I remember worrying that Super Monkey Ball wouldn't see a sequel (despite how fun it is) because it didn't generate the highest sales. However, my worries were apparently unfounded as you can clearly see.

Super Monkey Ball 2's primary game will feature a story this time around. Apparently, Dr. Bad-Boon (a Baboon rather than a Monkey... obviously) hatches a scheme to steal all the bananas from the good monkey's. Then he hides them in his "labyrinth" which just happens to be a series of death traps that bear striking similarities to the arcade mode of the first game. The E3 demo showed off ten levels from various locations in the game. The levels featured more diverse traps this time around. Even the simple holes in the ground and platforms (which tended to be only square-shaped in the original) were more complex. The backgrounds were extremely well done featuring graphically impressive vistas with subtle special effects. As we mentioned previously, the final game should have over 150 levels (compared to the original game's 118).

Personally, I would buy a Super Monkey Ball game just for the main gameplay mode, but for most people, the multiplayer is where it's at. Super Monkey Ball 2 gives players plenty of reasons to come back with six new mini-games and updated versions of the previous six.

Monkey Race 2 The original Monkey Race wasn't very deep, but still fun. Updates for MR2 include new tracks, more CPU opponents (up to four CPUs and four humans) and new items.

Monkey Fight 2 Good old Monkey Fight. There's nothing quite like Monkey Fight. You get to roll around in balls while beating the stuffing out of your friends. Very good stuff. Updates for MF2 include new stages, new power-ups, a new scoring system (you get one point for successful punches now) and additional modes (sudden death mode).

Monkey Target 2 Definitely the star of E3 among the PGC staffers, Monkey Target 2 is arguably the best of the recurring mini games. Updates include four player split screen, new targets, a new power-up system (power-ups now hang in the air so you can grab and use them on the same run), and new modes (demo footage showed a mode where you control five monkeys in formation and try to land them all at the same time).

Monkey Billiards 2 This one was very similar to the original but with the addition of new games. Now you can play traditional eight ball (a regular game of pool) or nine ball, and if I'm not mistaken, there is another variation as well, but it was not available at E3.

Monkey Bowling 2 This features a new challenge mode with some (but not all) different pin configurations. You can also play normal bowling, or a new mode with crazy lanes composed of a moving substance that resembles wood.

Monkey Golf 2 The original Monkey Golf was more of a mini-golf simulator than actual golf. I think that was good because there aren't a lot of games like this. Monkey Golf 2 is a full fledged golf game, and I'm not sure how it stacks up to "real" golf games of which there are many. In any case, the basic gameplay remains the same. You carefully set your shot up and let'er rip. This time, there seems to be more variation with the par (which was locked at 3 for every level in the original). The physics, as before, are very satisfying.

Monkey Boat Race The six new mini-games are modeled after the original six in that three are miscellaneous activities and three are sports. Only one of the non-sports games was playable at E3: Monkey Boat Race (MBR). MBR was difficult to control, but shows a lot of promise. You use only the L and R buttons to play. Each button corresponds to one half of your paddle and you simply stroke back and forth repeatedly to race through the level. Of course you have to decide when to double stroke on one side (or more) for turns and when to let the rapids carry you. The physics were not simple and I didn't have enough time to fully grasp it at E3, but it might be fun.

Monkey Tennis Monkey Tennis (MT), the first of the two new, playable sports mini-games. MT was honestly very similar to Mario Tennis, only watered down. It may provide entertainment for those not familiar with Tennis games though.

Monkey Soccer The final playable mini-game at E3 2002 was Monkey Soccer. It seemed very early in this build as the controls were a bit unresponsive. It could prove to be fun in time.

Monkey Shot, Monkey Dog Fight and Monkey Baseball were not playable on the show floor unfortunately. Monkey Shot is apparently a sort of shooting simulation, but not much else is known about it. Monkey Dogfight's name implies that you'll be flying your monkey Around dog fighting other monkeys (I know; I'm brilliant).

Monkey Baseball on the other hand, may have been given away inadvertently in a very brief clip in Sega’s gameplay footage reel. By carefully examining about 2.5 seconds of footage, we’ve learned that Monkey Baseball will resemble the old mechanical baseball games that worked sort of like pinball. You hit the Monkey Ball that is “pitched” (rolled) at you and try to bat it as close to center field as possible. When it reaches the end of the field it will roll into one of seven (or more) pits giving you up to 3 bases or an out. There are also slender jumping plates scattered in the 1 to 3 bases area that you can use to launch the ball over the end of the stadium to score a home run. This interesting homage to an ancestor of video games may only be one mode of the mini-game though; there could be other modes with more depth (or this mode may have more depth than this short video (which can be found on our E3 DVD) revealed).

For more detailed hands on impressions of the E3 2002 build of Super Monkey Ball 2 check out David's impressions or TYP's impressions.

Last updated: 05/07/2002

Super Monkey Ball was arguably the best title and most certainly the best multiplayer experience at GameCube’s launch. ‘Cubers of all ages fell in love with Amusement Vision’s compelling masterpiece with an addictive simplicity rarely seen since years past. Now Nagoshi-san and Co. are back to serve a second helping--and who can blame them? Super Monkey Ball deserves a sequel: it was a big seller in the US, even though it had little more promotion than Cube Clubs and word of mouth.

And what a sequel it is! Super Monkey Ball 2 expands on the original in almost every way. Sure, the graphics have been slightly updated, but the game itself is getting quite the deluxe treatment. Players will roll through more than 150 new stages in Normal mode (now featuring some sort of story) filled with all sorts of devious monkey traps. The original was applauded for its brilliant level design, and its sequel is expected to continue the tradition with some amazing layouts.

The Normal mode is always a blast, but Aiai and the gang are even better at partying! Amusement Vision is going all-out to make Super Monkey Ball 2 a must-have for any party collection. The sequel will feature a mind-boggling TWELVE party games. Half of them are significant updates to those found in the first title. Monkey Race will feature up to 8 racers (4 CPU) blazing through longer tracks, pummeling each other with both new and old power-ups. Monkey Fight will also feature added power-ups along with additions such as crumbling floors while Pool sharks can try their skill at 8-ball and Rotation along with the classic 9-ball. The popular Monkey Target game will now sport simultaneous 4-player action complete with aerial formations and new target layouts. Meanwhile, the bowling game will include unconventionally shaped alleys (think Mario Party) and probably new controls to navigate the more complex lanes. A new golf course with water hazards and true bunkers will also be included.

The classic mini-games are getting quite an overhaul in Super Monkey Ball 2, but Amusement Vision is still fresh with new ideas. The new party games are: Monkey Boat Race, Monkey Shot, Monkey Dogfight, Monkey Tennis, Monkey Baseball, and Monkey Soccer. AV hasn’t revealed any specifics, but the sports games are likely to borrow heavily from other Sega titles. Hopefully they will prove as addictive as the classics they’ll be placed with.

Super Monkey Ball 2 is tentatively planed for a Fall 2002 release and will be on display at E3 2002. You can expect PGC to have information and lots of impressions then!