Game #1175: Super Monkey Ball

 It was ballsy of me to attempt to beat this game.

 No lie, last year's(was it last year?) newest entry in the Monkey Ball franchise got me interested in the franchise, so I decided to get the very first Super Monkey Ball. I knew it was tough, I knew Yakuza's director directed it as well, so why not give it a try?

 Monkey Ball's premise is simple, tilt the environment around to get your monkey, trapped inside a plastic ball for whatever reason, to the Goal Post. Obviously, it's not as easy as it sounds, as you really don't want to fall out of bounds and lose a life. Or hit a bump in the road that sends you flying out of bounds. Or maybe the environment itself is moving and shifting, even bending, thus making things even harder. And it's really fun. The game is divided into four sets of stages: Beginner, made out of 10 stages, Advanced, made out of 30, Expert, made out of 50... and Master, another 10 stages, if you manage to beat Expert. Oh! And you can unlock bonus stages too if you complete a set without losing a life. This mode can also be played in Practice, if you reached the stage before, or compete in them against other players.

 My one big issue... is that the game is very unforgiving. It's really hard, so having limited continuous is very harsh. Say, you get up to stage 41 in Expert but that stage continues to be your bane... now you have to make it through the previous 40 stages to try again. Mercifully, Practice Mode lets you try any stage that you've reached already, but it's not the same. And, to be fair, you can unlock Infinite Continues... but it's gonna be a long, long grind, as you need to amass a ton of points by playing and replaying the game. Having limited continues kinda made it a bit too punishing for someone who isn't good at these games. You can collect bananas, and for every 100 you get an extra life, but it's still tough!

 That said, these kind of games aren't my thing... but I still loved it. It's a very simple and silly premise, and yet, it's so much fun. Even when I was hating life itself as I tried to even finish Advance Mode, spoilers: I didn't, I still loved the game. It's very colorful and pretty, and the announcer makes the game very charming. 

 ... but it doesn't end there, as the game is packed with extra content. There are 3 party games and 3 minigames. Party Games come unlocked by default, they can be played with other players or against the CPU. There's a free for all fighting mode, in which you are equipped with a giant punching glove and must punch other players out of the platform. And there are power ups you can pick up to help you! Then there's a 6-track RACING mode, with its own power ups. Then there's one in which you must try to hit a target when jumping off a ramp. As for the minigames, these are unlocked by points: Golf, Billiards and Bowling. How's that for bonuses? The Party games were actually fun.

 I'm bad at Super Monkey Ball, no doubt about it, but the game is pure quality, and it's even got pretty decent bonus content. That said, it's an Arcade game through and through, and despite its cutesy look this is as hardcore as hardcore gets. It's a hard game, and it makes no qualms about it!

 8.0