Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll Review
Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll has a simple enough goal – get a monkey in a
ball from Point A to Point B within a set time limit. The trick is that you're
not so much moving the monkey as you are the tracks, mazes, and obstacle courses
that separate the aforementioned Points A and B. If you've ever played with one
of those toys that has you moving knobs to navigate a ball bearing through a
maze you'll have a pretty good idea of how the game works. Tilt the Remote
forward and your ball-encased monkey will start to roll away from you with
ever-increasing speed. Tilt it towards you and the monkey will slow down, stop,
and change directions. Twists to the left and right will tilt the world left and
right and steer your monkey-in-a-ball. Controls are about as precise as they are
most Wii games, meaning not all that much so. Subtle movements are difficult and
over-corrections common. This is often just somewhat annoying, but when a level
has edges that you can fall off of and die it gets frustrating. The direction
changes aren't handled too smoothly as the camera swings around so that it can
be behind your money and the controls effectively get reversed and the
synchronization of it all feels slightly off. You can also play the game with
the Balance Board, but this has a few issues of its own. First off, the
inability to make precise course changes becomes more pronounced with the
Balance Board. Worse than this, though, is the fact that while you're trying to
make precise wobbles on the Balance Board and the game level is spinning and
tilting you may find yourself getting slightly queasy. Games don't usually make
me ill, but after trying to get a monkey through a tricky maze on the Balance
Board I sometimes felt a little loopy and had to take a break from the game.
In addition to the main single player mode, there's a co-op mode in which the
second player is responsible for blasting obstacles out of the way of the first
player. This is no easy task, because the first player will be rotating the
game's level all over the place. Not only is your target moving, it's moving all
over the place and seemingly at random.
The game also includes a collection of 21 mini games, but like most mini game
collections once or twice with each game is probably enough. They're not all
that much fun and the imprecise controls make them feel more like random affairs
than anything else. The Balance Board is supported in the mini games, but if you
thought that the games felt random with the Remote…
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
62%. Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll won't keep
your interest for very long, but it may make you dizzy.
