User Rating: 8.8 | Super Monkey Ball 2 GC
Super Monkey Ball 2 is much more fun than you would probably think. The concept is simple and admittedly cheesey, but it's fun nonetheless. In contrast to many of the people who have reviewed this game in the past, I find the story mode to be incredibly addictive and rarely spend any time in the party games. Story mode is pretty straightforward: your goal on each of the over 100 levels is to navigate your ball to the goal within a certain amount of time (usually 60 seconds). It sounds simple enough and sometimes it is, but there are plenty of levels that will take 30 minutes to an hour of practice enough to reach the goal. The level designers are a talented bunch. A good number of the levels are very imaginative, I often found myself wondering how they came up with some of the ideas they came up with. Technically, the graphics in Super Monkey Ball 2 aren't groundbreaking by any means. Most any game on the market will exceed this game in the graphics department. I gave the graphics a fairly high score, however, because they're exactly what the game demands. This game isn't about graphics anyway (though there are some nice textures in some backgrounds), it's about the finesse of the controls. Overall, the gameplay is great. You really only need your left thumb to play this game, as the analog stick is the only button you'll use during the actual game. It responds well, allowing a good deal of control and finesse, both of which the game demands. The worst problem that the gameplay has is the camera. It isn't a problem in most of the levels, but there are times when you have to shoot down a hill and hit a narrow ramp or navigate your way along an extremely narrow path, and the camera will be looking in the opposite direction. In the next installment of the game, there really needs to be a way to manually adjust the camera. As I said, this problem doesn't come into play that often, but it's definitely worth noting as it makes some very difficult levels that much harder. I usually find myself turning the sound down most of the way to avoid the repetitive techno soundtrack and cheesey sound effects. No big deal though, the sound is basically what you'd expect out of game of this sort. The story in story mode is essentially worthless, I'm not sure why they felt the need to include it. I, like most people, just want to play the game and don't want a story where a story isn't needed. The worst part of this game has to be the cut scenes in story mode. They're extremely childish, seemingly designed for a 2-year-old. I'm honestly baffled by the decision to include such a story in the game. I contribute it to poor market research. The developers don't seem to know who their audience is, probably relying on the cutesty cover to sell this title to children. Despite the marketing, I can say this for sure: not many kids will get too far in this game. Many of the levels take a great deal of patience and practice, qualities that most children don't possess. The value is very high, as there is a lot of fun to be had even after you've made your way through story mode. I've played through it 4 times now, and there are enough levels (over 100) that it's mixed up enough that it doesn't get old. If you don't typically like this type of game, you should probably stay away from it as it isn't exactly a crossover title. But if you do like these types of games, I wholeheartedly recommend it, especially since it isn't hard to find for under $30. 
