Current Events > monke bol banna mania in like 5 minut

(+) Yeah! (+)

anybody else?

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wait isn't release date like the 2nd?

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Intro2Logic posted...

wait isn't release date like the 2nd?

digital deluxe releases early

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a shame competition mode isn't in the game because it was my favorite multiplayer mode in the original
monkey ball adventure is mediocre but its party modes were quite good. i hope we get monkey tower and monkey race's silly items in later games

still seems like a good remaster though, especially with the jump option allowing for brand new experiences on old courses

it should be illegal to be this cute


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So how is it?

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What he asked

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well... it's monkey ball again. it's got a selection of levels for a story mode, then all of 1 and 2's levels, plus some challenge modes. there are missions to complete that earn you points to buy things in the shop, and tons of minigames like the glider game and tennis that make me wish it had online multiplayer. it's good, although it might be more fun to someone who never played the originals

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Intro2Logic posted...

wait isn't release date like the 2nd?

It releases on the 5th

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check this out
https://youtu.be/x1y0Oabysxs

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yeah, i was slamming my head against the wall, so to speak, trying to get the damn green goal, then that happened

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I haven't played the originals, only Jr. So I'm going it's a good time for me

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this launchers level in the whale might be the biggest "fuck you" to the player i've ever seen in a video game

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there's worse, like switch inferno and crazy maze

haha wow you know i'm starting to think maybe super monkey ball shouldn't have vertical fucking levels where you're at the mercy of giant blocks launching you into the air at 1,000 miles per hour

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Yeah I still remember the launchers level from the original. The trick was you had to be right up against them so you'd be launched at a more manageable speed, Right?

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i tried all kinds of different approaches to it, it seems spontaneous whether you bounce off it the right way. clearing the level is easy enough, it's getting the bananas that it wants me to get and hitting the green goal that are BS. Jump Machine is another one that sucks, except now there's more goals it wants you to hit

tbh a lot of the levels seem to be less "level" and more "weird obstacle that you throw yourself at and hope for the best"

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are you playing story mode? because honestly that's just monkey ball 2 level design in a nutshell: bizarre gimmicks and setpieces, varying from "what the hell was that, it was over before it started" to "what the hell was that, that was really dumb"
it isn't nearly as tight as the first game's pure obstacle course level design
when it does have obstacle course level design of its own it can be pretty decent, even if sometimes still underwhelming due to difficulty and length issues

i feel like the biggest issue with the new physics engine is that it's way harder to fight a slope, making once-easy levels like floor bent long, zigzag slopes, and cross floors way more difficult than they ever were in the originals

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

i think dx actually had some good level design
it was a lot more in the style of 1's, which i greatly prefer to the kind of weird stuff 2 would do
there's some decent creativity in there with some good variety, but it doesn't seem to forget that it's a monkey ball game like 2 could with its weird levels like teapot, amida lot, spasmodic, synchronized, air hockey, etc

yeah, i just got to the boiling pot world before going to bed. i've been trying to get all the missions for each level done, and so far the only ones i've given up on are Launchers and Jump Machine

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i'm enjoying it even if some things are really annoying. just be prepared for "fuck you" moments, because the game is deceptively insidious sometimes

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switch inferno is dumb, but not "throw yourself into random physics" dumb. i just looked up which switch to press instead of being patronized by the game and actually trying each one for 20 minutes

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the buttons share "circuits", so to speak, so if you hit a wrong button then a whole bunch of wrong buttons will also be lit up
you can use it to help eliminate the wrong choices and pick the correct button
and yes, it's a fucking stupid level, welcome to monkey ball 2

i never understood how anyone can prefer 2 over the original when it's full of lame gimmick levels and undercooked ideas

master was wildly inconsistent in 1 (fan master is too easy to even be an expert level) but it's way more consistently difficult than it is in 2
dance master (was that the name? the one with the moving squares) and dodge master (the one with all the moving pegs) feel pretty obnoxious but i think the levels are otherwise well-designed even if the difficulty curve is erratic

2's master has some awful levels, like spasmodic, dizzy system, and synchronized, which are just dumb concepts
long torus feels pretty nerfed here, as i was able to beat it on my first try, but design-wise it's pretty good and so is notch
passage is more or less just a gimmick showcase rather than an actual challenge, just like sliced cheese
clock face can be kinda confusing if you don't know what path to take, but it's just a nerfed version of polar and polar large, mechanically-speaking
i don't know what sliced cheese, intermittent, swing bridges, centrifugal, double twin, striker, helix, and 8 seesaws are doing in master and master extra when they're so easy

i feel like 2's level design is simply nowhere near as good as 1's was, aiming for flashiness and unrefined creativity rather than quality obstacle course design
it has many good levels like spiral bridge, but it has many stupid ones like flock, wavy option, domino, pistons, switch inferno, detour, zigzag slope, wormhole...
tons of level design concepts that are undercooked, tedious, or just plain stupid