NOCLIP Pocket E59 - A Crossover With Lettuce - Super Monkey Ball

Ready? Podcast! Hurry up! Welcome back to the podcast! Today, we’re
starting our hopefully not recurring theme month of Ape-ril by
talking about Super Monkey Ball! While we ended up playing a little
of the first game and a bit of Banana Mania for this episode, the
original games do sort of conglomerate in your head if you’ve
played them both, so it seems fair to consider this more of a look
at the series rather than a specific game. The Monkey Ball games
are defined by their mechanical design: similar to a Marble Madness
type game, your goal is to roll the ball from the start to the goal
in a physics simulation by tilting the stage and navigating
obstacles. Because of this unchanging mechanical throughline, you
can almost consider the game’s sequels (apart from Banana Blitz) as
expansion packs, adding new stages and mini games but keeping the
same core engine that makes the game work. These stages can be
absolutely dastardly at times though, with later levels requiring a
mix of fast reflexes, careful navigation and a deep understanding
of the game’s physics to competently complete. While we were not
always competent, we persevered. We’re going to be talking about
the style of engagement this game traffics in, the juxtaposition of
cute monkeys and colorful presentation with tough as nails level
design, and the dystopian banana future the Dole corporation
previewed in the original title. Thank you for joining us again
this week! Is Super Monkey Ball the hardest game you’ve ever
played, or are we just babies? What was your favorite stage name
and what did the level it’s associated with make you feel while
looking at it? Let us know over on Discord or in the comments on
YouTube! And strap in, because it’s a weird theme month again, so
next time we’re going to be talking about Ape Escape and we hope
you’ll join us for that.