Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Party
Region: NTSC
Format:
Release Date: 21 Feb 06

Score 10 (Best) 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (Worst)

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Overview

One of the series that has really never had a huge point but that has been all about having fun is Sega's very own Super Monkey Ball series, which basically have you rolling around in a ball as a monkey. The idea may seem simple and maybe even ridiculous, but these games have been some really fun and lighthearted experience, which to me is what gaming is all about. Well the series is still around and Sega releases the latest installment of the series on the DS with Super Monkey Ball Touch & Roll. Read our full review to find out!

Gameplay

Now if you haven't seen already, I am a huge fan of the Super Monkey Ball series, not only for its great fun action but also for its lighthearted approach. Basically the game is a giant maze, where your goal is to make your way through it and collecting all of the bananas along the way. For those who enjoyed Katamari Damacy, then you will understand how silliness can also equal into a ton of fun. The big question about Touch & Roll was to see how the controlling of the game would work on the DS.

So let's talk about Touch & Roll and really the bulk of the game lies with the controls, as this is really where you can decide whether this is going to be a good Monkey Ball experience or a poor one. And after a few tries through the first maze of Touch & Roll, you can see that the controls of this game are absolutely frustrating. You would think when using the Nintendo DS stylus you would have great control over the ball throughout the maze, but unfortunately this is not the case. The stylus actually seems to be more frustrating and this just is so frustrating that you wonder how they let this go on.

With that being said, you can get the hang of the controls (it does take time) and when you do there are a lot of mazes to go through in this game. I should say that the developers definitely went with the "standard" monkey ball style experience and never wants to go away from this. This is not a bad thing, as I did feel that they brought in a lot of nice obstacles and challenges to the experience, as the difficulty rises as you go through. The game will take a good amount of time to complete, due to the difficulty, but all in all the experience is good.

Touch & Roll does include some fun mini games, two of which we haven't seen before. My favorite however is still the mini golf game, which I have always found to be the most enjoyable, although the new hockey game is also entertaining. The mini games are always good time away from the core game. In the end, Touch & Roll is a game plagued by a poor control scheme that should have been fixed before release. Had the stylus been better used, we could have been talking about a great game.

Graphics

Visually Touch & Roll doesn't go for much, because the whole game really all looks the same. Although there are some differences in the mazes, they all begin to look similar and you just feel like the developers lost their creativity. The game doesn't look bad, but we have just seen a lot of other games look so much better on the DS before.

Fun Factor

I have already mentioned before that I have been a fan of the Super Monkey Ball series, but Touch & Roll was really disappointing. The game is still the same Super Monkey Ball that we have seen in the past, but with a control scheme that is as frustrating as Touch & Roll is on the DS you just can't enjoy the experience. Once you do get accustomed to the frustrating controls, you can still enjoy the game.

Overall

Super Monkey Ball Touch & Roll is a game that could have been a great had the controls been better developed. For fans of the series who are wondering whether or not you should go out and pick up a copy of this game, my recommendation is if you already own a copy of one of the previous versions, then you are probably better off not picking up this game, or using it as a rental.

Gameplay
6.0

Graphics
6.0

Fun Factor
6.0

Overall
6.0

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