Is this pretty port of the addicting game developed by Sega worth it for the extremely difficult control set up? Probably not.
It starts out promising enough: the menu screen looks nice and the music is fun and upbeat following in the same vein as the other Super Monkey Ball and Sega games. Even the levels look nice. On the surface, Super Monkey Ball looks like a game to enjoy, but unfortunately it is plagued with the same problem a lot of iPhone games have to suffer with: awful controls.
There comes a point in time where one has to say, "Okay, I know it is hard to make a game on the iPhone nice and smooth, but this is just rediculous." And that's what it is. Controlling the monkey is extremely frustrating. You start the game in the tutorial by holding the iPhone parallel to the floor, and I guess this is to show you how you are supposed to hold it when you actually play the game. The actual gameplay is way more difficult than it should be, and I know this especially having played the Gamecube versions. While those games were fun and easy to pick up, this version grows tedious and annoying.
The purpose of Super Monkey Ball is to get from the start of a course to the finish. The track is floating in the air and includes obstacles that you need to figure out how to overcome. One of the challenges is to actually keep the monkey on the track and avoid falling off, and in this game it REALLY is a challenge.
To move, you must tilt the iPhone in the direction you want the character to go. The hard part is trying to control the pace and direction of where he moves. The controls are really sensitive, so if you tilt it even slightly forward, you may find yourself speeding ahead instead. But the real problem comes from the turning. You wouldn't fully understand until you try, but turning is nearly impossible without flying off in another direction. It's a pain in the ass most of the time, and I've nearly thrown my iPod down in rage due to it. But I took control of myself, thankfully.
To be fair, it's not completely unplayable. The early levels can be completed with practice and a few go-throughs, but when you finally do beat these levels it feels like more of an accomplishment than it should be. Those feelings should be reserved for the more difficult levels.
So all in all for $2.99 it's not a terrible buy, but there are definitely better games out there that you could spend your money on (like Osmos). But if you're a big fan of the game you could try playing it through, at least it looks and sounds nice. They also have the second game available in the App Store for $4.99, perhaps they've improved on the problems from this one. I don't know if I want to spend my money to find out, to be honest.
-James C.
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