{"id":1941,"date":"2009-12-26T01:41:14","date_gmt":"2009-12-26T01:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danielprimed.com\/?p=1941"},"modified":"2009-12-26T01:41:14","modified_gmt":"2009-12-26T01:41:14","slug":"super-monkey-ball-%e2%80%93-leading-into-a-banana-blitz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danielprimed.com\/2009\/12\/super-monkey-ball-%e2%80%93-leading-into-a-banana-blitz\/","title":{"rendered":"Super Monkey Ball \u2013 Leading into a Banana Blitz"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"super-monkey-ball-banana-bl\"<\/p>\n

Super Monkey Ball was the best Gamecube launch title nobody bought. Imperative to Monkey Ball<\/em>‘s premise of rolling a caged primate through levels of mid-air platforms is player skill and coordination. Sega’s arcade port requires a steady thumb to beat and Nintendo’s latest home console of the time offered the perfect companion: A sturdy analog stick second to none. The software and hardware combination was a perfect match, the first fruit to fall from Sega’s shift into 3rd<\/sup> party development. Having originated from the arcades, Monkey Ball<\/em> encapsulated all that was great about Sega’s arcade philosophy; a glorified skill tester of the truly excellent kind.<\/p>\n

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As the series slowly built a name for itself within the gaming community, Super Monkey Ball 2<\/em> effectively split the game into two schools of level design: the precision-demanding tightropes of the original and over-the-top gimmick levels that require more luck than actual skill. The latter seems to have been derived from the few, less serious levels of the original game that, while still very much skill-based, were akin to that of amusement park rides; twisty pathways, cylindric cones etc. With the sequel, the developers became a little too ambitious in this regard, incorporating too many gimmicks, in turn subverting the very foundation that the series was created on: precision, skill and tightly measured challenge.<\/p>\n

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\"super-monkey-ball-cast\"<\/p>\n

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz<\/em>, the 3<\/span>rd<\/span><\/sup> installment which incidentally released along with the Wii 3 years ago, <\/span>is actually the first Monkey Ball<\/em> game I’ve ever owned. The previous games were almost impossible to find on store shelves, so up to that point most of my experience with the series had been relegated to the good 4-5 times the original was rented and played to excess in the way it should be played: With good company and many a Gamecube pad.<\/p>\n

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With a good word put out prior to release by IGN<\/a>, I was certain that Banana Blitz<\/em> would be my first proper foray into the series (nevermind the fact that I’d basically completed the original game and thoroughly fleshed out all of the great multiplayer modes). That was the last time I ever trusted IGN. Not long after buying my Wii on release did I realise that Banana Blitz only continued on the sequel’s downward spiral into the depths of silliness, and then some. I recently returned to Banana Blitz<\/em> to wipe it clear off my current playlist, here are some of my main criticisms with this iteration.<\/p>\n

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Orientation of Wii-mote<\/h3>\n

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Contrary to common sense, Banana Blitz<\/em> can only be played with the Wii-mote held vertically (pointing towards the screen). As such, the player rotates their arm to turn the level, putting a lot of strain on the wrist. Playing Banana Blitz<\/em> is therefore a physically uncomfortable experience. The smart alternative to this would be to hold the remote horizontally as in Excitetruck<\/em> and other racing titles, therefore relieving pressure from the wrists.<\/p>\n

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Skill-Gimmick Ratio<\/h3>\n

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My brief overview of the franchise alludes to the fact that Banana Blitz<\/em> features more gimmicks than it does skill-based gameplay, uhhh…yeah, that’s unfortunately the case. The majority of levels in Banana Blitz are actually pretty comical for the first few tries, until you quickly realise that failing due to downright chance isn’t very amusing at all. Most of the levels, even the partly sensible ones, incorporate some form of gimmickry or bad design which soon becomes the bane of the experience.<\/p>\n

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Take for example a level which consists of a tower with a rotating runway leading to the goal at the very top. The player must turn their wrist unnaturally back and forth to the left in order to fight the momentum of the spiraling treadmill. Twisting the remote in such a way causes the camera angle to curl around to your left, putting the platform’s guard rail out of the player’s view. Once the player reaches the top, the revolving staircase tapers off, unbeknown to the player who is busy grappling against the backwards-pushing momentum and awkward camera. As a result the player cannot anticipate that the staircase will fall from beneath them and can very easily roll over the end of the staircase, fall and bounce their way off stage instead of rolling onto the central platform. It’s a common occurrence throughout Banana Blitz<\/em>; a small oversight which causes unnecessary difficulty and drags out the play time.<\/p>\n