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Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz IGN Review

take that EGM

8.0 Presentation
100 main puzzles and 50 mini-games, all brought together via quick-loading, easily navigated menus.
7.0 Graphics
Crisp, clean, colorful cel-shaded visuals are a natural fit for the franchise. Runs at 60 frames in pro-scan and 16:9 widescreen. Still, the graphics are very simple.
8.0 Sound
There are still the over-baked monkey sound effects, but the music is much improved over previous games. It's very moody.
8.0 Gameplay
Very fun with the Wii remote. Playing the game feels natural after only a few minutes. New jump mechanic is a welcomed addition. Big selection of levels and minis.
8.0 Lasting Appeal
100 main levels -- many of which are incredibly hard to beat. Another 50 mini-games on top. And you'll keep coming back to master shortcuts, too.
8.4
Impressive OVERALL
(out of 10 / not an average)
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Zelda/Trauma Center/Monkey Ball.

I'm hoping to add Excite Truck, Red Steel, and Rayman to the mix. If they're good I'll be a happy camper.
 
Sounds like everything I needed to hear! Shame about the level count, but I'll have trouble beating it anyway. Seems like a great launch title to pick up!

Plus the score is .1 higher than IGN gave Super Monkey Ball on GC.
 
"8.0 Sound
There are still the over-baked monkey sound effects, but the music is much improved over previous games. It's very moody."

My biggest irk of the Monkey Ball games fixed! Hooray!
 
MrSardonic said:
my prediction: no wii launch game except Zelda will score above 9 from IGN
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that's a bold prediction.

Not


I think Red Steel is going to build on the 7.9 legend.
 
Not bad, though I don't quite understand why the 8 for lasting appeal given the huge number of stages and minigames on offer, especially when earlier titles scored higher with a similar offering. The 7 for graphics strikes me as a little harsh as the devs have turned out a very attractive finished product, and the clean, simple style is a design choice, not any failing of the system or game.

Ah, well, not bad anyway, and it's still on my launch-day list...
 
Okay, so I am having a wii launch get together(5people, 3wii's) and I was hoping some people here can cough up some answers;

I want to grab some mulitplayer games obviously, so MonkeyBall is a dayone purchase. (It is a launch game right?) Now, is Rayman a 4player game, right off the bat with all the mini-games?

I plan on getting;

Monkeyball
Red steel
Excite Truck


Is there any other launch titles that will support 4 players, or even 2?

And, if anyone knows will componant cables be ready for launch? only at gamestops, best buys or what?

Lastly, will games like Monkeyball,Excite truck allow for system linking? for multiple TV's? Seeing as how there are going to be several Wii's on hand, this may be a cool option.
 
IGN review said:
Monkey Wars, a very basic first-person shooter mode, in many ways features tighter and more responsive control than Ubisoft's ambitious Red Steel
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:lol oh ubisoft
 
MrSardonic said:
my prediction: no wii launch game except Zelda will score above 9 from IGN
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Madden and Red Steel are the only ones with a chance IMO, not because the Wii launch games are bad however, its just that they are solid but not 90%+ titles.
 
Matt will never give Red Steal over 9, he seems to be a bit too unhappy with the controls. And the game really doesn't look like it deserves it anyway.
 
If you've been worrying about difficulty, don't - some of the later stages are so ridiculously complex and unforgiving that we pulled out our hair until we were bald. If that reads like a criticism, it's not.
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**** yes
 
threeball said:
Madden and Red Steel are the only ones with a chance IMO, not because the Wii launch games are bad however, its just that they are solid but not 90%+ titles.
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i think the games with a chance are Madden, Rayman, CoD3 (if it was more than just single player).

but it's good to see IGN leave room for truely great Wii experiences to get higher scores. The second wave of titles looks like a more quality offering and hopefully we'll see more titles announced (like where the **** are the lightgun games? and proper racers?).

PS what the hell is going on with Super Paper Mario? When is it coming out?
 
MrSardonic said:
i think the games with a chance are Madden, Rayman, CoD3 (if it was more than just single player)
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IGN loves Madden games, I'm expecting 8.6 with points taken off due to no online and graphics.

Rayman is a mini-game collection, and as good as it may be, these games never score all that well. Matt does love the game though, so I'm expecting 8.5.

Call of Duty 3 looks to be a good experience, points taken off for graphics, lack of any multiplayer, and some small control issues. I'm expecting 8.0.
 
MrSardonic said:
i think the games with a chance are Madden, Rayman, CoD3 (if it was more than just single player)
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Madden, yes, but I think CoD3 will be out of the running, given that it is basically a port-job with Wiimote controls whereas Madden seems to have a lot of work put into ensuring that it feels like a ground-up title. Rayman... possibly, but unless it has a hell of a lot of depth beyond what we've seen, I think it may be pushing it, in spite of the charming presentation and dev pedigree.

IMO, we're probably looking at a high 9 for Zelda and a low 9 for Red Steel. RS has top-notch presentation, audio and visuals (for the platform and for it being a launch title) and it looks to be a pretty lengthy adventure, as well. I think the controls are going to be the sore point, but I think longer playtime with the game will have softened some of the earlier complaints. You can already see this in previews that are pointing out that it's more of a hybrid FPS/lightgun game and a recognition that it may actually be that way by design. Some reviewers will likely criticise it for not offering the trad FPS approach of something like CoD3, but I think IGN at least are going to be looking a little more favourably upon it.

Either way, we don't have long to wait to find out...

GaimeGuy said:
sadly this monkey ball will probably the be the worst selling.
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Why? It's a launch title with good reviews and a solid pedigree - I'd be shocked if it didn't do very well.
 
He actually scored it better than the original SMB (which he gave an 8.3 to)

Rayman, SMB:BB, and Zelda will be the top three launch games. And they'll be **** awesome.
 
nothing about it is above an 8.0 but the final score is 8.4? I guess the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
 
Anyone else starting to think IGNs reviews are starting to hit the mark these days? I mean, sure I'm a Monkey Ball fanboy (so take my following comments with that in mind). But I've noticed a trend in the last month or so where they have been more consistant with their reviews than pretty much any other online game site, or at least equaling Gamespot.

1up and EGM are just all over the place. They have the personalities, and their 1up show and 1up yours can't be beat (still my most awaited piece of media every week). But the review scores are just, chaotic. Perhaps a result of having a diverse array of strong personalities and view points?

I used to side with Gamespot in regards to reviews (as far as online goes anyway, in general EDGE is my preferred source for game recomendations). But I'm starting to enjoy IGNs efforts these days. I think they've done a good job of cleaning up their act. Perhaps the days of their texts sounding like they've been written by 5 year olds on acid are over?

Nice score for Monkey Ball. Awaiting December 7th eagerly.
 
Am I the only one who thinks Red Steel's controls are fine? Everyone expects the controls for this game to hurt it when it comes to reviews for it, but honestly I don't see whats wrong with them. They seem fine and far superior to dual analog, so if it controls better than other console FPS why would it be docked for bad controls? If Red Steel controls are bad, than Dual Analog controls are absymal. The only thing that still looks iffy is the turning, but the controller is sensitive enough to where it shouldn't make a deal and the enemies and levels are designed to where turning isn't a big deal from what I have seen. I think the controls will actually help it.
 
Martoo said:
Anyone else starting to think IGNs reviews are starting to hit the mark these days? I mean, sure I'm a Monkey Ball fanboy (so take my following comments with that in mind). But I've noticed a trend in the last month or so where they have been more consistant with their reviews than pretty much any other online game site, or at least equaling Gamespot.

1up and EGM are just all over the place. They have the personalities, and their 1up show and 1up yours can't be beat (still my most awaited piece of media every week). But the review scores are just, chaotic. Perhaps a result of having a diverse array of strong personalities and view points?

I used to side with Gamespot in regards to reviews (as far as online goes anyway, in general EDGE is my preferred source for game recomendations). But I'm starting to enjoy IGNs efforts these days. I think they've done a good job of cleaning up their act. Perhaps the days of their texts sounding like they've been written by 5 year olds on acid are over?

Nice score for Monkey Ball. Awaiting December 7th eagerly.
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I've found, while Matt can be pretty overzealous at some points, he's been pretty on-the-mark (or at least in line with my tastes for the most part, ever since the N64 days). IGN PS2, PSP, and DS have all scored games rather appropriately. It's IGN Xbox, Pocket, and Dreamcast that overrated a lot of shit.
 
AniHawk said:
I've found, while Matt can be pretty overzealous at some points, he's been pretty on-the-mark (or at least in line with my tastes for the most part, ever since the N64 days). IGN PS2, PSP, and DS have all scored games rather appropriately. It's IGN Xbox, Pocket, and Dreamcast that overrated a lot of shit.
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Jade Empire 9.9 :lol
 
SpoonyBard said:
50 minigames? Awesome. Monkey Target alone was much better than the main game in SMB1.
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Bite your tongue.

edit: btw this game is ****ing SOLD. Zelda, ET, SMBBB, hopefully Elebits, who knows what else.

This launch is ****ING AWESOME.
 
If two of the prettiest games for Wii, Wii Sports and Banana Blitz, get a 4.0 and 7.0 for graphics respectively, what will the warmed-over Gamecube port that is Zelda receive?
 
yes!!! my killer app confirmed!!! :D :D :D

it was one of the first gamecube games i got, and i played the shit out of it. monkey ball obsession, take two. ill be snatching this up.
 
MrSardonic said:
The second wave of titles looks like a more quality offering and hopefully we'll see more titles announced (like where the **** are the lightgun games? and proper racers?).
Click to expand...

Personally, I eagerly await more stuff in the same vein as Red Steel, but more refined, i.e. Wii games involving fencing / swordplay. I want a lightsaber combat game from Lucasarts in a bad way.
 
JayDubya said:
Personally, I eagerly await more stuff in the same vein as Red Steel, but more refined, i.e. Wii games involving fencing / swordplay. I want a lightsaber combat game from Lucasarts in a bad way.
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Hell yeah but they should take their time with it. The speaker on the wiimote will even be able to do the wrrrrrrCLASHwrrrrrrr noises :)
 
While I realize the score is not an average, how can it be greater than any of its components? Somehow, something that is not graphics, gameplay, sound, value or presentation gave it some extra points.

Unfounded review scores like this make me love Gamespot's math equations even more <3
 
Polari said:
If two of the prettiest games for Wii, Wii Sports and Banana Blitz, get a 4.0 and 7.0 for graphics respectively, what will the warmed-over Gamecube port that is Zelda receive?
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Zeldas getting a 9.0 for graphix, I'll bet my copy of Mr. Driller on it.
 
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