Super Monkey Ball 2

Okay, I took the dive and grabbed Money Ball 2.

And?

And...the levels are harder. I like that. Much of the difficulty is based on luck-like ability. I don't like that. All of the levels I've seen so far are based on some sort of gimmick or concept. Rather than have stages that run on for a while and ask of skill and a level hand at the control, stages are more or less; 'how long can you tolerate retrying to eventually goof into the goal?'

I would think I'm alright at SMB1...I can finish a good deal of Expert levels in one go, and can finish Advance without losing a life. With the sequel though, even with deft thumbs at your disposal, finishing a stage can still be iffy. Ah well...at least the minigames are fun. I guess that's all that matters these days - multiplayer and party games.

I've heard enough negative about this game in terms of bastardizing the level design and minigames of the beloved first one that I've decided it's not worth the 50 bucks. The question now is, what about Turok?

A. There is already a thread on this exact subject.

B. You could goof your way through a lot of the original stages.

C. Not every stage is based on a gimmick.

D. Some gimmicks work well.

E. There were plenty of gimmicks in the original.

F. The new minigames completely own.

A. I wish I knew where it was. Honest ^^. The only real reason I did this was I had a feeling that bad vibes about a game in it's own thread would be welcome.

B. Maybe, but there was always a way to 'know' the stage too.

C. I haven't seen one yet, or at least, a hard stage that wasn't based on a gimmick.

D. They do. I loved the roller coster level and the tower one is pretty tricky.

E. I guess so, but not as over the top as SMB2.

F. I wholeheartedly agree.

I probably should play it some more.

I've actually found smb 2 to be easier than smb 1. And I think saying the first one owns the second one is an overstatement because:

[we're apparently into lists in this thread :p ]

1) In the Story Mode it is broken up into worlds and stages [ie. world 1, stage 5] and the player can choose which order to do the stages in within a level. However they can't go back and redo a finished level. And they can't move to the next world until they've completed all the stages in the current one.

2) In the Challenge Mode, you can select between Beginner, Advanced, and Expert. You can replay beaten levels for points by restarting the mode. There are hidden stages not available in the Story Mode [a big bonus to me].

3) The addition of switches adding a bit of of strategy and choice to how you play a stage. Not the best addition, but in certain levels it becomes absolutely necessary to either hit the slow switch, or skip the switch all together.

4) The mini games from the prvevious iteration are completely bulked up in 2, making them more like games in their own right than "mini" games. Billiards is a wonderful example of this, as you now get to play US 9 Ball, Japan 9 Ball, 8 Ball, and straight pool, with many options to toggle on and off. Golf is hella fun. The new Tennis is oh so good a reason to bump smb 2 over smb 1.

5) In Monkey Billiards there's Baby drinking milk in the Saloon you're playing in and he's wearing a 10-gallon hat.

--Scourge .

SMB2 is much much easier then SMB1. There is no real skill based levels in the games. They all have a simple answer it seems. Lots of levels in SMB1 were like you could see where you needed to go, and it was obvious how to get there. The turns and angles provided a massive test for your steady thumb. While the mojority in SMB2 are Puzzles, Mazes and such. So once you know how to do them there is no return challange. But that does not make SMB2 un-fun or anything, just a little different.

And the Mini games are worth the price anyways. I don't see a need to ever buy a bowling game, or Billiard game ever now that I own this game. Tennis is a blast, so is soccer and Shot. Dog Fight and Boat Race could have used a lot of work. And Baseball is pretty fun I guess, but a little too over the top.

If you liked SMB1 then buy SMB2, its different but worth it.

I just can't get past how awful the level design is in Monkey Ball 2. They can have all the tweaks and upgrades in the world and it doesn't change the fact that most of the levels aren't in the same league as Monkey Ball 1.

In monkey Ball 1 you felt like you accomplished something when you beat a hard level. In Monkey Ball 2 you just feel like you threw your monkey out there enough times for him to randomly bounce in the right direction. Don't even get me started on that damn "Launchers" level.... Ugh.

Yeah, I have issues with the Launchers and Anthropod levels in the Advance mode. The last stage in the Advance Extra levels, Teapot, didn't make me happy either. Good thing the other nine were clever.

After about 20 tries I finally figured out that gay launchers level. As for Arthropod another one of those gun it accross levels. Now that I have gone through the whole Story mode the Challange mode is much easier, so I guess thats a downfall.

I'm not a fan of all the gimmicky levels either. I liked the first game's skill-based levels, because you could play them over and over and it would still be challenging. In SMB2, you sigh when you play a level again instead of getting yourself ready for the challenge ahead of you.

Monkey Target 2 in four-player mode makes it all worthwhile.

Launchers totally soured me on Monkey Ball 2. I haven't touched the game since I finished that level. I can't be bothered to randomly roll my monkey around hundreds of times hoping I'll finally hit the right spot to beat the level. I'd like to think I just suck terribly, but it seems like there's far too much guesswork involved and far too little reflexes or whatever. I wouldn've given up on single player earlier if you didn't have to unlock the stinkin' mini-games.

The trick to Launchers (SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!)

is to line your monkey ball with the tip of the arrow point of the launcher before it launches. Make sure you're facing the column and don't stand too close to the launcher.

As you're rolling up the column (or right before the launcher hits), hold down to slow the monkey's launch up the column. Make sure the map on the lower-right corner is set to really close-up view, so that you can the manuever the ball to fall on top of the column while it's in mid-air. You'll still need to look at the close-up view of the map to determine how to fall down through the rotating goal once you're on the top of the column.

By luck, I actually went through the green goal while going up the column once. It only passes the Coin Slots stage, so it's really not worth trying to go through unless you're that desperate for double score.

I reiterate, I have issues with this stage.

stop saying SMB as an abbreviation! I keep thinking super mario brothers...

Yeah, that's the correct strategy for Launchers.... Now try doing it. Ugh. Before I knew the strategy I must have spent 40 minutes killing my monkey. After I found it out, I still needed about 10 continues! I don't even know if I could do it again.

I hate how for many levels you need to know the exact second to start moving to succesfully beat the level. Its like you need to take notes on the times and shit.

Challenging? yes.
Fun? no.