Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz

What's more fun than a barrel full of monkeys? Why, using a remote to manipulate monkeys in balls, of course! However, in Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, the level of fun will depend on your fondness for monkey-filled mini-games and patience with the controls.

Even before you begin playing, it's evident Banana Blitz is a high-energy title; the music is upbeat (not obnoxiously so, but pushing it) and the menus are clean and colorful, not to mention the monkeys that taunt you with their cuteness. Another focus rests in the use of only the Wii Remote. For example, when you're selecting a game or character from the menu, the items are arranged spherically, so you just twist the Wii Remote left or right to move in the corresponding direction; the farther you twist, the faster you scroll. It takes a few seconds to adjust, but it's at least a rather intuitive way of navigating menus.

The Super Monkey Ball franchise has always been about frantic, reflex-testing gameplay, and Banana Blitz doesn't appear to be in short supply. You can either tackle the single-player 'story' mode (a Pirate Monkey takes your golden bananas and you must race through various levels to swipe them back from his henchmen. Nothing award-winning) or a party mode that features 50 different mini-games for 1-4 players. To start off, I chose the main story mode.

At first, I thought that was a bad choice on my part. The goal for every stage in every world (there's eight worlds with eight stages, a bonus stage and a boss fight in each) is to roll your ball-enclosed monkey - of which there are six to to choose from but your choice doesn't have much direct impact on gameplay - to a goal at the end of a elongated stage floating in mid-air. Initially you might think there's a lot of lacking diversity here, but a developed handle on the controls can improve your enjoyment.

A tilting we shall go, a tilting we shall go,
hi ho the monkey-o, a tilting we shall go.

To lead a monkey to the goal, all you need to do is point the remote at your screen and slightly tilt in the direction you want the monkey to go - no Nunchuk required in this mode. Key word, though: slightly. It's not entirely clear if you're moving the monkey or tilting the stage, but regardless, there's a learning curve in figuring out just how much twisting and turning is needed. While you're trying to figure that out, you'll also have to deal with jumping portions, which are difficult because you often have to keep your remote held straight (or more likely bent downward or upwards due to necessary 'braking' or 'accelerating') while you perform the jump.

While it's easy to pick up momentum and speed through the stages, slowing your monkey down is a far better tactic, at least in the earlier stages when you have a longer time limit and fewer places to fall off. Until you can obtain a grip at proper speed, though, expect to fall off a lot.

Aww, look at the cute monkey leaping to her death.
Don't worry, it's not entirely your fault.

Which brings up another issue: collision detection. It's highly accurate, which is nice on a technical level, but frustrating from a gameplay perspective. If you're going just a tad too fast, it's easy to bump into any environmental object and bounce off the platform. Following your monkey's plunge into oblivion, you'll have to start at the beginning of the stage. Thankfully, the game's upbeat mood helps counteract frustration, and you may find yourself catching the "just one more time" syndrome, especially since a stage really shouldn't take more than a minute to complete.

Once you have a good handle on the sensitivity of the controls and environment, story mode actually becomes fairly entertaining. The stages are all diversified in their designs and themes, as well as gradually introduce new obstacles that hopefully making losing more a result of lacking skill than spotty controls, though the latter still remains prevalent to a degree. Some stages are really fun, especially those that want you to go fast and/or have branching paths and slopes, while others may make you glad you only need to beat them once.

Bonus stages are little more than running around a platform collecting as many bananas in the time limit as possible (more bananas equals more lives), while the boss stages feature a large, colorful monkey humanoid intent on keeping his golden banana. These fights are akin to what you'd find in a Zelda title (i.e. Boss is bigger than you, has a pattern of movement and attacks, and a weak spot), but require far less strategy and are often only difficult if you don't have good control over your own monkey's movements. However, both bonus and boss stages act as a pleasant diversion from the tilting gameplay of the regular stages.

Ultimately, the controls may suit newcomers to the series just fine, though it might have been nice if Sega had included GameCube controller support - or just made an additional control scheme using the Nunchuk - for franchise veterans that prefer the the accuracy of a joystick.

At this stage, I can only recommend Banana Blitz as a rental. However, it is a title worthy of The Wiire's family-friendly award, as any member of the family could enjoy the game thanks to its predominant use of the Wii Remote and cartoonish charm.

Banana Blitz has a good deal to live up to in order to match the fun factor of its GameCube predecessors, so stay tuned for Stage 2 to see if monkeys, unlike pigs, can fly.