I will put everything on the table right now: This is one of the best games I've ever played. It's a brilliant sequel, and a brilliant standalone game.

The visuals are superb, every single area has its own distinct feel to it, amplified even more if you happen to discover that the backdrops to the stages are actually tangible (it's wild to see them used in speedruns and TASes). The visual effects and lighting are surprisingly diverse (I still wanna know how they accomplish the fire embers effect in the volcano, that shit's mesmerizing). The biggest boost from the original is how colors just POP in SMB2 (in comparison to SMB1).

There's a point of contention to be made about SMB2's level design mentality in comparison to SMB1. The original Monkey Ball's levels definitely had a focus on precision and execution. The sequel's levels are more focused on gimmicks. Some people see this as a bad thing, but I feel like it coexists in tandem with the concepts of "precision and execution". Every single level is like a giant contraption that needs to be solved or worked past. It may feel like throwing yourself at a wall at first, or perhaps you'll be taken aback by the sheer absurdity that your monkey ball is descending upon. However, once you get that successful run, that level just clicks with you, and it is the most cathartic and gratifying feeling in my eyes.

Doubling down on the brilliance of the level design, SMB2 features a story mode with an absolutely absurd plot. It's like an outrageous saturday morning cartoon, and your reward for playing levels is the next over the top, wacky cutscene. To advance through each of the 10 worlds in story mode, you must beat all ten levels in a given world in whatever order you please. There are no limits on lives or continues, so you're put in an environment where you're free to learn the stages and mechanics of the game with no risk. It also so happens that all 100 levels in story mode are the same ones found in the normal arcade mode. As a result, story mode basically ends up preparing you for the trials you'll face in the arcade mode, in a subtle, ingenious way.

The play points system has also returned from SMB1, but it's been altered in the best way possible. In SMB1, earning enough play points increased your continue count, eventually becoming infinite. However, using a continue locks you out of the Extra stages. In SMB2, you will only have 5 continues for any given run. Instead, spending play points allow you to increase the default amount of lives for any given run through the arcade mode. A change like this makes a 1CC run into something a player could increase their chances of achieving, so long as they keep playing.

While I don't dabble too hard in them (I don't have friends to play them with), the minigames are all great, and have an unusual amount of thought and polish put into them. If you ever get tired of physics-based, world-tilting, ball-rolling action, these minigames are a breath of fresh air.

A lot changed between SMB1 and SMB2, but at the same time, not much changed at all. The game is still Monkey Ball at its very core, and that's great. The new level designs are not for everyone, but I personally can't go back to SMB1. I learned to embrace the wackiness, and I'm always willing to go bananas over this game.

rivals dark souls for my favourite game. compelling story, realistic characters, adrenaline pumping highs and heart breaking lows. truly the citizen kane of video games. I like to think of Ai-ai as a character in an almost lynchian world, forced to traverse a harrowing landscape of fire, water, spikes (and countless other hazards) all while trapped in a ball. if you haven’t played super monkey ball 2 you are missing out. I am a better man because of it and I can’t thank the devs and nintendo enough for setting my life on a path to true greatness.

this is the Shrek 2 of video games

I could just end it there but I'm a Super Monkey Ball fan so I'll talk some more

this game is basically more Super Monkey Ball goodness, what more could you ask for? everything that made the first game great is in here and even better. The worlds are more detailed, the Party Games are doubled, the music bops even harder, and there's even an actual story that isn't exclusive to a Japanese game manual!

basically there's this evil baboon guy named Dr. Bad Boon (nice wordplay lol) who decides to steal all the bananas from all the monkeys and hide them all out in his crazy labyrinths (aka the levels). naturally AiAi, MeeMee, Baby, and GonGon are upset about this, so they team up to get all the bananas back and stop whatever plans Dr. Bad Boon has up his sleeve. it sounds a little generic, but I really don't want to spoil the story beyond that because it gets BONKERS. I have no idea what the writers were on when they made this story, but if we ever get another Super Monkey Ball with a story, I want them to get on that stuff again.

the gameplay is identical to the first game: roll your monkey over to the goal while making sure you don't fall off of the level. the levels here have a bit more going on though. not only are they bigger and more ambitous than in the previous game, but you also got switches that change the speed of the obstacles, warp gates that send you to a different area of the level, and a few other cool neats and tricks. likewise with the first game, it gets HARD, but overall it's a little easier than SMB1, emphasis on "little". however if you're playing Story Mode, you don't have to worry about continues since you attempt the levels as many times as you want, you can use choose a different level to go if you find yourself struggling with the one you're currently on. As for Challenge Mode (which is basically the main mode of the first game), you still got Practice Mode which works the same as it did before, as well as a buffed use for Play Points. in the first game, you could use Play Points to get more continues, but in here they changed it so you get more lives, which is MUCH better. 1CCs and gaining access to the Extra levels are nowhere near as frustrating now that you can have up to 99 lives for your Challenge Mode runs.

speaking of them Play Points, all the Party Games are back from the first game, as well as some new ones sprinkled in. most of the ones from the first game play exactly the same as before, and they even have some more features added to them as well. as for the new ones, Monkey Boat is like an alternative version of Monkey Race, Monkey Shot is a railgun type of minigame with bopping music, Monkey Dogfight is Monkey Fight but Star Fox, Monkey Baseball is baseball but the monkeys are the baseball, Monkey Tennis sucks.

speaking of sucking, I'll briefly go over a few negatives so you all don't go in thinking this is the perfection of gaming (though it comes close). like I said the levels are a bit easier than the first game's bunch, but there's a couple of gimmicky levels thrown in that I'm not too fond of (Reversible Gear, Launchers, Pistons, Labyrinth just to name a few). also some of the new party games aren't as fun as the originals. Monkey Golf got changed to actual golf instead of minigolf and it's just not as enjoyable. uhhhh what else uhhhhh I miss the bomb HUD from the first game? yeah I can't think of any more negatives sorry but that shows how good this game is.

truth be told, I prefer the first game because I love the levels and speedrun potential there, but from an objective standpoint, this game is a definite improvement from the first game, and it is definitely worth your time.

play it, play it now, hurry up right now