Obviously SEGA have never heard of animal cruelty - encapsulating some monkeys in little balls and rolling them round a maze (and often off the edge to their doom, if our performance is anything to go by), all in the name of collecting some bananas which the monkeys can't even eat because they're trapped in an impermeable ball. It's the ape equivalent of a carrot on the end of a stick for a donkey. Somehow, they can even drown. In fact, how do they even breathe?
Despite the obvious cruelty, the monkey's don''t seem to mind much...
But who cares if it makes no sense - the Monkey Ball series is an immense amount of fun, and has done rather well for itself, having appeared on every Nintendo platform since the Gamecube in 2000 - and now it's now rolling onto the 3DS next year.
Super Monkey Ball plans to use the 3DS's motion sensing capabilities, so that by tilting the 3DS, you'll also tilt the maze - which, in co-operation with the laws of gravity, will move your monkey round the maze. Rolling your monkey into the bananas spread around the maze picks them up, with the level ending when you manage to roll your monkey to the relative safety of the exit. The idea is to aim for the quickest time possible, but in our case this is normally an age, as we seem to spend forever circling the last banana.... Of course, if tilt-controlled Monkey Ball worries you slightly, you can use the 3DS's 'Slide Pad' (read: little analogue stick type thing) to control the maze, if you'd prefer.
Thank god for the bumpers.... Otherwise my monkey might be going for a little swim, as I (fail to) go round that corner...
The game sees the return of the standard four monkeys - AiAi, MeeMee, Baby and GonGon - as well as some new modes, including a single-player puzzle mode, and two new mini-games - Monkey Race and Monkey Fight. As with the previous games, these mini-games can be played by up to four players using the 3DS's wireless connection, presumably in a similar way to the download play of Super Monkey Ball on the DS.
Super Monkey Ball is due out on the 3DS in 2011, presumably March at the earliest (as this is when the 3DS is due to launch), so check back soon, as we're bound to get more info on both the 3DS and Super Monkey Ball, as well as more upcoming 3DS titles.
