Sega’s banana-loving monkeys are back and rolling into the third dimension on your 3DS. AiAi, Meemee, Baby, GonGon, and even more simians are ready to hop in those hamster balls and roll around mazes, race cars, and knock each other silly in three game modes.

The first mode of play is the regular maze mode that all Super Monkey Ball fans know. Steer your monkey in a ball around obstacles and avoid falling off the edges as you collect bananas for extra lives while you make it to the goal in time. And you’ll need those extra tries, too, when the stages get super hard! There are also hidden items to find that you can put in an album like trophies.

You can control this mode in two ways, with the regular analog pad on the 3DS, or by using the handheld’s motion controls to simply tilt the maze around. Both methods of control work fine, but you get a lot more precision and accuracy by using the analog nub.

Super Monkey Ball titles have also been known for their mini-games, many of which are better than the main game itself! You’d think that since there are only two other side games in the 3DS version, that they’d be really good. But they’re not as enjoyable as I had hoped. Monkey Race is a typical Mario Kart clone with crazy weapons and tracks. But the CPU opponents are brutally hard and power sliding or drifting into turns feels awkward.

Last is Monkey Fight, which feels a little bit like Super Smash Bros. Up to four monkeys can smack each other around in 2-D arenas with big boxing gloves. Hitting other monkeys makes bananas fall out of them, and whoever collects the most bananas when time runs out wins the round. Unfortunately, this mode isn’t as good as Super Smash Bros. because of the slower controls.

All three modes can be played with multiplayer via local wireless with up to three nearby friends with 3DS’ and copies of the game. I do wish there were more mini-games, though. Monkey Target and Monkey Bowling would’ve been great on the 3DS, I think. Super Monkey Ball 3D is decent enough, but not near as good as the two originals on the GameCube.

Second Sight

Since I’ve been blind in my left eye since birth, I can’t see 3-D effects like what is found in the Nintendo 3DS. So to talk a little bit about the 3-D graphics in Super Monkey Ball 3D, I’ve brought in my younger brother Jeff to tell you all about them:

The 3-D graphics really make things more immersive. It’s not like at the movies where things just pop out at you. In the game, it looks like the mazes have more depth to them, like everything is located behind your 3DS. It’s not amazing, but pretty good for a handheld system. You can’t use motion controls with the 3-D very well, though. –Jeff

Kid Factor:

Super Monkey Ball 3D is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Cartoon Violence. Monkeys can roll off mazes and fall into oblivion, get hit by crazy weapons in cars, and be knocked silly by giant boxing gloves, but the violence is no worse than any other Monkey Ball game. Kids will love the colorful graphics and simple gameplay. Reading skill is helpful, but not required, as most of the game is pretty easy to figure out just by playing. Younger gamers might get frustrated at the tougher levels later on, though. You can turn the 3D effects off in any 3DS game, so don’t worry if you are concerned about that, too.

Tags: Game Reviews