Super Monkey Ball 3D (Nintendo 3DS) Review

When playing Super Monkey Ball 3D at the pre-release 3DS event in Amsterdam earlier this year, the first thing that grabbed most people’s attention was how SEGA’s debut portable 3D game made use of the gyroscope technology to allow for the stages to be tilted purely by moving the actual 3DS unit around in order to make the monkeys-in-balls roll around, collecting bananas and aiming for the end-of-level goal in the fastest time possible. It certainly is a great inclusion and follows on nicely from the Wii motion controls of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, yet definitely ruins any 3D feel since that ‘sweet spot’ required for the stereoscopic trickery employed by the 3DS to work accurately is lost the moment the system is even marginally moved from one side to the other, let alone when swished about in the over-the-top manner needed in order to actually get your monkey rolling hither and thither. Basically, if you play using the motion controls, switch 3D off; if you prefer the Circle Pad, hike that 3D effect right up as it definitely is very impressive.

Despite many fans adoring the mini-game extras found in past Super Monkey Ball efforts, the stage-rolling aspect of Super Monkey Ball 3D is definitely the core element and remains exactly how it has always been, which for long-term fans of the stressful, highly intense puzzle series will be fantastic news indeed. The premise is the same as ever - players choose one of the various monkeys, pick a world to play on and then begin to roll the monkey in its see-through ball carefully around each stage in an attempt to collect all the bananas within a set time limit, reaching the end goal as quickly as possible. Since every level is set up in the sky, and there are various hazardous obstacles dotted around the arenas, more often than not the slightest wrong move will result in the monkey ball clattering into something, then rebounding over the edge into oblivion. This is where most of the enjoyment stems from - being able to gently move the stage around to help navigate the ball in such a way as to collect bananas, pick up speed to shoot up ramps, yet also quickly tilt in the opposite direction to slow the ball back down in order to prevent flying off into the abyss. Super Monkey Ball has always been about keeping players on the edge of their seat, testing their resolve throughout.

However, sadly, the one drawback is that everything in Super Monkey Ball 3D appears to have been watered down in what can only be seen as an effort to attract a wider audience, and in doing so veterans will find that breezing through to the end far too simple and there is no particular reason to return upon completion. One of the other main problems with Super Monkey Ball 3D is that the development team, perhaps realising the single-player mode was lacking, has attempted to extend the game’s life by including two rather average extra modes of play - Monkey Fight and Monkey Race. The former is a Super Smash Bros. clone, whilst the latter is a Mario Kart pastiche. Sadly neither reach anywhere near the standards set by Nintendo. Monkey Fight is a four-player mini-brawl that proves to be a sluggish affair, with monkeys trundling around stages floating in the sky, throwing various attacks at each other, all with the aim of having the most bananas by the time the clock hits zero. Monkey Race is of a similar ilk. Grand Prix, Time Trial, Quick Race and a whole host of power-ups during races are present, yet it ends up proving to be not only a shadow of Mario Kart, but also far from the quality found of mini-games found in earlier Super Monkey Ball titles on the GameCube in general.

Whilst fun on the whole, sadly Super Monkey Ball 3D is a disappointment through-and-through and a shadow of the series’ former glory. Long-term fans will have moments where the action scratches at their inner Monkey Ball love, yet the flame will never truly ignite because everything is over far too quickly and the incentive for coming back to play through again is simply not there. With any luck the success found thanks to it riding on the back of the 3DS launch hype will give SEGA enough justification to work on a more fleshed-out, superior 3D edition.