Super Monkey Ball 2

Super Monkey Ball

2

E

Mini Games

9.0

2002-08-25

2018-07-03 12:24:22

Super Monkey Ball 2 continues its predecessor’s core Marble Madness-esque gameplay. The player controls a monkey running in a ball with the joystick through maze-like stages with obstacles to dodge, which have to be completed under a time limit without the monkey falling off platform ledges. As the game progresses, there are more paths that loop, spin, and corkscrew, and levels that move horizontally, vertically, and 360-degrees. The sequel has a more spiked difficulty curve as a result of new design choices. Looped paths occasionally have obstacles and cockscrewed paths within them and some rotating stages have pillars popping out of holes.Another addition is switches scattered throughout that fast-forward, rewind, play and stop platforms while rolled over onto them, making the sequel more focused on strategy and puzzle-solving.

Unlike the first entry, Super Monkey Ball 2 has a single-player Story Mode grouping levels by ten. Dr. Bad-Boon is an evil scientist who steals all of the bananas from Monkey Island, putting four protagonists, AiAi, MeeMee, GonGon, and Baby into action to chase him through booby-trapped stages he has set up. The story takes place over 100 levels split between 10 worlds with animated cutscenes that play in between each. The player is given an infinite number of lives and can complete each world’s ten stages in any order.

Challenge mode allows up to four players and plays like the main mode of the original Super Monkey Ball. There are three difficulty levels: Beginner, Advanced, and Expert, consisting of 10, 30, and 50 floors each. Players navigate each set in order with a limited number of lives and continues. Beginner Extra, Advanced Extra and Expert Extra floors are unlocked when each respective difficulty level is completed without a single continue. There are ten extra stages in each difficulty. A hidden set of 10 Master floors can be unlocked through playing the Expert Extra floors without using a continue. At this point, the player will be able to select this difficulty as if it were a normal mode. If a player completes all 10 Master-stages without using a continue, they will go to the Master Extra stages.

Multiplayer

There are 12 multiplayer mini-games, six of them reprisals from the predecessor with more gameplay styles and level types: Monkey Race, Monkey Fight, Monkey Target, Monkey Billiards, Monkey Bowling, and Monkey Golf. Monkey Golf rejects the mini-golf courses of the first game for larger environments standard of regular golf, with terrain and wind affecting the power and trajectory of a shot, and the ability to drive and chip.

Monkey Race allows players to race up to eight computer opponents, larger than the previous game’s three, and has new weapons such as the Hunter Missile which shoots several rockets at a time. Having only three arenas, Monkey Fight introduces crumbling fighting rings, the ability to charge a fight, and a sudden death mode. Monkey Billiards has Japanese 9 ball and Rotation as new gameplay modes, as well as a few more camera angle options.

Monkey Bowling contains a Special Mode in addition to the typical game present in the first. It has ten lanes that feature non-linear paths, such as zig-zag and concave, and moving parts. The monkeys also differ in attributes, such as GonGon being the best with speed and Baby better at maneuverability. Like the first game’s mode, Monkey Target has the player controlling a gliding monkey to land on a target while avoiding falling into the water. However, it differs in how items are collected; instead of receiving them from bananas, which are now only points, they are now in the middle of the air to be collected on the monkey’s trajectory. Formation flying, where the direction of up to five monkeys can be controlled simultaneously, and a split-screen feature of up to four players are additions.

The other six mini-games, Monkey Tennis, Monkey Baseball, Monkey Soccer, Monkey Boat, Monkey Shot and Monkey Dogfight, are introduced to the series. Some of these are replicas of Sega’s Virtua franchises, such as Virtua Striker (1995–2004), Virtua Cop (1994–2003), and Virtua Tennis (1999–2012). In Monkey Baseball, the rolling monkey ball is pitched to the batter onto ramps that serve as bases and the home plate and lead into the outfield. Monkey Boat involves the racers kayaking down a river, with player’s only control being the shoulder buttons to steer. Monkey Shot is a light gun shooter that also involves moving down a track, but to shoot at incoming enemies, missiles, and bosses while collecting items like upgrades to automatic guns. In Monkey Dogfight, the monkeys fly and shoot at each other.

PC

Sega

Yes

010086610123

4

United States

128-bit

Game Cube Disc

1

Snap Case

~$25.99

2026-04-08

2018-07-03 12:24:22