We take a look back at the games worthy enough to be considered the GameCube's best.
Super Monkey Ball
Released November 18, 2001 (GameCube Launch Title)
Developed by Amusement Vision
Published by Sega
Retrospective by Lasse Pallesen
One of the things that stands out about the GameCube is the sheer amount of party games that have appeared on the system. Super Monkey Ball from Amusement Vision represents not only the first of these games (it released with the system), but also one of the best. The game is both instantly recognizable, due to the hilarious concept of guiding around monkeys trapped in big transparent balls, as well as instantly accessible, due to its inclusion of amazing mini-games. This combination makes for a superb multiplayer experience, matched by few other games.
The great appeal of the mini-games exists because they’re so easy to get into, yet difficult to master. Ranging from simple billiards and golf simulations to Mario Kart-esque racing and boxing endeavors, most of them only require one button besides the analog stick. However, timing and precision are everything. This is especially true in Monkey Target, the greatest mini-game of them all. Here you launch your monkey off a platform and then glide to one of several floating pads, which are divided into parts that are worth different amounts of points, when you land on them successfully. Even with only one controller, four players can take part, as they take turns controlling their simian friends.
Super Monkey Ball contains more than just quick mini-games, though. It features a compelling single-player mode as well, in which you guide your monkey through more than 100 stages full of bumps, holes, jumps, and moving platforms. Sharing similarities to the classic Marble Madness, you control the ball indirectly by rotating the game world with the analog stick. Managing to avoid falling off course becomes extremely difficult later on, yet the game is never unfair. The controls work so flawlessly that, should you fall off, you only have yourself to blame. That’s probably the reason why the game is so addictive. You constantly have to try just one more time because you know you can do better.
Happily forgetting all about the flawed Adventure installment, I believe Amusement Vision has created a magnificent franchise with Super Monkey Ball. The series fits the GameCube perfectly, by appealing to both hardcore as well as casual gamers of all ages, by encouraging multiplayer gaming, and by being easy to understand yet difficult to master. These assets make Super Monkey Ball a defining series for the console.
Thoughts From the NWR Staff
Steven Rodriguez: "Launching with Super Monkey Ball immediately turned the GameCube into a 'party system.' If you had GameCube, and you had multiple friends, SMB was a must-buy. Having games with high replayability is very important for a game system; having a game that people can play forever is even better. Monkey Ball is one of those games, and it's good that the GameCube has it.
"When I learned about the super-hard Master mode stages, I desperately tried to get through all 100 Advanced stages without seeing the dreaded Game Over screen. When I did, I was presented with the 10 Advanced Extra stages. They roughed me up at first, forcing me to go through all 100 Advanced tests again. With determination, luck, and a lot of banana collecting, I had gotten through all 110 stages without continuing. Reaching Monkey Ball's Master mode was one of the most satisfying things I'd experienced in my gaming career, and it is still one of my best achievements to this day."
David Trammell: "It is unusual for me to have faith in an unproven game. Sega didn't even have an open booth at E3 that year, and I didn't have much respect for Sega in the first place. So when I picked SMB up at launch it was purely on faith in the game's single player concept. While not a new idea, SMB turned out to be almost perfectly executed. I'm still one of the only people I know who have beaten all the master levels. As a fine bonus, the party games were also great fun, for two players and for one."
Jonathan Metts: "I used to put on Super Monkey Ball in my dorm room and leave the door open while I played. Females would inevitably drop by to check out this adorable, addictive game. Unfortunately, the game's allure to women would come back to haunt me a couple of years later, as my sister became addicted to SMB 2 over the summer and incessantly begged me to play Monkey Baseball against her for hours on end."
Michael Cole: "It was clear that Super Monkey Ball was something special during the Nintendo Cube Club events, when gamers couldn't get enough of Monkey Fight. At system launch, Super Monkey Ball filled the mainstream puzzle, party, and racing niches with one fell swoop, and fun times were to be had. There was a sinister, dark side to Amusement Vision's creation, too, which slowly revealed itself to serious gamers. The later levels required incredible finesse, and I eventually ran away screaming from AiAi's reign of terror, never to see the bulk of the game's extra stages.
"Super Monkey Ball and its ill-conceived sequel lost much of their party game appeal as the GameCube library increased. Mario Kart Double Dash replaced Monkey Racing. Monkey Tennis and Golf have been replaced by subsequent first and third party sports games. Super Monkey Ball played an important role at GameCube launch, but the PS2/Xbox ports' lukewarm reception shows that perhaps only Monkey Target has stood the test of time."
The combination of an accessible multiplayer mode and a hard-core single-player one made Super Monkey Ball an instant hit, not only from an entertainment standpoint but also financially. The game sold very well on GameCube, and that opened the door for a sequel. Super Monkey Ball 2 came out a year later and proved to be a worthy successor, basically providing more of the same. There are enhanced versions of all the mini-games, plus all-new ones including Monkey Soccer and Monkey Shot amongst the most memorable. Monkey Dogfight, a Star Fox-inspired shoot-em-up mini-game, is also a blast with three friends.
The single-player mode has the same core gameplay mechanics as the original but is more story-focused. Levels have been spread out through ten different worlds, each with their own theme, ranging from a lush jungle to an icy cavern and even an industrial environment. With a world completed, you are rewarded with one of many hilariously cheesy cut-scenes featuring the ultimate bad guy, Dr. Bad-Boon. The game is definitely a candidate for having the most silly and embarrassing dialog ever written in a game (with Resident Evil 1 and Final Fantasy X also occupying that list). Overall, Amusement Vision clearly went for the "if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it" approach with Super Monkey Ball 2, and they did so successfully.
