reason to gripe here, but...

Gameplay: 5/10
Oh boy, here's the problem. I've played the other Super Monkey Ball games, I know that they're suppose to be hard, but not like this. Playing with the Wiimote just is way too hard. Sure, once you get a few hours under your belt it becomes a bit easier, but it's getting through those first few hours that are the chore. Momentum is a huge part of this game, and when you get a ton of momentum going only to fly off the side will make any player frustrated. The only saving grace for this game is all the multiplayer games. This is a game that you can play with friends over (if they don't laugh at you because of how it looks, though don't judge a book by its cover).

If you like being annoyed and aggravated, this is the game for you. The controls are severely broken here. The camera is another huge problem due to the fact you have no control over it. If the game had the same controls as say, Excite Truck with the controller being sideways, this game would have probably been a ton better. Super Monkey Ball is a series that is already frustrating enough as is, adding poor controls doesn't need to add to the difficulty. It's not awful, as in enough to make you put the game down once and never play it again, but it is enough that you probably won't have a ton of fun playing through it. It's a shame, because this was one of the games I looked most forward to.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/06/06