Super Monkey Ball is Sega's first effort on GameCube, and hopefully the quality we are seeing now will be a continuos trend.
There are 90 levels, divided up into three categories: beginner (10 levels), advanced (30 levels), and expert (50 levels). You'll feel proud of yourself after beating advanced mode, but you'll drool once you start Expert. There are some extra hidden levels, bringing the actual total to above 100, if you're good enough to earn them. Don't let the cute theme fool you; this game is tough.
In additon, you can play any of those three difficuly levels with a friend (or 3), or you can compete in them to see who can reach the goal first. There are 6 minigames that are completely different from the Main Game: Monkey Billiards, Monkey Bowling, Monkey Golf, Monky Race, Monkey Fight, and Monkey Target. All of which are very well done, and are best enjoyed through multiplayer.
The gameplay and control are nearly perfect, but the camera can sometimes do things that you do not want it to do, which dropped the rating down to a 9. And yes, you have heard correctely; the only thing you need to use is the joystick.
The graphics are simple, but the floors have some nice textures and reflections, the monkey models look great, and the game is almost always locked at 60 FPS.
Some people may think the music is repetative, but I love it. The sound effects aren't bad either. Still not up to Tony Hawk's music though, but that is understandable.
With the imposing challenge and hours of multiplayer that await, Super Monkey Ball is a must have if you've got friends to monkey around with. Go buy it.
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