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Good: Puzzle bits are fun, entertaining multiplayer games

Bad: Dull, generic worlds, missions, gameplay, adventuring, graphics, sound, etc.

Caution: Excessive exposure to monkey chatter may result in nausea, headaches, loss of hearing, and/or permanent brain damage.

Here's a lesson porn producers learned a long time ago: when people are buying your product for one thing, cut the filler and give them what they want. There's no need for excessive story telling or character development. The same holds true for the Super Monkey Ball series. When people get a Monkey Ball title, they want good, straightforward puzzle gaming with some fun multiplayer to boot. That's why the decision to take the series in an adventure direction with Super Monkey Ball Adventure is not only a baffling one, but a bad one as well.

SMBA attempts to follow a pseudo open-world adventure format with the occasional puzzle level thrown in for good measure. In doing so, it simply spreads out the good stuff and crams a whole lot of useless filler in between. Imagine eating a tasty meal from Taco Bell, and then imagine eating a tasty meal from Taco Bell where you had to jog a mile after every bite.

For those new to the series, the Monkey Ball games have always been about puzzle solving sequences in which you literally guide a monkey in a ball over a floating island in effort to collect bananas and reach the finish line without falling off or letting time run out. It sounds like a simple premise, and in all reality it is. Control simply revolves around maneuvering your monkey with the analog stick. For puzzles, this works wonderfully. For adventuring, it does not.

One of the biggest problems with trying to introduce adventure elements is the fact that your monkey just can't do that much. Since the only intrinsic ability you really have is to roll around, it severely limits the level design possibilities, and also creates a huge problem with backtracking every time you fall off a small drop. The inclusion of special chants does a little to help solve this problem. Chants are basically short button sequences you learn throughout the game that give your monkey special powers such as boxing gloves, invisibility, and the ability to stick to certain surfaces. It's a feature that's not particularly innovative, but it does at least mix things up a bit.

Most of the adventure mode revolves around going monkey to monkey, performing menial tasks for them. These missions are for the most part uninspired and grow tiresome very quickly. Making matters worse are the facts that you can only have one quest at a time, and if you screw up during a quest, you have to navigate all the way back to the giver and restart the whole thing. This sometimes requires long, irritating hikes through familiar territory, especially when you fall off the game world. Things aren't helped by the game's frustrating camera, which turns slowly, gets caught on terrain, and is often facing the wrong direction.

Players take control of one of four monkey ball friends (AiAi, MeeMee, GonGon, or Baby) and set out on a quest across the five kingdoms that make up Monearth. In doing so, they will solve a number of problems in the land, most of which revolve around restoring happiness. It's really a flimsy narrative, and it isn't developed very well. Occasional quests shed some light on the overall story, but for the most part, your time is spent helping individual monkeys with their own self-centered quests for happiness.

Besides the lame main adventure, SMBA does offer a few other modes of play. Thankfully, these bear more of a resemblance to the Monkey Ball games of old. Challenge mode lets you cut the fat and play through the good old fashioned puzzle courses without all the adventure trimming. The game keeps track of high scores, giving a little added incentive to keep coming back. Unfortunately, the overall number of puzzles available is smaller than past games, but it's still nice to have the mode available. Multiplayer is also back, with a variety of game types, including classics such as Fight and Race. These modes are still a blast to play with a group of friends, and help make up for the lackluster adventure. Unfortunately, with only six different types of minigames, the options are a lot smaller than the last game in the series.

Graphically, the game just doesn't hold up very well. The game world itself is bland, with little variety in the colors and extremely repetitive scenery. Even the puzzle levels, which have always been simplistic, just don't look that visually appealing today. The monkey models are pretty basic, and after about 10 minutes, most of the characters you encounter look almost exactly alike. Monkey Ball games have never been known for groundbreaking visuals, but even this seems like a step backwards for the series.

The sound is even worse. The game's music is pretty generic, with a heavy dose of Sega-style Japanese techno. Sound effects are bland for the most part, and don't really stand out at all. Then there's that high pitched monkey talk. Monkey Balls apparently speak in a chipmunk-esque, high-pitched, migraine-causing, fake language of their own. Listening to it will make you hate the fact that you have ears. I really can't go on or I'm going to van Gogh myself.

SMBA is a serious misstep for the series. The other games gave players exactly what they wanted, and somehow succeeded in being more charming and fun. There is really no reason to pick this one up. Save your money and get one of the older Monkey Ball games. At least your ears will thank you for it.

Graphics: 5.5

Sound: 4.0

First Play: 4.0

Replay Value: 6.0

Gameplay: 4.5

Overall: 4.7