Metacritic Games

Super Monkey Ball (N-Gage)

Sega's simian superstars are rolling straight onto the Nokia N-Gage mobile game deck. As with most monkeys, AiAi, MeeMee, Baby, and Gongon love to play -- and in this case, win! In Super Monkey Ball, use your brains, skill, and opposable thumbs to guide one of the spherically encased monkeys to the goal line, while collecting tasty bananas along the way. Sound easy? Ah, but gravity is your mortal enemy, and if you tilt too far, you'll send your monkey into the great void below. Keep those points rolling in, and you'll get three bonus mini-games: Monkey Race, Monkey Fight, and Monkey Target. Based on the title that became a mega hit on Nintendo GameCube, this version is packed with action puzzle fun including 45+ select levels, 3D graphics, and a whole lot of monkey charm. [Sega]

Sega
Action
Players: 1
E (Everyone)
Developer: Amusement Vision
Released October 6, 2003

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

61 / 100

Critic Reviews

81	GameZone You should buy Super Monkey Ball if you (A) enjoy playing really good, unique games, (B) don't have the Game Boy Advance version...
75	Console Gameworld Lack of multiplayer capabilities in the N-Gage version makes the extra games much less fun.
70	Electronic Gaming Monthly Quite possibly N-Gage's best launch game: It looks good and plays well, the visuals are smooth, and it has most of the features of its home-console pappy. [Nov 2003, p.36]
70	Game Informer If you like Super Monkey Ball and have an N-Gage, this will be a must-buy. If you don't, the framerate chugs and bland textures will bother you. [Oct 2003, p.51]
67	Play Magazine This is definitely a game geared for those few-minute distractions when you're bored on the go. [Dec 2003, p.96]
66	IGN One of the most accessible, frantic party games arrives as a choppy, single-player-only port...just another entry into the growing "played a better version a year ago" book.
65	Game Power Australia Given that there's another version of the game available on a portable system that outshines it at every turn, one can't help but feel just a little disappointed, and the lack of competitive multiplayer gameplay is a crying shame.
63	GameSpot The basic game is still worth playing if you're an N-Gage owner, but its no-frills feature list is a disappointment.
60	GameSpy While the N-Gage port doesn't display all that much showmanship or innovation, the game itself is intact and still habit-forming.
60	GMR Magazine Simple, fun action; N-Gage's best launch title. [Nov 2003, p.101]
60	Pocket Games Still great dizzy fun! Controls are a bit stiff, though. [Spring 2004, p.18]
50	GameNow The choppy animation and lack of analog controls really suck the fun out of the game. [Nov 2003, p.76]
42	Gaming Age The action is choppier than it should be, but the balancing act has transitioned well. The D-pad does the best job it can but comes nowhere near the precision wanted or required for the game.
35	PALGN Features a very average frame-rate, uninspiring graphics and no Bluetooth support.
30	EuroGamer The N-Gage simply can't handle the game Amusement Vision has built, and it almost makes you wonder whether they had any idea how it would run on the final hardware when they signed off on it.

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