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> Results: Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
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The ESRB Says:
Mild Cartoon Violence: GamerDad found boxing games, a Nerf style shooting game, and nothing at all offensive. It's an obvious formula for success. Cute little monkeys + small plastic balls = Gameplay genius! And the quick succession of sequels to the original SUPER MONKEY BALL is a testament to this fact. The concept is simple and very much like that old wooden Labyrinth game. Each level consists of a series of ramps, platforms, and obstacles, with a goal at the end. Placed in your path and outside of it are bananas. Your monkey, one of six (two are new to this game) οΎ– all are adorable, is inside of a plastic ball (like those hamster balls they sell at the pet store), and using the remote, players tilt the gameworld to make the ball roll toward the goal. Previous versions used a gamepad to do this; the Wii remote is, at the same time a far more challenging, more frustrating, but also far more satisfying method of control. Just be warned, your Monkey will roll off the edge a lot before you learn how to make the precise adjustments and arm movements that make the game a must own for fans of this type of puzzle gameplay. The other component to a Super Monkey Ball game are the minigames and party games packed in with the main single player puzzles. Banana Blitz takes full advantage of the fact that it's coming out for a brand new game console system specially built for creative and fun party gaming. But instead of offering a few refined and polished games they packed in 50. Everything is covered, from asteroid shooting (aim the remote at the screen and fire), racing, boxing, tennis, hovercraft bumper cars, bowling, and many more. A few highlights include a nifty version of darts and a cool first-person shooter (using non-violent nerf like balls) called Monkey Wars. The problem is that most of the minigames require so much practice and precision, they might as well be broken, and others are simply not fun. If moderately fun real-world games like Ring Toss and Whack-a-Mole require more effort virtually than in real life, what's the point? Quantity never beats quality and Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz suffers greatly with this hit and miss galleria of oddball gaming. The only upside here is that we can see kids spending time with each and figuring them out. They do work, they are challenging, but they're just not fun. A handful of polished games would have been better. If the maddening puzzle gameplay of the earlier versions left you wanting more pick up the Wii remote, this is the version you've been waiting for. If you're looking for a series of near-miss party games, look no further. If you're looking for quality party gaming on your Wii, wait a few months, better games are coming.  
Parents need to know that this game can be quite challenging. Some kids will simply get too frustrated with it while others may like the challenge and find it teaches them to concentrate better and provides them with a real sense of accomplishment. The gameplay is a lot like those old wooden labyrinth games where you turn the board to make the metal marble move. Here, you tilt the Wii remote to move the board and roll the monkey ball. Parents should also know that players must keep the remote extended, making slight twisting and turning motions, and that doing this for too long, like anything, might result in arm pain. You might want to remind kids to take frequent breaks from the action.
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