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When Apple announced iPhone OS 2.0 and introduced the App Store to the world (App Store, this is the world. World, App Store.), one of the original games shown off to build buzz and interest was Super Monkey Ball. This is a popular game on video game systems such as the Wii and Game Cube, and it just so happens that the iPhone’s accelerometer would give the perfect platform for a game such as this to thrive.

Super Monkey Ball (SMB) became so popular on the iPhone, in fact, that it generated massive amounts of revenue through App Store sales and ended up becoming one of the first apps to spark a “Gold Rush” for thousands upon thousands of developers to try their hands at making a fortune as well.

So if the first one is so successful, why not come out with another one? I was fortunate to receive a copy of the game and had the opportunity to play it.

I have played SMB on the Wii and also tried the original game on the iPhone. When the original came out, I found it rather difficult to get adjusted to the accelerometer in such a way that I didn’t roll off the edge of the level within a couple seconds of starting it. The original game was a little too sensitive for my taste. Some people also reported major bugs that caused the game to crash. My biggest worry about the sequel was that I would have same problem with the accelerometer, not to mention some other random bugginess, that the original game had. Fortunately my worries went away after playing the first couple levels.

The game itself is very smooth to operate. No glitches have been encountered, and the accelerometer controls have proven to be easy and fun.

SMB2 GamePlay Options:

Single Player campaign

Some SMB games on major video game consoles have a single player campaign with a story, where at the end of each world you are required to fight that world’s boss. I couldn’t find any relevant story to this particular version of the game; I got through the first two worlds and have just determined the only goal is to unlock the remainder of the worlds as you go along.

With that said, the concept and feel of the campaign is precisely the same as just about every other version in existence: you roll down each level trying to pick up as many bananas as possible and not roll off the edge of the level. Thing is, though, we don’t play SMB for any other reason besides the mini-games, which I’ll get into in a moment. If the levels played any other way, the game would no longer be Super Monkey Ball. So there’s no shocker there.

I found the levels to be pretty easy to navigate around with my iPhone, given the natural abilities of the built-in accelerometer. I’ve also played SMB on the Wii and it was roughly the same concept, but the iPhone is just very simple to play on because all you have to do is tilt your phone in the direction you want to go, and move up or down to accelerate/brake.

The campaign, if you’re at about my skill level, will guarantee a long amount of playtime. The first world has 20 levels (in comparison, the whole game has 115), and it took me around 2.5 hours to complete it.

Multiplayer over wifi

The game gives you the opportunity to play multiplayer with other iPhone users — up to 3 others — on the same WiFi network as you. Basically you race each other through the various levels that have already been unlocked.

Minigames

If all 3 minigames were available, this would likely be a great feature. As of this writing there is only one minigame available, Monkey Bowling. It does provide some good entertainment, but does get old after a while. The other two minigames (Monkey Target and Monkey Golf) are “coming soon”, according to the game’s menu; likely we’ll see a future update that enables these games sometime in the coming months.

It makes me wonder if Sega’s strategy in this was to spend more time on the main campaign, get the game released, and then work on the minigames while it takes most users a couple weeks to finish the campaign. Whether this is true or not, the one minigame included is decent enough for a few entertaining tries, but certainly will not be the reason most people buy SMB2.

Currently Super Monkey Ball 2 is available for $4.99 at this writing, which is half the price it was introduced at. For $10 it would’ve been an okay purchase, but for $5 this game is definitely a must have.  Have you played it? What have your experiences been like?