Ah, who would have thought that one day we'd have mobile phones that didn't need to be carried around like briefcases, we would have more than one annoying ringtone and would have another billion ways to make you look like a plonker on the way to work. Well, with Super Monkey Ball for the iPhone here is now one more way to raise eyebrows among your fellow commuters.
As you may know, the main selling point of Apple's smudge machine is that it can make you look rather trendy by swapping all the buttons for a touch screen and tilting controls. However, when you add games to such a device, quickly the inverse starts to happen. You instantly transform from uber-cool to raving loon as you wiggle the thing about like you have a bee on a slice of toast. The best way to achieve this effect is to buy a copy of Super Monkey Ball. Here is a game where you need to navigate a monkey, who is in a ball (obviously), around a maze by titling the floor. Floor tilting gaming is naturally a perfect fit for the iPhone and is truly super jolly fun - meaning you'll get right into forgetting you're on a train with a carriage full of people staring at you. The beauty with SMB is that if at first your random phone twitching does not result in a few concerned glares, then your inevitable rage towards primates certainly will.
There are a few specific points that make Super Monkey Ball(s) an exercise in emotional control. For one, most of the levels require very precise twiddling of the iPhone, mostly guiding your chimp down very steep and narrow slopes. Slight involuntary muscle movement will result in a fall into oblivion. Secondly, there is the camera, positioned behind and just above your encapsulated primate, which mercilessly continues to stay in line with the direction of movement. This then creates a little difficulty when turning around and a lot when travelling backward or bouncing off walls. Ironically though, what pushes irritation levels all the way from dandruff to scabies is the sheer addictiveness of the title. Somehow, no matter how quickly I'd burn through lives and continues I'd just keep coming back for more punishment. This is partly generated by the cute fun design of the game. The use of fisher price colours and tweenie pop music (which does repeat little too often) is abundant, but really it's those damn titling controls which are just far too addictive.
All this leads to an experience that I can't really describe as fun. Although somehow very compelling, it is often very intense due to the amount of focus that's required. You'll find yourself ending most levels with either a huge sigh of relief and a lie down or a torrent of rage that may have you turning your iPhone into an expensive Ryvita. I guess I would recommend a purchase as long as you understand the risks of grinding hairline fractures into your molars while being carted off by the transport police.
As you may know, the main selling point of Apple's smudge machine is that it can make you look rather trendy by swapping all the buttons for a touch screen and tilting controls. However, when you add games to such a device, quickly the inverse starts to happen. You instantly transform from uber-cool to raving loon as you wiggle the thing about like you have a bee on a slice of toast. The best way to achieve this effect is to buy a copy of Super Monkey Ball. Here is a game where you need to navigate a monkey, who is in a ball (obviously), around a maze by titling the floor. Floor tilting gaming is naturally a perfect fit for the iPhone and is truly super jolly fun - meaning you'll get right into forgetting you're on a train with a carriage full of people staring at you. The beauty with SMB is that if at first your random phone twitching does not result in a few concerned glares, then your inevitable rage towards primates certainly will.
There are a few specific points that make Super Monkey Ball(s) an exercise in emotional control. For one, most of the levels require very precise twiddling of the iPhone, mostly guiding your chimp down very steep and narrow slopes. Slight involuntary muscle movement will result in a fall into oblivion. Secondly, there is the camera, positioned behind and just above your encapsulated primate, which mercilessly continues to stay in line with the direction of movement. This then creates a little difficulty when turning around and a lot when travelling backward or bouncing off walls. Ironically though, what pushes irritation levels all the way from dandruff to scabies is the sheer addictiveness of the title. Somehow, no matter how quickly I'd burn through lives and continues I'd just keep coming back for more punishment. This is partly generated by the cute fun design of the game. The use of fisher price colours and tweenie pop music (which does repeat little too often) is abundant, but really it's those damn titling controls which are just far too addictive.
All this leads to an experience that I can't really describe as fun. Although somehow very compelling, it is often very intense due to the amount of focus that's required. You'll find yourself ending most levels with either a huge sigh of relief and a lie down or a torrent of rage that may have you turning your iPhone into an expensive Ryvita. I guess I would recommend a purchase as long as you understand the risks of grinding hairline fractures into your molars while being carted off by the transport police.
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