Looking at the screenshots and reading the name of the game, you might think that Super Monkey Ball belongs to the category of faceless WII-Blags, which are in packs in Wiware. But actually this is an old series of arcade puzzles with almost a decade history. Monkey Ball slot machines appeared in Japanese arcades in 2001 and had a deafening success. A little later Sega I released an improved version on GameCube. A year later, a sequel followed, and then-versions for all platforms, which it turned out to reach: Game Boy Advance, N-Gage, Xbox, PS2, PSP, DS. Now in Super Monkey Ball you can even play on the iPhone. In Russia, however, few people heard about her: GameCube and Game Boy Advance at that time were considered the lot of geeks and sexual perverts, the original machine, of course, no one imported us, and PS2 (where the series reached only in 2005) bought for the sake of Metal Gear Solid 3 And God of War , but not for the sake of a monkey https://mr-vegas-casino.co.uk/ in a transparent ball.

Well, today, in 2010, this game is unlikely to surprise anyone. The monkey balancing in the plastic sphere is only funny and exciting in words, but in deeds that STEP & Roll, that most of her predecessors are boring and non -zero puzzles.

Martyshkin labor

The essence of the Super Monkey Ball is simple: you need to roll the ball to the portal, which leads to the next level without falling into any of the many traps. All the charm of STEP & Roll – in control: the angle of inclination of the plane on which the monkey rolls can be changed with the movements of the vimut, and often you need to act with jewelry accuracy. You will fall into the abyss, fly past the bananas, almost beat the glass and furniture in a panic, trying to finally force the ball to roll where you need. The situation is aggravated by the fact that each level needs to go through a certain time.

The emotion that the average player in Super Monkey Ball most often experiences is irritation. Monski are devilishly fast, levels at first glance are quite spacious: for the first time taking the gamepad in his hands, I want, as in Sonic, to accelerate to the first cosmic and whirlwind to be carried by location, but it was not there. After five meters, you will definitely run into a narrow bridge and turn into the abyss. And so (as stated in the old joke) eight times. And the vile monkeys at this time will make your faces, so twenty minutes after the start of the game you just hate them.

STEP & tragedy Roll is that mastering it is more interesting than playing actually. While the user is yellow and inexperienced, the game is able to challenge him: he will, hissing and sweating, roll the ball through hazardous places, experimentally develop a strategy for passing complex turns and sincerely rejoice at every overlined level. But it is worth getting used to managing – and Super Monkey Ball suddenly turns into an amazingly boring game. This is largely due to mediocre level design. Monkey travels through several worlds, among which – erupting volcanoes, mills, snow -capped fields and damn know what else. But the difference between them is purely external, and the obstacles are everywhere almost the same. When you reach the level that takes place under water, the heart freezes: it seems that something is about to finally change, but no-the ball with a monkey is just as vigorous along the seabed, as well as on solid ground.

According to the balls

It is easy to guess where the creators of Monkey Ball spied the idea for their game: a plastic walking ball for rodents is sold in every second pet store. Below – several facts about this amazing and deadly invention

The main purpose of the ball is to protect the animal from the dangers that lift it at every step: the first-a-first hammer can be beaten by the door, it can fall into any gap or collide with a disastrous slipper of a half-skinned grandfather.

However, according to many hamster experts, the ball is no less dangerous for the animal than the aggressive environment. So, it is believed that in the ball rodents lose their orientation in space due to the weakness of the nature of vision.

In addition, the animal should in no case leave unattended: the hamster faces overheating and lack of oxygen after the first fifteen minutes of walking. And even if the ventilation holes are provided in your model of the ball-do not rush to rejoice: being in a ball, a rodent can develop a non-firm speed (much larger than it is able to develop under normal conditions), which can lose its balance and put it with a paw in one of the air-conductors cracks. As a result – fractures and potential deaths.

A particularly dramatic effect happens if a ball with an animal inside falls into the hands of children. For example, this story we found on one of the Western forums: “As a child, we had a hamster and a walking ball for him. My brother and I climbed in the morning, even before school, on the roof, and rolled him from side to side. Once he accelerated so much that he fell from the roof and hit the well. When the father woke up and caught the ball, the hamster in him was no longer … "

The most advertised feature of the game-the ability to manage monkeys with the help of WII Balance Board-also works somehow strange: the game suddenly becomes several times more difficult, it has to die twice as often, and the timer ticks still inexorably.

Surprisingly, the best thing is in STEP & Roll, in no way connected with the balls and is hidden under the nondescript sign Mini-Games in the main menu. The mini-games of the developers turned out to be much brighter than the main campaign. In one of them, for example, two monkeys stand on a small platform with their backs to each other and try to drop the opponent down, pushing, sorry, with asses. There are races in balloons, collecting coins on a swaying vine (the second end of which is tied to the moon) and even fights between frantically rotating monkeys. It is noteworthy, some mini-games can be played by the four, while the main campaign can only be passed with only one partner. Although there is little use from this: two balls on the field only interfere with each other.

* * *

As we know from the film “Jay and the Silent Bob, a response strike” (which, by the way, came out at about the same time with the original Monkey Ball), everyone loves monkeys. In 2010, this thesis seems to have completely lost its relevance, and only funny monkeys alone to create a high -quality video game is not enough. Perhaps the next time SEGA should turn to more fresh trends: for example, place a zombie in plastic balls. Or fluffy kittens with sad eyes. After all, everyone loves them too.

Game Formula: 90% Monkey Ball + 10% WII Balance Board

Gameplay: 4

Graphics: 6

Sound and music: 6

Control: 7

Plot: –

Stability: 8

Originality: 5

Grade: 5