A decade of Super Monkey Ball, day two! All week long we’re taking a look at the past ten years of the Super Monkey Ball franchise, showing off a bit of nostalgia for those who remember the titles of the past and bringing in some new fans who might have missed out. Looking forward to your feedback as always, now let’s get back on track …

Super Monkey Ball Jr – Game Boy Advance (2003)

Continuing in our look across the Monkey Ball series, we’re going to pick up right where we left off yesterday and roll directly into Super Monkey Ball Jr for the Game Boy Advance! Thinking back this title was a favorite of mine, particularly because of the portability and being a fan of the series from day 1. Super Monkey Ball has always been available on the new tech in some form or another and I felt this was a decent outing for the gang. Granted, not top of the top graphics wise, but still entirely playable and familiar. Only drawback was the lack of analog – but I’m selectively forgetting about that…

Super Monkey Ball Deluxe – Xbox / PlayStation2 (2005)

This was the first time the series had appeared outside the Nintendo platforms, well aside from the Arcades – but those don’t count, right? Right? … The Deluxe version was actually something of a compilation from Super Monkey Ball 1 & 2, but built with some additional content that didn’t appear in either version. Featuring over 300 levels of Super Monkey Ball, the game offered the most comprehensive version of the series for the time.

Super Monkey Ball Touch & Roll – Nintendo DS (2006)

Solving the lack of Analog problem from the original handheld JR release (ok, I’ll remember it, fine!), the Nintendo DS version allowed the player to navigate through the world using the touch pad. Though the d-pad was still supported, the true way to play the game has always been with a precarious analog stick. Touch & Roll also modified the look of the original crew of Monkeys a bit, the look became a bit more cartoon-like.

Super Monkey Ball – iPhone & iPad (2009)

Ok, a bit of a jump here, we’ve skipped over Banana Blitz, but I plan to return to the game tomorrow. Instead, we’re going to focus on the iPhone and iPad versions of Super Monkey Ball because, but don’t worry, we’re back on track tomorrow. So, the reason I wanted to delve into iPhone stuff was frankly because the version is so excellent, and as a fan of the series, I just didn’t want to wait and extra day and not talk about them.

Super Monkey Ball on iPhone stands as one of the best games for the platform to this day. It was probably the first real game that I played on the iPhone and was one of the most fun and challenging offerings too. As a commuter, playing games on portable devices is a big part of my life and the iPhone version killed my battery time and time again as I trekked back home. Being that you move the world in Monkey Ball to find your way about the environment, what better way than to use the phone’s accelerometer to do exactly that. The experience is perfect.

How perfect? My father is not at all gifted when it comes to games, though to his credit he does try or feign interest while I try to get him to give it a shot. Monkey Ball was one of the first games that he ‘got’ and instantly was having fun. The best part is that I never had to do anything to show him how – I just handed him the device, sat back, and watched figure it out and mere moments. His face changed from scowling / expecting frustration to pure delight and he couldn’t put it down – perfect, I say!

Spanning three versions, Super Monkey Ball first appeared on the iPhone and again shortly thereafter with a sequel. The two versions were very similar in presentation, however the sequel fixed and added a lot of requested features based on fan feedback from the original. Adding in a way to center the device and adding in a less steep learning curve helped make Monkey Ball 2 on the iphone a much tighter overall experience. Let’s also not forget the iPad version, Sakura Edition, which appeared alongside the iPhone sequel. With improved visuals, HDified for the iPad, the Sakura Edition is another favorite for its smooth controls and excellent gameplay.

I honestly could keep writing these all day, but trying to keep them in bite sized chunks! Tomorrow I’ll be back for part 3 and another look at the Super Monkey Ball series – more to come!