Super Monkey Ball 2

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Main other{{#invoke:infobox|infoboxTemplate | child = | subbox = | bodyclass = ib-video-game hproduct {{#ifeq:|yes|collapsible {{#if:|{{{state}}}|autocollapse}}}} | templatestyles = Infobox video game/styles.css | aboveclass = fn | italic title =

| above = Super Monkey Ball 2

| image = {{#invoke:InfoboxImage|InfoboxImage|image=Super Monkey Ball 2 Coverart.png|sizedefault=frameless|upright=1|alt=|border=|suppressplaceholder=yes}}

| caption = {{#if:Super Monkey Ball 2 Coverart.png|North American cover art|North American cover art}}

| label2 = DeveloperTemplate:Pluralize from text | data2 = Amusement Vision

| label3 = PublisherTemplate:Pluralize from text | data3 = Sega

| label4 = DirectorTemplate:Pluralize from text | data4 = Toshihiro Nagoshi

| label5 = ProducerTemplate:Pluralize from text | data5 = Toshihiro Nagoshi

| label6 = DesignerTemplate:Pluralize from text | data6 = Junichi Yamada
Daisuke Sato

| label7 = ProgrammerTemplate:Pluralize from text | data7 = Hisashi Endo

| label8 = ArtistTemplate:Pluralize from text | data8 = Mika Kojima

| label9 = WriterTemplate:Pluralize from text | data9 = Template:If first display both

| label10 = ComposerTemplate:Pluralize from text | data10 = Hidenori Shoji
Haruyoshi Tomita
Ryuji Iuchi

| label11 = Series | data11 = Super Monkey Ball

| label12 = Engine | data12 = Template:If first display both

| label13 = PlatformTemplate:Pluralize from text | data13 = GameCube

| label14 = Release | data14 = Template:Vgrelease

| label15 = GenreTemplate:Pluralize from text | data15 = Platform, party

| label16 = ModeTemplate:Pluralize from text | data16 = Single-player, multiplayer

| label17 = Arcade system | data17 = Template:If first display both

| data30 =

| below = Template:EditOnWikidata

}}Template:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|ignoreblank=1|preview=Page using Template:Infobox video game with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"| alt | arcade system | artist | caption | border | child | collapsible | commons | composer | designer | developer | director | embedded | engine | fetchwikidata | genre | image | image_size | image_upright | italic title | modes | noicon | onlysourced | platform | platforms | producer | programmer | publisher | qid | refs | release | released | series | state | subbox | suppressfields | title | writer }}Template:Main other{{#if:Super Monkey Ball 2 Coverart.png|}}

Template:Nihongo foot is a 2002 platform video game developed by Amusement Vision and published by Sega for the GameCube. It is the second installment in the Super Monkey Ball series, and the first installment to have a storyline and to be exclusively released on a home console.

Super Monkey Ball 2Template:'s stages were remade as a part of Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania.

Gameplay

Super Monkey Ball 2 continues its predecessor's core Marble Madness-style gameplay.<ref name = "GSpot"/><ref name = "IGNrev"/> The player controls a monkey running in a ball with the joystick through maze-like stages with obstacles to dodge, which have to be completed under a time limit without the monkey falling off platform ledges.<ref name = "GSpot"/><ref name = "IGNrev"/> As the game progresses, there are more paths that loop, spin and corkscrew, and levels that move horizontally, vertically and 360-degrees.<ref name = "IGNrev"/> The sequel has a more spiked difficulty curve as a result of new design choices. Looped paths occasionally have obstacles and cockscrewed paths within them and some rotating stages have pillars popping out of holes.<ref name = "IGNrev"/> Another addition is switches scattered throughout that fast-forward, rewind, play and stop platforms while rolled over onto them, making the sequel more focused on strategy and puzzle-solving.<ref name = "IGNrev"/><ref name = "NWR"/>

Unlike the first entry, Super Monkey Ball 2 has a single-player Story Mode grouping levels by ten.<ref name = "IGNrev"/><ref name = "NWR"/> Dr. Bad-Boon is an evil scientist who steals all of the bananas from Monkey Island, putting four protagonists, AiAi, MeeMee, GonGon and Baby into action to chase him through booby-trapped stages he has set up.<ref name = "IGNrev"/> The story takes place over 100 levels split between ten worlds with animated cutscenes that play in between each.<ref name = "GSpot"/> The player is given an infinite number of lives and can complete each world's ten stages in any order.<ref name="Eurogamer Review">Template:Cite news</ref>

File:SuperMonkeyBall2Level1dash8.png

Screenshot of Super Monkey Ball 2, showing the player's head-up display and rolling mechanic. Unlike its predecessor, Super Monkey Ball 2 features widescreen support.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Challenge mode allows up to four players and plays like the main mode of the original Super Monkey Ball. There are three difficulty levels: Beginner, Advanced and Expert, consisting of 10, 30 and 50 floors each. Players navigate each set in order with a limited number of lives and continues.<ref name="Eurogamer Review" /> Beginner Extra, Advanced Extra and Expert Extra floors are unlocked when each respective difficulty level is completed without a single continue. There are ten extra stages in each difficulty.<ref name="Super Monkey Ball 2 (P2: Challenge Mode)">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A hidden set of ten Master floors can be unlocked through playing the Expert Extra floors without using a continue. At this point, the player will be able to select this difficulty as if it were a normal mode. If a player completes all ten Master stages without using a continue, they will go to the Master Extra stages.<ref name="Super Monkey Ball 2 - Expert-Master Extra [Deathless/Warpless]">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref>

Multiplayer

There are 12 multiplayer mini-games, six of them reprisals from the predecessor with more gameplay styles and level types: Monkey Race, Monkey Fight, Monkey Target, Monkey Billiards, Monkey Bowling and Monkey Golf.<ref name = "IGNrev"/> Monkey Golf rejects the mini-golf courses of the first game for larger environments standard of regular golf, with terrain and wind affecting the power and trajectory of a shot, and the ability to drive and chip.<ref name = "NWR"/>

Monkey Race allows players to race up to eight computer opponents, larger than the previous game's three, and has new weapons such as the Hunter Missile which shoots several rockets at a time.<ref name = "NWR"/> Having only three arenas, Monkey Fight introduces crumbling fighting rings, the ability to charge a fight, and a sudden death mode.<ref name = "IGNrev"/><ref name = "NWR"/> Monkey Billiards has Japanese 9 ball and Rotation as new gameplay modes, as well as a few more camera angle options.<ref name = "NWR"/>

Monkey Bowling contains a Special Mode in addition to the typical game present in the first. It has ten lanes that feature non-linear paths, such as zig-zag and concave, and moving parts.<ref name = "IGNrev"/><ref name = "NWR"/> The monkeys also differ in attributes, such as GonGon being the best with speed and Baby better at maneuverability.<ref name = "NWR"/> Like the first game's mode, Monkey Target has the player controlling a gliding monkey to land on a target while avoiding falling into the water.<ref name = "NWR"/> However, it differs in how items are collected; instead of receiving them from bananas, which are now only points, they are now in the middle of the air to be collected on the monkey's trajectory.<ref name = "NWR"/> Formation flying, where the direction of up to five monkeys can be controlled simultaneously, and a split-screen feature of up to four players are additions.<ref name = "IGNrev"/><ref name = "NWR"/>

The other six mini-games, Monkey Tennis, Monkey Baseball, Monkey Soccer, Monkey Boat, Monkey Shot and Monkey Dogfight, are introduced to the series.<ref name="Eurogamer Review" /><ref name = "IGNrev"/> Some of these are replicas of Sega's Virtua franchises, such as Virtua Striker (1995–2004), Virtua Cop (1994–2003), and Virtua Tennis (1999–2012).<ref name = "IGNrev"/> In Monkey Baseball, the rolling monkey ball is pitched to the batter onto ramps that serve as bases and the home plate and lead into the outfield.<ref name = "IGNrev"/> Monkey Boat involves the racers kayaking down a river, with player's only control being the shoulder buttons to steer.<ref name = "IGNrev"/> Monkey Shot is a light gun shooter that also involves moving down a track, but to shoot at incoming enemies, missiles, and bosses while collecting items like upgrades to automatic guns.<ref name = "IGNrev"/><ref name = "NWR"/> In Monkey Dogfight, the monkeys fly and shoot at each other.<ref name = "IGNrev"/>

Reception

Template:Video game reviews The game won the E3 2002 Game Critics Awards for Best Puzzle/Trivia/Parlor Game.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> GameSpot named it the best GameCube game of August 2002,<ref name=gotm>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and later declared it 2002's "Best Party Game on GameCube". It was nominated for GameSpotTemplate:'s annual "Best Sound on GameCube" and "Game of the Year on GameCube" awards, which went to Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem and Metroid Prime, respectively.<ref name=bestworst2002>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Super Monkey Ball 2 received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.<ref name="mc-gcn" /> IGNTemplate:'s Matt Casamassina praised the game for its core gameplay concepts, stating that it was "just as simple as the original, and also just as addictive... But where it's an entertaining single-player experience, it's a superb multiplayer one. All of the revamped mini-games are fantastic... this is one of the best multiplayer games for GCN, without a doubt and hands down."<ref name = "IGNrev"/>

Critics highlighted the level design, particularly the enhancements. Ryan Davis of GameSpot called it "bolder," Casamassina "revamped and fantastic," "more inspired and more extravagant."<ref name = "GSpot"/><ref name = "IGNrev"/> He noted their increased difficulty, where some tasks seem insurmountable initially.<ref name = "IGNrev"/> However, he also wrote they were addictive, where even skilled players who already defeated the harder stages would come back to figure out shortcuts and tricks to beat them in a shorter amount of time.<ref name = "IGNrev"/> He also positively noted the pacing, specifically the constant introduction of a new challenge every level.<ref name = "IGNrev"/> Mike Orlando of Nintendo World Report favorably discussed the levels' increased interactivity and strategy as a result of the introduction of switches, as well as the complexity of models built with otherwise simple polygons.<ref name = "NWR"/> Although finding a few stages gimmicky, particularly Launchers, he claimed the Labyrinth level was better than any stage in the first game.<ref name = "NWR"/>

The plot and cutscenes in the Story Mode were described as suitable to the exuberant nature of the overall experience, if "simple and at times ridiculous, weird and borderline disturbing".<ref name = "IGNrev"/> Orlando dismissed the story as having confusing concepts, such as the monkeys conjuring magical spells and GonGon chanting "Ei Ei Poo."<ref name = "NWR"/> However, he praised the Story Mode's inclusion as allowing less experienced players to enjoy a majority of the stages where they could not in the challenge mode.<ref name = "NWR"/>

Casamassina highlighted the limitless possibilities of play additions to the returning party mini-games provided. He reported a huge amount of depth in Monkey Bowling alone, to the point where it could have been its own game.<ref name = "IGNrev"/> He also praised the new mini-games, although argued they were not "as well conceived."<ref name = "IGNrev"/> Tennis was his most favorite of them for its combination of elements from Mario Tennis (2000) and Virtua Tennis, and the potential long replay value from the two-versus-two mode.<ref name = "IGNrev"/> Less favorably, he found Monkey Bassball too basic to be enjoyable for lengthy sessions, disliked Monkey Soccer's controls, and noted high difficulty in playing the otherwise fun Monkey Target and Monkey Boat Race.<ref name = "IGNrev"/> Orlando positively found Super Monkey Ball 2Template:'s Monkey Race more competitive than the first game's, coming from the higher number of opponents and less complicated tracks. He also enjoyed the formation flying and addition of a multiplayer mode in Monkey Target, as well as the Special Mode in Monkey Bowling for adding replay value.<ref name = "NWR"/> He also enjoyed Monkey Golf, although was confused by the wind and power shot statistics.<ref name = "NWR"/> Monkey Boat Race was noted by Orlando and Casamassina for its learning curve when it came to paddling the boat, which they wrote was rewarding.<ref name = "IGNrev"/><ref name = "NWR"/>

Critics praised the use of animated assets in the backgrounds, such as volcanos, lava flows, clock gears and space stations, solving the first game's issues of drab, empty environments.<ref name = "GSpot"/><ref name = "NWR"/> They also appreciated the use of particle and lighting effects, such as sparks when a ball hits the ground and Volcanic Magma's flying embers.<ref name = "GSpot"/><ref name = "NWR"/>

The similarity between the first and second games' upbeat techno music, voice clips and sound effects were noted.<ref name = "GSpot"/><ref name = "NWR"/> However, Orlando highlighted the increased variety and depth to the soundtrack, and particularly enjoyed the music of the multiplayer modes.<ref name = "NWR"/>

By July 2006, Super Monkey Ball 2 had sold 760,000 copies and earned $22 million in the United States. Next Generation ranked it as the 80th highest-selling game launched for the PlayStation 2, Xbox or GameCube between January 2000 and July 2006 in that country. Combined sales of games in the Super Monkey Ball series released between those dates reached 1.1 million units in the United States by July 2006.<ref name=nextgensales>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The game sold well enough to warrant a GameCube Player's Choice budget re-release game.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Legacy and impact

A 2002 study recognized Super Monkey Ball 2 as one of several video games associated with improved performance in laparoscopic surgery.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> An extended study, performed over three years with 300 participants, found that surgeons who played Super Monkey Ball 2 and other video games for at least six minutes prior to operating performed better in a virtual surgery simulation than surgeons that did not play. Results include a significant drop in errors and an increase in speed and overall score. In response to these findings, Dr. James Rosser created a gaming area in the physician's lounge at Florida Hospital Celebration Health,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> saying "I want all the surgeons to warm-up and make sure they give Super Monkey Ball a chance."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>