Despite being a bunch of soppy animal lovers, and therefore somewhat objecting to the subject matter, we can't get enough of Monkey Ball here at Everybody Plays. So you can imagine our excitement when we were flicking through the little map Nintendo had given us at the recent Discover 3DS Amsterdam event, and spotted that Super Monkey Ball 3D was going to be there. Having finally been released from the conference, we made a beeline for the confusingly named No. 3D building in the hall, which seemed to be the dumping ground for the games they couldn't fit anywhere else in there street-themed park thingy the Nintendo PR bods had created.
As with all great games, the aim of Monkey Ball is simple - all you have to do is guide your encapsulated monkey to the goal, collecting bananas as you go for extra points. However, as you might expect, there's a twist - rather than controlling the monkey directly, you only get to tilt the platforms, and the monkey rolls wherever gravity tells it to - imagine one of those puzzles you get in crackers where you have to get the little metal balls into the holes and you're not that far off.
Thank god for the bumpers, otherwise my monkey would be going for a paddle...
The Monkey Ball games haven't changed all that much over the years - only the consoles and the controls, with a move to motion controls as they rolled onto the Wii, and one instalment that even let you tilt the platforms using the balance board (yes, it is every bit as hard as it sounds). Thankfully, from what we played, this latest instalment on the 3DS isn't going to alter the winning formula either.
Super Monkey Ball 3D is sure to be an all-round crowd pleaser, as it moves away from the compulsory motion controls of the two Wii games, instead giving you a choice over how you want to move your monkey - by using the either circle pad, which is Nintendo's portable version of an analogue stick, or making use of the 3DS' built in gyroscopes and motion control do-hickeys, where physically tilting the 3DS tilts the platforms in game. Personally, I tend to find the tilt-y motion controls easier, as me and analogue sticks don't mix - I don't seem to have the precision needed to move it slightly, so, in the case of Monkey ball, my monkey is either stationary or goes careering off a platform into the sea.
Activating motion controls seems to switch on more barriers - which works for us!
And, we're pleased to say the motion controls worked pretty well, from the limited demo we played. Letting me control my monkey with a fair amount of ease, he didn't always end up in the drink, and for some reason, tilting a console just feels more natural than wiggling a stick. There is a downside with the tilt controls on the 3DS though - having to tilt the 3DS means that you'll need to play it with the 3D switched off, as moving the 3DS moves the image on the screen causes it to break up, because of how the 3D effect works. If you want the full 3D effect (and it is one hell of a 3D effect; so much so we had to move the slider down to half way before our head/eyes imploded), you really need to use the circle pad to navigate your monkey.
As with the other games in the Monkey Ball series, the regular mini games make a return, letting you play against your (pri)mates - we got to have a little go on Monkey Race and Monkey Fight in the demo, although we're sure there'll be plenty more in the finished thing. Monkey Race plays much like a game of Mario Kart, except you're driving a weird ball/kart hybrid, and Monkey Fight plays much the same as a game of Smash Bros., pitting four monkeys in a race to beat the bananas out of each other.
You think Gongon (far right) would have done better in a fight, being the big, burly monkey he is...
With a release scheduled for day one of the 3DS's launch - the 25th March, our mouths are already frothing in anticipation for Super Monkey Ball 3DS. Either that, or we caught rabies during our time in Amsterdam. Be sure to stay tuned though, because as the date draws near, we're sure to be getting more information on the 3DS, Super Monkey Ball and the rest of the 3DS games coming.
