The original Super Monkey Ball on the Gamecube was a cracker of a game back in the day. For the uninformed, as the name suggests, the game involves monkeys… in balls. The goal of the game is to help guide the cheeky simians around a variety of increasingly difficult courses. Instead of controlling the characters, you move the actual world around which, by the magic of physics and gravity, results in the monkeys rolling around in their balls. Though not an entirely original concept, it was still a good game that provided a good challenge (some of the latter levels were extremely difficult) and good fun (the mini-games, particularly "Monkey Target", were great). I haven’t played a Monkey Ball game since the original on the Cube, so I had a lot of anticipation for the newest game in the series, Super Monkey Ball: Step and Roll. Read on to find out how the game fares.

Let’s get something out of the way before we go on further. Yes, the game does now include Wii Balance Board support, but it’s not really a good method of control. Too finicky and far too annoying to persevere with. Thankfully, the game supports more conventional control methods such as using the Wii Remote, which is quite intuitive as a control method for this game. Tilting the Wii Remote in various directions results in the levels mimicking this movement. In fact, a game such as this is perfectly suited to the Wii. Everybody who gets a hold of this game will no doubt have a good time using the Balance Board controls, but it won’t be long before the Wii Remotes are out.

Step and Roll (the prefix "attempt to" would have been suitable) doesn’t offer anything particularly new or exciting from the old predecessor. It’s been a while for me, but it didn’t take long before I got the hang of things again. This might be an indication of both the games’ well-executed control methods, but it also reflects a lack of change in between games. There are 70 levels in the game, divided into 7 different themed worlds. There are no boss battles in the game and the bonus levels are included in the total level count. Not a bad effort, but a few more levels would have been nice, particularly as they are a bit easier this time around, no doubt a result of being designed with Wii Balance board controls in mind. You can also play co-operative this time around, with the second player blasting away obstacles in levels. Though the game still retains the blood-curdlingly difficult later stages, the overall quality of levels seems to have dropped, which again appears to be a result of Balance Board controls. Nevertheless, the game controls well and provides a good challenge along with a healthy dose of entertainment as you conquer the various worlds and finish all the levels.

Another staple of the original Monkey Ball was the mini-games, which provided a completely different experience as compared to the main game. There are 20+ games this time around, which is a big increase on the original (the other Wii Monkey Ball game had over 100 apparently). Unfortunately, the quality of the games ranges from the downright pathetic to the average. Even the brilliant Monkey Target is not as good as it used to be. A couple of games are decent enough, though as an entire package, not a lot of positives can be drawn from this collection.

Visually, the game looks quite good, with plenty of bright colours, fluid animation, and pleasing character models. It runs quite smoothly too, and at a nicely consistent frame rate. The sound is also well done, with suitable, upbeat songs throughout the game. Little bits and pieces of an entire song are played through the game, and when you beat a world, you get to hear the song in its entirety.

At the end of the day, Step and Roll is a victim to itself – the idea of using the Balance Board as a control method makes sense on paper, but it has not been implemented quite as well as it could have been. Though more traditional control methods are on offer, the game appears to have been primarily designed with the Balance Board in mind, making it a bit easier. The mini-games could also do with a complete overhaul. I would prefer six or seven really well-designed games over 20+ crap games that are hardly worth playing. Monkey Ball fanatics will still enjoy the main game mode, though as an overall package, it doesn’t quite live up to the standards set by the original.