That’s right boys and girls; a new Super Monkey Ball game just hit the Wii. What’s that? You didn’t even know there was a new SMB title coming out of Sega? Don’t blame yourself as this one kind of flew under the radar of the gaming community since the initial announcement back in the summer of 2009. But how does this title deliver as unadvertised?
Step & Roll plays out more like its GameCube predecessors than the 2006 release of Banana Blitz on the Wii. Everyday sequels are released that take a step backwards in design because recent mechanics were wrongly inserted or just flat out didn’t work. But the devolved gameplay in SMB: Step & Roll didn’t remove bad aspects of Monkey Ball gameplay. Instead, the team at Sega just stripped the hell out of Super Monkey Ball and added balance board support. To call the gameplay as a whole uninspired would be very kind. Besides the stripped down gameplay, the level design as a whole has also taken a step backwards. It’s almost like this game was sitting on the shelf for the past five years and someone plucked it from the broken pile, slapped in board support and waited for the checks to roll in.
As mentioned above, the big new feature present here is the balance board support. While this sounds like a great idea for maneuvering marbles or say monkey-filled balls, it fails to achieve the goal of amusement. The reason this big new and exciting feature doesn’t work isn’t all Sega’s fault though. Unless of course you believe a developer should design for the hardware involved that is. The game requires precise control in later stages and Nintendo’s balance board just can’t match the level of precision required. It’s not a complete loss because of the balance board though. You can use the Wiimote instead. Those familiar with SMB’s previous Wii title, Banana Blitz, will feel right at home with the controls being virtually identical in style and design.
If you can master the controls, there are seven worlds, which provide seventy levels of play throughout them. It’s pretty cut-and-dry as there aren’t any hidden levels or unlockables. Gameplay starts out uber-simple to allow board users to get a hang of things, but after about three or four levels, the controls get ridiculous. It’s at this point you either get frustrated with the level design, balance board itself, or grab the Wiimote and try to muscle through the remaining sixty-six levels. But my guess is you won’t, because the level design is the worst it has been since SMB on the Nokia N-Gage. There are a couple levels here and there that standout, but they’re so few and far between that many will get frustrated and never see the few levels worth playing.
Instead of challenging levels that offer twists and turns, the challenges mainly come in the form of the player dodging large stone heads. These “obstacles” only amplify the feeling of lazy design. Even stranger is the option for a second player to play “cooperatively” by using the Wiimote to shoot these obstacles. By dragging a second player into the mess and having them eradicate the “challenge” provided by the Eater Island design team, you’re left playing through the bland levels.
Beside the main seventy levels of Monkey-ballin’ fun, you get the typical Sega mini-games. And thankfully someone spent some time on these (unlike the rest of the title). The twenty mini-games are more fun than the rest of the game. The disc could possibly have shipped as a mini-game title and just been considered over-priced instead of a bad game with entertaining mini-games on the side.
One of the highlights in this game, and surprisingly so, is the soundtrack in Step & Roll. It’s really good. While the levels may be tough to play through, an interesting thing happens as you progress. The music builds as you get through. Layers of the soundtrack are added to build a climax. It’s a real shame the gameplay doesn’t match the audio.
Graphically Step & Roll is a step above Banana Blitz. See what I did there? It looks like a nice third generation Wii title (three holiday release seasons), but even nice looks can’t save bad gameplay.
All in all Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll not only brings nothing new to the table besides balance board support, it actually took away the jumping and bosses found in the previous Wii retail title Banana Blitz. The mini-games are a saving grace by being pretty fun, but not when you consider the fact that they are nothing more than side fun. The glaring flaws here are the weedy balance board controls in later levels and the level design itself. While fans of the series might fun some enjoyment here, others might want to steer their balls clear of this one.
Graphics | Audio | Gameplay | Replay | Genre | Final |
