The Monkey Ball series makes its triumphant return just in time for the launch of the Wii, and it comes in the form of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz. And frankly you could be forgiven for thinking that the Wii control system was designed by a mildly crazed Monkey Ball fan over at Nintendo for the simple purpose of playing Monkey Ball.

For those of you not familiar with the franchise, Super Monkey Ball is based around the delightfully simple concept of getting a monkey (in a ball, if you ... more >>

The Monkey Ball series makes its triumphant return just in time for the launch of the Wii, and it comes in the form of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz. And frankly you could be forgiven for thinking that the Wii control system was designed by a mildly crazed Monkey Ball fan over at Nintendo for the simple purpose of playing Monkey Ball.

For those of you not familiar with the franchise, Super Monkey Ball is based around the delightfully simple concept of getting a monkey (in a ball, if you weren't clear on that) from one end of a level to the other. The ingenious twist is that you do not control the monkeys - you control the environment. You tilt it like an old-world ball bearing maze game. So what more perfect a controller could there be than that deployed with the Wii? The answer is...none.

Rather than using an analog stick to control the movement of the environment as past instalments in the series have demanded, Banana Blitz allows players to make full use of the Wii control system. A feature unfamiliar to fans of past incarnations is the addition of the 'Jump' movement in the game. Being able to jump adds (literally) another dimension to the game.

Banana Blitz comprises a whopping 50 mini-games, along with the main game, in which around 100 levels are available across the eight standard and two unlockable worlds. The mini games offer a huge amount of variety, and gamers will find themselves doing anything from competing in a traditional fixture of ring toss to smacking pesky underground rodents in a game of Whack-a-Mole.

Two new characters are added to the mix: a teenage girl monkey named Yanyan, and a little old man Monkey called Doctor. Aside from more character choices, the pair bring slight weight variations to the roster, an important concern for this kind of gameplay.

The combination of Monkey Ball and Wii offers up a unique new gaming experience that'll have your wrists aching in no time.
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