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Super Monkey Ball Deluxe Announced 72

Thanks to IGN for the news that a Super Monkey Ball Deluxe will be released next year on the PS2 and Xbox. "The new title will feature 300 stages (114 from Super Monkey Ball, 140 from Super Monkey Ball 2, and 46 Deluxe-exclusive boards), and will be available in spring 2005." Hi. My name is Zonk, and...I have to admit to a predilection for tossing monkeys around in plastic spheres.
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Super Monkey Ball Deluxe Announced

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  • Damn it (Score:4, Insightful)

    by MrPeach ( 43671 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @04:52PM (#10579628) Homepage
    I pay twice and only get 80% of what Xbox and PS2 users get!
    I hate SEGA.
  • kinda popped out of nowhere, no link to his name, etc.
  • I can't get past that damned Tree level! We hates it we does!
  • 300 levels? not another near-impossible-to-finish strings of levels..
    the Super Monkey Ball 2 that i have for gamecube is frustrating enough to get thru, and now this?
    I'm pretty sure all if not most of you who played SMB2 agree with me about the difficulty level of the game..

    I just hope they make the game at least easier, instead of being the game developers' collection of crazy creativity pieces using the design machine..

    • I will disagree (Score:5, Interesting)

      by LordZardoz ( 155141 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @05:26PM (#10580052)
      I own both Monkeyball games. The second game has a few levels which I think should have been cut (Advanced 30 with the spider on the rings, and an expert level with a bunch of buttons, and you need to find the right button to raise the exit).

      Those two levels aside, I figure that Super Monkey Ball, in general, as a prefect difficulty curve. If you take the levels in order, you always end up thinking you can defeat the level you are on, no matter how false that beleif may be.

      Monkey ball is Old School Hard. Beating the latest Final Fantasy game is nothing to brag about. It just takes time. But Monkeyball requires a level of skill that can crush the egos of lesser gamers. On top of that, its one of the few games that reading an FAQ will simply NOT help you with. You know how to beat a level just by looking at it. Get to the end without falling off. What you dont know is if YOU can beat that level.

      I can beat Expert mode in Monkeyball 1, and can get to Master Mode 3 when starting from Expert with 99 lives in Monkeyball 2. It is currently one of my favourite games because of its difficulty. Any game that can be that difficult and still be fun is doing something right.

      END COMMUNICATION
      • I have to agree with you on this one. There are a few levels in Super Monkey Ball 2 that will make you swear like no tomorrow -- need I say the name "Launchers"?
        I must admit, I'm not as skilled with the game, i.e. not having Master mode unlocked, but even after I got it in January 2002, it's one of the only games that frequently runs on my GC, while the other games change.

        BTW, the Arthropod level, with the spider thing, that is one of those levels that I find myself thinking if it should be there or not -
        • For more old school hardness (11 on the Moh's scale, and you best believe it), see my sig.
        • Re:I will disagree (Score:4, Informative)

          by Zangief ( 461457 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @07:43PM (#10581319) Homepage Journal
          Check out the "exact timing FAQ". It has methods to pass 10 or more stages, just pressing forward at some moments, pausing at a given time, pressing other direction, unpausing, and winning.

          This is for the spider stage. It works like fucking magic:

          ARTHROPOD: Do not move at the beginning. 41.08-41.18: hold forward.
          36.16-36.26: hold up-left. Yes, all combinations of values in these ranges work!
          I've tested all the extreme cases. This level will trouble us no more!


          The times are time ranges in which you can pause.
      • Honestly in our house we enjoy SMB1 more than 2. Why? 99 lives in 2 made it too easy.

        We made it through all levels on both games. Master 3 in SMB1 was such a pain.

        I do sort of disagree that you can't be shown what to do on a level. Lots of levels have non-obvious methods of beating them that are easier than the obvious way.

        Incidentally, if you want to be totally emasculated in relation to this game, look up the pack attack monkey ball videos. You will see him do things with a monkey ball that you'd think
  • No PC version? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by bear pimp ( 695195 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @05:18PM (#10579945)
    If there's an Xbox version, is there a PC version, and if not, why not?

    In the meantime the indies are filling the gap:
    Hamsterball [raptisoft.com] and Super Gerball [supergerball.com] (yup Gerbils...)
    Not particularly original, but then I suppose Monkey Ball wasn't - just loads of fun.

    Hmmm, I wonder if SuperRatBall is taken as a url?
    • Re:No PC version? (Score:4, Informative)

      by gl4ss ( 559668 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @06:05PM (#10580436) Homepage Journal
      also, neverball, which is free. [icculus.org]

      and multiplatform..
    • If there's an Xbox version, is there a PC version, and if not, why not?
      Because the PC would be lame for this? A joypad is an absolute necessity. Another fine example of the failings of W/A/S/D+mouse.
      • you don't have a mouse on your pc, which is _better_ for this?

        and really.. pc has had analog sticks available for 16+ years..
        • Re:No PC version? (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Zangief ( 461457 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @07:59PM (#10581423) Homepage Journal
          you don't have a mouse on your pc, which is _better_ for this?

          No, it isn't. You need a analog stick. The mouse would not be precise enough, because a lot of times you need to press exactly to the right, and with the mouse you get right and a little up, which sends your monkey to oblivion.

          and really.. pc has had analog sticks available for 16+ years..

          But they are not standard to the pc user, like a mouse, or a analog stick in consoles.

          Face it. Keyboard + Mouse is not the perfect control for everything just because is better for FPSs and RTSs.
          • The mouse would not be precise enough

            Not much into railgunning in QIII or sniping in UT then? Some of those space maps in QIII require a degree of precision which I do not believe can be reproduced with any other input medium. I know you said specifically that you were not talking about FPS, but if you move around enough I fail to see how the level of precision required is substantially different in a FPS to, say, Monkey Ball (which incidentally is still essentially first-person, or third-person if we are
          • *The mouse would not be precise enough, because a lot of times you need to press exactly to the right, and with the mouse you get right and a little up,*

            get a new mouse. mouse is MUCH more precise than tiny analog sticks.

            yes, i've played super monkey clones with a mouse and it IS better than on console-tiny-sticks.
            • Yhe problem is not the precision of the mouse, but the way you move your arm, which makes awfully hard to move in a precise direction.
            • in my opinion the free neverball is the best super monkey ball clone for pc (and mac/linux of course!) yet and it definitely plays better with an analog stick, it's not very playable with the mouse - but i do agree that the good old keyboard-mouse combination is more convenient for a fps. and about the "tiny stick" - you use them only with the thumb, not the whole hand and you can also use an analog joystick on your pc which will surely fit your hand.
      • What about my thinkpad with a trackpoint?
    • Hamsterball is an excellent diversion. Although Super Monkeyball and Marble Madness are similar in game play, Hamsterball is pretty much a tribute to Marble Madness, because it has similar levels and enemies.
  • ...invest in the makers of Damamine and other motion sickness pills. I've played Super Monkey Ball on Gamecube. It's only mildly disorientating for me, an avid FPS gamer. My friends, who never play any FPS, felt sick after a few levels.

    Not that FPS's and Super Monkey Ball are similar but having played a FPS helps you to deal with the wobbling in Super Monkey Ball.

    It was quite funny though, to watch my friends play and watch their head tilt left and right in response to the game.

  • SMB2 was waaaay too difficult, with too many puzzles that just required banging your, um, monkey against for too many repetitions in the hope that by random luck you'd get through the ring. I love the basic idea of the game, I just hated the direction they took it in the sequel. And maybe this time they'll FIX THE CAMERA! Far too many times I desperately needed to look in a different direction for precise maneuvering but couldn't because camera control was apparently not a design goal in that game. Trul
    • by MilenCent ( 219397 ) <johnwh@gmai[ ]om ['l.c' in gap]> on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @11:19PM (#10582568) Homepage
      The cool thing about the Super Monkey Ball games is, you really do get better with practice. They are superbly designed in that regard. If you're trying to reach the goal by random bouncing then you're probably not doing the level right -- a good number of levels have multiple ways of reaching the goal, some of them less obvious than others.

      The camera is a little annoying in places, true, but in the game's defense you can usually get the camera to point the way you want to go by backing up a little and moving in the direction you want it. Most levels that need you to get the camera pointed in a direction provide a little space in which you can do it (in other words, there are no 90-degree, razor-thin ledges).
  • linux? (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    waaaaah waaaaah no release on linux I'm never buying their product again

    products i will buy:
    water
    food
    electricity (pending electric companies adoption of linux on their work machines)
  • but to watch it, one tends to get motion sickness....its like The Blair Witch Project all over again, vomit for everyone.. :P
  • Despite the poor quality of the story header (who is Zonk? Why no IGN link?), I do actually think this is good news. Monkey Ball in all it's incarnations has been a pretty funny little game, albeit somewhat simple. Seems strange that we're being warned about this months and months in advance as I can't exactly imagine anyone going really wild with excitement. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to it.

    Question is, will anyone actually be bothered to sit through three HUNDRED levels of this?!
    • Question is, will anyone actually be bothered to sit through three HUNDRED levels of this?!

      SMB1:
      Beginner: 10 levels.
      Beginner Extra: 3 levels.
      Advanced: 30 levels.
      Advanced Extra: 5 levels.
      Expert: 50 levels.
      Expert Extra: 10 levels.
      Master: 10 levels.
      TOTAL: 118 levels.

      SMB2:
      Beginner: 10 levels.
      Beginner Extra: 10 levels.
      Advanced: 30 levels.
      Advanced Extra: 10 levels.
      Expert: 50 levels.
      Expert Extra: 10 levels.
      Master: 10 levels.
      Master Extra: 10 levels.
      Story Mode World 10: 10 levels.
      TOTAL: 150 levels.

      GRAND TOTAL: 2
  • Do NOT taunt Super Monkey Ball!!!

    Sorry, couldn't resist :P

    • At first it was: Monkey Ball, then came Monkey Ball 2 Well, I thought that after taking both of his balls back the Monkey would relax, but to my horror here comes another monkey jiggling balls. Thinking about it is making my balls hurt.
  • Dammit Sega (Score:4, Interesting)

    by caitsith01 ( 606117 ) on Thursday October 21, 2004 @02:48AM (#10583731) Journal
    What about a bit of loyalty to the Cube?

    You put out one of the first decent puzzle games in ages on a Nintendo platform, and it turns out that not only is it fun, it's also ideally suited to the style of the Gamecube, both graphically and control-wise. Additionally, Nintendo and Sega gamers alike rejoice to see the Big N and Sega Together at Last TM (a la 'Nuts and Gum'). Meanwhile on X-Box and PS2 every single game appears to be published by EA, includes the word 'Xtreme' somewhere in its title, and is developed in a crappy cross-platform environment then ported around like the village bicycle, everyone gets a ride. So we love you, we buy your monkeys, we tolerate your Dole Bananas advertising... and what do you do?

    Why, you sell us out to Micro$oft and $ony! Damn you. Not only to the backwards-cap-wearing 3733t g@m3rz on PS2 and (shudder) X-Box now get access to the Monkey franchise, they also get BOTH the games we paid for PLUS MORE while you leave us blowing in the wind.

    Time was, game companies used to build franchises on a particular platform. It was one of the cool things about the whole Nintendo v Sega thing. Now MS and Sony have come along with their bottomless pits of cash and ruined the whole thing... and you're helping them.

    If these jerks want Monkey Ball, make them buy a Cube! They're only like $20 now with all Nintendo's discounting, after all.

    Oh god I'm becoming a jaded gen Xer...
    • If you are old enough to be in Gen X then I would hope that you're old enough to drop this childish 'console wars' bullshit.

      Anyone who is vaguely in to console gaming has at least two, if not all three of the current crop of consoles. They cost next to nothing and having a range of machines allows you to play all the best games.

      I can't understand why anyone would be loyal to a faceless multi-national that will screw its customers to the maximum extent that the law allows. Currently Microsoft and Sony ar

      • you are of course correct.

        they are big companies, we are customers.

        but damit - don't you have any romance in your soul? are the games you play only about getting a high score? beating the next guy? how do they make you feel? am i the only person who has an emotional connection to my games? they make me happy or sad, are a source of fun and extreme frustration.

        i don't think it is easy to take in all that multi-national-companies-just-want-my-money attitude when you get emotionally attached to something.

        • i don't think it is easy to take in all that multi-national-companies-just-want-my-money attitude when you get emotionally attached to something...

          That is true. But the problem is pretending that Nintendo isn't one of these greedy multinationals because of some kind of silly fanboyism.
      • It's nice to hear that to you $200 is 'next to nothing.' Thank you for the ego boost.
    • Time was, game companies used to build franchises on a particular platform. It was one of the cool things about the whole Nintendo v Sega thing. Now MS and Sony have come along with their bottomless pits of cash and ruined the whole thing... and you're helping them.

      Super Monkey Ball came out in the arcades first, on stock Naomi (basically Dreamcast+Additional RAM) hardware. The franchise wasn't built for any platform but Dreamcast, so you should consider yourself lucky enough that you got A CROSSPLATFORM
  • So how long until we see JSRF, Crazy Taxi 3 and PDO on the PS2 and Cube? (Yes, I like Crazy Taxi 3. :-P)
  • ...Xbox Live?

    Multiplayer Monkey Bowling. Mmm yeah.

  • So it'll be released next year and I should care today because!??!?!

For God's sake, stop researching for a while and begin to think!

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