Way back in the days of the Gamecube, the Super Monkey Ball titles were pretty much known by all.  If you weren’t a fan of the series, then more than likely you saw it as a guilty pleasure.  The series was popular for its quirky gameplay and brilliant level design, but in my opinion, the gameplay started to wear thin after a few years.  I know you can only do so much with the “move the maze, roll the monkey” gameplay, but each game was starting to feel like rehash after rehash.  After viewing the trailer for the newest game, it seems like we may be getting “more of the same” as usual by looking at the familiar art and music.

I own Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz for the Wii, and I must say that even though it’s fun, it wasn’t the best in the series.  The wiimote didn’t seem resposnive enough for a lot of the quick reflexes the game requires.  This is my main gripe about the new title, Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll.  For anybody who has played the rolling mini-games on Wii Fit, you know how tough it is to control, which makes me wonder…if the wiimote was hard enough to use, how tough will the balance board be?  I would be ecstatic to see Gamecube controller compatability, since the controls on the original games were so tight.  However, this is SEGA we are talking about, so I won’t hold my breath.  There is plenty of time before it’s 2010 release, so I am going to be skeptical for quite sometime until I actually give the game a go.

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