Shallow mini-games and irritating controls will give you a Super Monkey headache.
THE GOOD
-Uplifting music
-Fun level design
THE BAD
-Grating voice work
-Weak multiplayer games
-Frustrating controls
OVERVIEW
Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll brings AiAi, MeeMee, Baby and GonGon back for some more monkey madness. A new character named Jam will teach you how to play the game and help explain things along the way. Step & Roll doesn't have a story to go along with the main adventure mode but does offer 70 new levels to navigate through and over 20 multiplayer mini-games to duke out with your friends.
GAMEPLAY
The main adventure mode still uses the same format from the series' past. The objective is to guide your monkey, encased in a ball, from start to finish by tilting the playing field with the Wii remote. There are seven different worlds each with ten stages and bonus levels thrown in as well. Even though the goal is to reach the finish line in less than a minute, there are valuable bananas to collect which can earn you extra lives. The lack of story doesn't hurt this game, in fact it probably helps because the past plots have been completely stupid. There is a good amount of action to be had because the level design in Step & Roll is exciting, challenging and fresh. Plus, there is an option to traverse each level with a friend. In this co-op mode Player 2 steps in and shoots obstacles while Player 1 moves the monkey ball around. When you complete the final stage of each world there is a simple mini-game to play while the credits roll. The first time you try it might be entertaining but it really starts to wear on your patience because you have to play the game. For some odd reason there isn't an option to quit or skip the credits; which is very irritating.
Aside from the adventure mode you and up to four friends can partake in some competitive mini-games. There are a few fun ones to enjoy like Racing and Target but unfortunately, most of these games are quite boring like the air balloon race, jump rope and ladder climb. The main reason the multiplayer mode falls flat is due to the sloppy and frequent unresponsive motion controls. Most of these shallow games require little strategy and a lot of unorganized motion flailing.
There are two control schemes to use in Step & Roll: Wii remote and Balance Board. Using the Wii remote requires you to hold it horizontally and tilt in all directions to move. Course movements are fairly easy to pull off but those finer, more precise maneuvers can be really tricky. The Balance Board is a great idea but it's completely awful at tracking your motion correctly. You might have some success during the easier parts of the game but good luck trying to tackle the rest. The controls in this game are frustrating and really bring the fun factor down to the point where you'll need to keep a bottle of Aspirin close by because of the massive headache you're going to get.
GRAPHICS & SOUND
The Super Monkey Ball series has always been filled with a rich and lively color scheme and thankfully this game is no different. The level design is exceptional and offers quite a bit of challenge for those hardcore types. The rest of the graphics work well, especially the background animations in the adventure mode.
The soundtrack is uniquely themed and fits just about every aspect of the game. There are many uplifting and memorable scores with a notable going to the jazzy piece in World 1. The voice acting however will make your ears bleed. When your monkey hits obstacles, finishes a level or lands out of bounds they'll yell out a high pitched screech. I will say that GonGon isn't as bad as the others but that doesn't mean it's completely headache free.
CONCLUSION
The Super Monkey Ball series as a whole has pumped out a few really fun party-type video games with a challenging adventure mode and cutthroat multiplayer action. Unfortunately, the switch from the joystick to the motion controls has really screwed up the formula for the worse. Step & Roll offers a fun adventure but with majority of the multiplayer games being too shallow and the controls functioning erratically, this game ends up being more frustrating than fun. With that being said I wouldn't recommend playing this game. It's sad to see such a great party gaming franchise lose focus because Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll is a disaster.