DISCLAIMERS:
- the reviewer has not finished the game with 100% completion
- the game was played on the Xbox 360 using the Xbox version of the game intended for United States audiences through the backwards compatibility feature of the Xbox 360
Three years after the release of Super Monkey Ball 2 on GameCube a new Super Monkey Ball game that combined Super Monkey Ball‘s, Super Monkey Ball 2‘s, and supposedly the cancelled Super Monkey Ball 3‘s levels into one game. This was the first multiplatform Super Monkey Ball game, though it strangely never released on the GameCube, possibly due to GameCube disc storage size limitations. This review will judge Super Monkey Ball Deluxe on its own merits.
The gameplay of Super Monkey Ball Deluxe is largely the same as in Super Monkey Ball 2. The physics feel mostly the same, which is good for players who are familiar with the second game but not exactly the best for Super Monkey Ball stages that used the original’s physics. The Xbox and Xbox 360 controllers are also noticeably worse than the GameCube controller for playing Super Monkey Ball games. This is due partly due to the difference in dead zones but mostly because of the lack of notches around any Xbox controller’s analog stick. The lack of these notches makes going perfectly straight much more difficult and getting certain angles relative to the notches is now impossible. The story mode is also arguably less well designed as now most stages are optional so players can beat the story mode while avoiding many of the more difficult stages that were required in Super Monkey Ball 2. Some additional shorter challenge modes would have been appreciated as there are so many stages that even the shortest challenge mode is a sizable time commitment. Overall this Super Monkey Ball game is not particularly well thought out and the control doesn’t feel anywhere near as good as the GameCube originals.
The sound of Super Monkey Ball Deluxe is essentially exactly the same as the previous two games and is as great as ever. The sound effects are mostly average but the soundtrack is far above average. This Super Monkey Ball game features the soundtracks from both games so it easily has the best sound out of the three original console Super Monkey Ball games.
Technically Super Monkey Ball Deluxe is rather disappointing on the Xbox as the Xbox is easily more powerful than the GameCube yet the game looks worse. Backgrounds in particular look noticeably worse in particular. Cutscenes are heavily compressed and the Xbox 360 emulation seems to desync the speech bubbles and the cutscene. There is also some severe frame drops below 60 FPS that seem to not be helped by the Xbox 360 emulation either. Some display options are missing and autosave is still turned off by default too. Overall Super Monkey Ball Deluxe is a less smooth and more frustrating to play compared to previous Super Monkey Ball games.
The plot and world in Super Monkey Ball Deluxe are not improved whatsoever and were still obviously unable to captivate essentially any following anywhere.
Value is essentially the only area that improves upon Super Monkey Ball 2. The amount of levels in the game is insanely high and most players will be fine seeing only about a third of them. Even with its shortcomings in most areas compared to previous Super Monkey Ball games it is easily worth full price for owners of both previous games for the few additional levels and the vastly expanded scope of the challenges. It is easily worth full price for people who have never played the originals either.
Overall the reviewer would give the game an 8.5 out of 10.
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