Common Sense Media Review
By Christopher Healy
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
A challenging but fun game that's all about good balance.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 7+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
Videos and Photos
Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll
What's It About?
In SUPER MONKEY BALL STEP & ROLL, players use either the Wii remote or the Wii balance board to guide a monkey in a big, clear plastic ball along treacherous twisting platform mazes. Along the way, you can collect bananas to gain extra lives (you lose a life when you either fall off the course or can't finish within the one-minute time limit). Outside of this main game, there are also 21 multiplayer mini-games, including pinball, snowboarding, jump rope, luge, bumper cars, skydiving, and more.
Is It Any Good?
The main thing anyone is likely to complain about with Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll is the difficulty. There is a great deal of skill required to make it through the entire game. But the twist and tilt action is one that almost anyone can improve through practice, and the thrill of finally making it through a level that has been repeatedly thwarting you is so much powerful than simply acing a game from the get-go. The game is incredibly fun and certainly worth sticking with, even if you can't master it all easily. The mini-games are a mixed bag -- some offering great 4-player action, others feeling like they were tacked on. But they're all just icing anyway (and there are 21 of them, which is just as many as you get in some games that are sold as mini-game collections), so it's hard to be too upset about the few duds in the bunch.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about using the balance board vs. the Wii remote. Which method is easier? Which is more fun? Is it more challenging to keep a steady hand or to put your whole body into action in order to steer the ball?
Although steering with the balance board doesn't require you to movearound all that much, it can still make you tired: Why do you thinkthat is? How is keeping one's balance good exercise? What muscles doesit work out?
Game Details
- Platform : Nintendo Wii
- Pricing structure :
- Available online? : Not available online
- Publisher : Sega of America
- Release date : February 9, 2010
- Genre : Action/Adventure
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : June 28, 2022
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