Super Monkey Ball Touch & Roll

"Doesn't make the cut as a DS classic."

Super Monkey Ball 1 & 2 were great on the GCN. The DS port is average, with it's unusual graphics, weird use of the Touch Screen, and way-too-challenging minigames. I bought this because I liked the GCN versions, and decided that it was not up-to-par with the rest of the series.

GRAPHICS

These graphics are unusual for the DS. Each and every one of the stages are 3-D, but the monkeys are each sorta 2-D. Frame rate is consistent throughout the entire game. Even so, the monkeys look pixelated. I feel like Sega and Nintendo didn't give it their all when designing how everything looks.

SOUND

This sound is good. Not "Wow-this-is-the-best-thing-I've-ever-heard" type of good, more like a "This-sound-is-pretty-decent-for-a-DS-game" type of good. The music is just like the GCN versions, bright and clear. However, there is no voice saying "Ready......GO!" like in Super Monkey Ball. If I was grading this, I'd give it a 7.

STORY

Non-existent. Unlike Super Monkey Ball 2, there is no particular reason for you to be running around in a multi-colored hamster ball.

GAMEPLAY

Would you believe that I can recognize half of the stages from Super Monkey Ball 1 & 2? Especially in the first world. You get to choose one of four monkeys named Aiai, Meemee, Baby, and Gongon. You get sixty seconds to break the ribbon at the end of the level, along with a few bananas to collect in each level. Collecting ten of them will give you another live, but they don't regenerate if you fall off. So much for my get-easy-lives scheme. These levels get considerably harder as you progress, even reaching the Expert level from Super Monkey Ball. Controls in this game are slightly bizarre. You can either use the D-Pad to move your monkey (I ended up using this method), or you can drag your stylus across the monkey on the Touch Screen to roll him. I found out that this method is considerably harder than the D-Pad, as even the smallest twitch of the hand can send your monkey plummeting to the bottomless pit underneath each stage. I also found that practicing doesn't help all that much. Now for the minigames. There are six, count 'em, six minigames, two of which are brand new. I will divulge into each one of them, for your education. Monkey Race is just what you expected, monkeys running around in their hamster balls trying to get to the finish line the fastest. Monkey Fight has giant boxing gloves rigged to the front of your hamster ball (By the way, how do they see what's in front of them if there's a boxing glove in the way?). Monkey Hockey is air hockey and has two modes, Standard and something else. Standard is when you use your stylus to drag around those hitting things you use in regular air hockey. In the other one, you have to draw your own hitter, which can be destroyed if your opponent hits the Monkey Ball really hard and it smacks into your hitter. Monkey Bowling is the exact same as it was in the GCN versions. Monkey Wars is a typical FPS. I can't remember the last one, but it's there. That's about it for gameplay.

BUY OR RENT

If you can, rent it first. I liked the originals, but this game is a little too weird for me. It isn't a waste of money to buy it, though. Do whatever you want, I really don't care.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

This game is sub-par with other games. If you didn't like the other games in the series, you probably won't like it. If, like me, you did like the others, you might like this game, but don't count on i being the greatest thing you ever played.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/05/06