Super Monkey Ball 2
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| Super Monkey Ball 2 | |
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| Developer(s) | Sega |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Designer(s) | Toshihiro Nagoshi |
| Release date(s) | August 26, 2002 |
| Genre(s) | Platformer, Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | E (Everyone) |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo GameCube |
| Media | 1 × GameCube Game Disc |
| Input | Gamepad |
Super Monkey Ball 2 is the sequel to Super Monkey Ball. Like its predecessor, the game is played by guiding a monkey across mazes and obstacle courses. Unlike the original Super Monkey Ball game, however, there is a story that accompanies the main game.
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[edit] Gameplay
[edit] Levels
Each level is made up of a large starting platform, checkered platforms, and at least one arch-shaped goal that marks the end of the level. Many levels also have moving platforms, buttons that control the speed and direction of moving parts, and other various obstacles.
The levels have extreme variety. For example, one level comprises of a haphazard collection of platforms that rotate vertically, while another is nothing more than a giant ramp. In the first level, there are no obstacles whatsoever, while one of the last levels requires players to memorize a maze that has invisible passages.
There are two ways to fail a level: falling off the maze or running out of time. In most mazes, there is a one minute time limit. However, in some mazes, players are only given thirty seconds. Very few of the levels have any protection from falling off the maze. Falling off the maze is called a "fall out."
[edit] Modes
There are three game modes for the main game (there are minigames in Super Monkey Ball 2, see below). They are story mode, challenge mode, and practice mode.
[edit] Story Mode
In story mode, the player is given an unlimited number of lives to complete 100 levels. The levels are grouped into ten sets, called worlds, of ten mazes each. Within a world, the player is free to complete the levels in any order he or she chooses, but the worlds must be played in order, no levels may be skipped, and no level may be played again after it is cleared. It tells the story of the four monkeys from the original Super Monkey Ball (Aiai, Meemee, Baby, and Gongon) pursuing the evil Dr. Bad-Boon, who has stolen all of the bananas from their island for an even more evil purpose.
[edit] Challenge Mode
There are four difficulties to challenge mode: Beginner, Advanced, Expert, and Master. The Beginner difficulty goes through the first ten levels of the Story mode, Advanced goes through thirty more, and Expert uses the next fifty. (The last ten levels of story mode are not used in challenge mode.) By completing all of the levels in a difficulty without running out of lives, players advance onto ten extra stages, which are significantly more difficult. Finishing all of the levels in the Expert difficulty (including the extra levels) without running out of lives unlocks the Master difficulty, which has twenty levels (including the master extra ones) that are extremely difficult. The Master difficulty stages are not found in the Story mode. Some backdrops are different between the two modes. For example, the "Amusement Park" stages in the Story Mode become the "Boiling Pot" stages in the Challenge mode.
One main difference between Story mode and Challenge mode is that Challenge mode does not grant players a limitless supply of lives. At first, the number of lives is set to three, but that number can be increased later.
Depending on the difficulty chosen, the player is given three to five continues. The harder the difficulty, the more continues are given to the player.
Another difference between the challenge and story modes is that you can skip levels in challenge mode. While all stages have a blue goal which, when crossed, brings the player to the next level, a number of stages also include a green and/or a red goal gate. The green goal gate skips the level that would usually follow, while the red goal gate skips the following two. (Note that this is different than the warping system of Super Monkey Ball, where the color of the gates did not warp a consistent number of levels.) These warping goals are usually more difficult to reach than the standard blue goals, but offer considerably more points and may help to avoid a difficult level under certain circumstances.
One more difference is that there are bonus levels in challenge mode. These levels have lots of bananas scattered around them. Also, the player will not lose a life if he or she falls out or runs out of time. There are nine Bonus stages in all, each of them more difficult to obtain bananas from than the previous one.
[edit] Practice Mode
Practice mode allows players to play any level they have reached as many times as they want in either of the two other modes. The player is given an unlimited number of lives, but scores are not recorded.
[edit] Points
There are two types of points: Regular Points and Play Points.
[edit] Regular Points
These are earned by picking up bananas scattered around the levels and quickly completing mazes.
There are two sizes of bananas. A lone banana is worth 100 points. However, a rarer banana bunch is worth 10 bananas, or 1,000 points. There is a side benefit from collecting bananas: every 100 bananas gives the player an extra life in challenge mode (much like getting 100 coins in the Mario series, or getting 100 rings in the Sonic series).
The number of points earned for the completion of a level is determined by the clear score and a number of possible multipliers, defined below.
- The Clear Score is the number of centiseconds remaining on the clock when the monkey breaks the goal tape. In addition, an extra 10,000 points is awarded for every level skipped (if the player enters a green or red warp goal).
- This score can be multiplied by the Time Bonus, which doubles the player's clear score if he or she finishes in less than half of the allotted time. If the player finishes with exactly half of the time left (15.00 or 30.00 seconds), no bonus is awarded.
- The number of points earned to this point can be further increased by the Warp Bonus, which multiplies the points already won on the stage by a factor of the number of stages passed by taking a warp, when applicable. For example, a green goal gate's warp bonus is x2, while a red goal gate awards a x3 bonus.
- The points earned on the stage to this point are referred to as the Stage Score, and are added to the player's running total score.
One peculiarity of this scoring system is that an excessively difficult level will not necessarily award more points than the easiest levels. This is especially true in stages that force the player to take a considerable amount of time to reach the goal, such as "Gimmick."
The final score, achieved after completing all levels in a particular difficulty, can be recorded into a high score chart specific to the level of difficulty if it is one of the top five in value. It should be noted that any continues used during the course of play will reset the running score.
[edit] Play Points
Play points are earned by playing the game well. The longer and better you play the game, the more play points are awarded at the end. Unlike regular points, play points are carried over from each game.
Play points are used to "buy" minigames, additional lives, and cut scenes. At first, you can only use play points to unlock all six minigames for 2,500 points each. Once those are unlocked, a new menu option, "Gift", will be available in the Options Menu. Here, the starting number of lives in challenge mode can be increased for 500 points a life (up to a maximum of 99 lives), each cut scene can be played any time the player wishes for 1,000 points each movie, and the credits minigame can be played after unlocking it for 1,000 points.
After everything is unlocked, the highest number of Play Points earned in a single game will be recorded, and the player is invited to try to beat his or her record continuously.
[edit] Party Games
There are 12 mini games, called party games, in Super Monkey Ball 2. They are Monkey Race 2, Monkey Fight 2, Monkey Target 2, Monkey Billiards 2, Monkey Bowling 2, Monkey Golf 2, Monkey Boat, Monkey Shot, Monkey Dogfight, Monkey Soccer, Monkey Baseball, and Monkey Tennis. All of the party games without "2" in their name are locked at the start of the game and are unlocked by earning play points. The reason for the "2" in their names is because they are updated versions of mini-games in the original Super Monkey Ball.
[edit] Monkey Race 2
This game is straightforward: players try to make monkeys go around looped mazes faster than anyone else. The mazes are littered with items, which can be used to slow down other players or speed the user's monkey up. If a player falls out, he or she will be placed back on the maze, but the player will have lost time.
[edit] Monkey Golf 2
This game ranges from regular holes to insane crazy golf types. Playing is straightforward, trying to get the ball into the hole in the least amount of strokes.
[edit] Monkey Fight 2
In this game, all of the monkeys have giant punching gloves attached to the outside of their balls. Players try to use the gloves to knock other monkeys off of an arena. By holding the "B" button on the controller, the size and power of one's glove can be temporarily boosted while sacrificing mobility, adding a strategic element to the otherwise simple combat. Depending on how the game is set up, either the last person left wins or knocking another player off wins the attacker points and whoever has the most points after a minute ends. Items will occasionally appear in large blue boxes and increase the power of the collector's glove.
[edit] Monkey Target 2
The goal of this game is to fly a monkey to and fall on a target. At the start of every round, the players are placed on a huge ramp facing an ocean with floating targets. The monkeys are rolled down the ramp and launched into the air, where the monkeys' balls open up like wings. The monkeys fly over to the targets and then close their balls to fall onto them (the targets). Depending on where the monkeys land, they score a different amount of points.
If a player flies his or her monkeys around carelessly, he or she may cause them to stall and fall into the ocean. This does not end the game, but no points are scored for the round. A game lasts three or six rounds.
[edit] Monkey Billiards 2
As with regular billiards, Monkey Billiards 2 has the player hitting the cue ball. Points are scored by ricocheting the cue ball into other balls and having them roll into pockets, or holes along the sides of the billiards table. Depending on the settings, players can use the regular 15-ball rules or play by the Japanese 9-ball rules. Other than a floating arrow to help the player see where the cue ball will go and an overhead view, there is nothing in this gameplay that differentiates it from regular billiards.
[edit] Monkey Bowling 2
Monkey Bowling is about using the monkey as a bowling ball to knock over as many bowling pins at the end of the alley as possible. Before the ball starts rolling down the alley, the player can set its speed, initial direction, and spin, but after the ball crosses a white line, all control is relinquished.
There are three modes: a standard ten-alley game with ordinary alleys (aside from the rocket-themed backdrop), a ten-alley game with weird alleys; including curved alleys, moving platforms, and ripples in the alley itself; and a challenge mode for one player in which the player must knock over all the pins in ten scenarios with a limited number of balls.
One interesting note about this mini-game is that each of the four characters plays differently. Aiai is considered to be a well-balanced player, with moderate ease at aiming and mid-range strength and spin. Meemee's aiming target moves more quickly than the others', but makes up for this inconvenience with far superior spin. Baby lacks power, but the aiming target moves more slowly. Gongon aims normally, but throws the ball with immense power and ineffective spin.
[edit] Monkey Boat
Monkey Boat is a paddle-boat race. The control stick, which usually controls the monkey, has a diminished role in this mini-game. Instead the L and R buttons are used to paddle the boat with a kayak oar. The monkeys race through an odd river system that seems to be located on the island where they live.
[edit] Monkey Shot
Monkey Shot is a first-person shooter that, depending on the difficulty, will take the player through different worlds found in the Story mode. Monkey Shot is played "on rails"--the game moves the player on a pre-selected path, the player only doing the aiming. The goal is to shoot enemies, refills, and upgrades, and running out of ammunition requires a reloading. There is a boss at the end of each of the three available stages.
[edit] Monkey Dogfight
Monkey Dogfight is, as its name implies, aerial combat. There are three different arenas in Monkey Dogfight. The game equips the monkeys with the firepower needed to shoot his or her adversaries out of the sky. You may shoot normal shots (which are infinite) or missles (which you can run out of and may only obtain twenty at any given point.) The winner is the last monkey to not have been shot down.
[edit] Monkey Soccer
Like with regular soccer, the objective in Monkey Soccer is to score as many goals against your opponent as possible. Before each game, each player is asked to pick a formation. Whoever the team captain is will depend on the formation chosen. (For example, the all-around formation has Meemee as the leader, whereas the defensive one features Gongon.)
During the game itself, each player controls one member of the team, the others being computer-controlled. Control is switched to different player as the game goes on; you always play as the monkey with the ball or, if the opposing team has the ball, the monkey closest to the ball. Various kicks can be executed with the A and B buttons.
[edit] Monkey Baseball
Monkey Baseball is this game's take on the sport. Each player selects a character, and that player's team will all be that character, (Player 1's character has red clothing and Player 2's blue to differentiate them if both picked the same character) with a choice of one of the two arenas (a jungle type stadium and a more futuristic one). Instead of the pitcher throwing the ball, he or she rolls towards the batter. The pitcher's speed and direction are fully controllable until the batter hits the ball or a strike is called. Where the batter stands is also controllable until he or she swings the bat. You may also cycle through defensive setups on the field.
Once the ball is hit, monkeys in the outfield can move left or right to catch the ball and call an "Out." However, if they fail to catch the ball, it will land in either one of several compartments at the end of the field, which determines how many bases the batter will run (some compartments count as an Out) or go onto a "Home Run" ramp, which counts as a home run.
After the batting team gets three outs, teams switch control. Whoever is batting next stops a spinner that determines what kinds of compartments will be in the back of the field and which ramps will be up, if any.
[edit] Monkey Tennis
There are Singles and Doubles available. Singles is one person on each half of the court, and Doubles has two people on each side. Monkey Tennis uses the regular tennis scoring and pretty much plays like tennis in a video game would be played, except that the ball is much bigger and leaves a glowing wake, possibly because an actual-size tennis ball would be too difficult to see.
The number of games, sets, and matches are customizable before the competition begins.
[edit] Game glitches and secrets
- By using the fast-moving objects in the levels such as the spinning platforms in Bead Screen (World 5-5) and Organic Form (Advanced Stage 11), or other objects like those in Inchworms (Advanced Stage 8) or Dizzy System (Master Extra 9) it is possible to exceed 999 mph going up and going down. Bead Screen allows for up to 4000 mph, of which only Action Replay's infinite time code allows for the full experience. A few other levels like Pendulums allow for supersonic speeds where the ball can safely land and reach the goal. Identical stages with different backgrounds have different results. World 5-5 (Bead Screen) allows for it without "fallout" if the ball is tossed straight up. It will not work with Beginner Extra 5 no matter what one does. The same also applies to Inch Worms. Advanced stage 8 has the best chance and highest speed of all stages, but the similar World 2-8 frequently fails due to invisible "barriers" (of which cause "fall out" when out of bounds) being set up differently. Organic Form is identical in both story and challenge modes.
- At very high speeds, usually around 600 mph, the ball can sometimes fall right through the ground and sometimes, even if stopped, not get hit by fast-moving objects.
- The outside scenery is almost entirely passable - the ball falls right through it like it wasn't there.
- In Organic Form, it is possible to land safely in the area where the fish is coming to a complete stop, but requires great skill and quite a bit of luck.
- Under rare circumstances, when Baby is up for bat in Monkey Baseball, it is possible to bat the ball entirely out of the stadium backwards with the camera following it (revealing a black void). By doing this going forward out of the foul area, you will get a homerun, as if you hit the ball onto a ramp.
- In the Space Monkey Wars stage in Monkey Dogfight, if you fly all the way down to the bottom, go along a crack away from the center and towards the edge, and keep going, you can fly out of the level into a void.
- By always using hard shots in 15-ball and Japanese 9-ball games, winning against the computer is very easy and sometimes 40 or more combo shots can be made in the matter of only 11 rounds.
- Replays don't properly save and don't properly play back when the speeds gets much beyond 800 mph.
- The Empire State Building can be seen in the background of World 4 (Inside The Whale).
- In many levels of Challenge Mode, go backwards at the starting point instead of automatically heading forwards. Buttons and other aids are often hidden immediately behind the starting point.
- In World 4 (Inside The Whale), the background is darker than the challenge mode version, and the story mode version doesn't show the whale's mouth and blowhole unlike the challenge mode version. For more information, reach Expert levels 40-50.
- There is a very strange glitch in Master Extra Level 9 (Dizzy System). If one falls and hits the ground from the spinners correctly, the monkey will go straight up in the air at 999 mph. It will fall into a void, landing back on the normal area much later.
[edit] Awards
- E3 2002 Game Critics Awards: Best Puzzle/Trivia/Parlor Game
[edit] External Links
- Elite Scores, world record high score competition page
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