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Super Monkey Ball Guide!

by the NWR Staff - March 27, 2005, 11:05 am EST

Having trouble beating the arcade mode in Super Monkey Ball? This is the guide for you. In celebration of the forthcoming SMB2, I've written up pointers and challenges for all 118 levels.

With Super Monkey Ball 2 on the horizon, I decided to break out the original Super Monkey Ball and finally unlock the Master levels once and for all. It was absurdly difficult, but I have at long last joined the Super Monkey Ball elite, and you can too with this Super Monkey Guide. Ok, that was lame as hell. Still, I've always been struck by how many people shun the arcade mode of Super Monkey Ball in favor of the mini-games. Sure, the mini-games are lots of fun, but do you not have the gaming skills and fine motor control necessary to beat the actual game? Do you lack patience or nerve? Perhaps this guide will help. For the sake of completeness, the guide will start with the easy levels and finish with the game's 118th and final level: Master 10. Hopefully this will help the industrious among you unlock the game's 28 hidden levels (not to mention the rest of the unhidden levels for those who haven't beaten Expert mode yet). In addition to guiding you, I may also pose special challenges for certain levels. These challenges will generally involve reaching a certain goal with a certain number of bananas in a certain amount of time. If I have NOT completed this challenge myself, I will say so. Otherwise, assume I have done it. Attempt these challenges at your own risk...

Before we begin, I'll offer some general tips and strategies that may keep you alive a little longer than you deserve.

  • Collect play points for unlimited continues. As you collect play points, you get extra continues. However, after the ninth extra continue, you will get unlimited continues.

  • Until you get unlimited continues, bananas are your friend. However, only go for bananas when you're sure that you can get them without dying. It takes a hundred bananas to make up for a lost life. When you're trying to unlock the Expert Extra or Master Levels, bananas are also integral to your survival.

  • Find a comfortable chair and situate it directly in front of the TV. It helps to sit upright in the chair and lean forward a little with your elbows resting on your thighs to stabilize your arms. This isn't necessary for most levels, but for some of the harder ones, it can help quite a bit.

  • Use your favorite monkey. If you don't have a favorite, start using Baby. Many people swear by Baby's small size, which allows you to get a better grasp of when you're about to fall off of a platform.

  • When you're on a skinny platform, pay attention to your Monkey. There are three animations that indicate that you're about to fall off--two for each direction and one more for when you're just a hair away from falling. Use these visual cues to stay alive on those thin curves.

  • The most powerful way to accelerate or decelerate is at an angle. Tilt the control stick diagonally in whatever direction is necessary for a quick boost of speed.

  • You can also get a good speed boost in a small area by leaning to one side and then pushing in the opposite direction as fast as possible (and holding there).

  • Similar to the previous trick, try rolling in the opposite direction that you want to move in and then turn as quickly as possible. This will build your forward momentum faster over a shorter distance allowing you to get more speed in a small space.

  • When you're playing with a limited number of continues or lives, consider using more than one Monkey. Start a two, three or four player game and pick the same Monkey four times with the first controller. Now if you make a mistake with one Monkey, you have three left that haven't messed up yet. This can take a lot of pressure off of you when you're trying to unlock the Extra or Master levels.

    EXTRA LEVELS

    To unlock the Extra levels, beat Beginner without dying, Advanced without dying or Expert without continuing. There are three, five and ten Extra levels for each mode respectively. For the Master levels, beat Expert and the ten Expert Extra levels without continuing. Be warned, if you reset before beating any of the extra or Master levels, you will have to complete the objective again (however, once you reach a level, it is unlocked for the competition and practice modes). Tips for unlocking the Extra and Master levels are on their respective pages.

    If you have any questions about the guide, please send them to me at David@PlanetGameCube.com.

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