funny monkey go weeeee
okay I'll go in further detail
I have tons of nostalgia for this very specific game so maybe five stars is a little too generous, but god this game has so much charm and soul that I don't care. there's only four characters in this entire game: AiAi, MeeMee, Baby, and GonGon. that kinda seems underwhelming, but it really doesn't need any more characters than that, all four monkeys are extremely charming thanks to their excellent character designs and voice clips.
the story is pretty weak I'll admit, it's not even explained to you in-game, you'll have to resort to the Japanese manual for that (not even the English manual lol). basically AiAi, MeeMee and Baby want to reach the Banana Island, basically a banana sanctuary. the road to get there is pretty dangerous though, as there's obstacles/floors/stages/etc. they will need to go through. thanks to a magical spell, the monkeys are able to go inside these balls that will protect them from danger on the way (yes there's actually a reason why they're in the balls). however GonGon of the Gorilla Tribe is after the island for himself and his tribe, so it's kind of a race to see who gets there first.
but you're not playing this for the story, you're here for the gameplay, and it is just complete arcade goodness. there's three difficulties: Beginner, Advanced, and Expert. each difficulty has it's own set of levels, so I'd recommend going through all of them in order. each level has a starting point and ending point, your goal is to get through the level and enter the goal without falling off or running out of time. it eases you in with the Beginner levels and the early Advanced ones, but beyond that the game stops holding your hand and has you go through these crazy levels using your own skill and precision. this game gets HARD man, but it is so satisfying to see yourself getting farther and farther with each attempt until you eventually complete the level and feel like a king. so many of these levels are filled with intentional and unintentional shortcuts, which makes this one of the most fun games to speedrun. you have not become a true gamer god until you've 1CC Expert (I am not a gamer god :^( ). thankfully this game blesses you with a Practice Mode, where you can practice any level you reached in the main game and play them as much as you want, truly an underappreciated mode.
if the main game's getting old for you, you can use the Play Points you've earned to unlock Party Games and Mini Games. each of these six games are a blast to go through, and you can even play them with your friends. Monkey Race is a neat racing minigame, Monkey Fight is probably the best unofficial Mario Party minigame, Monkey Target can be considered even better than the main game to some fans, Monkey Billiards has jazz and piano music so that's an automatic win, Monkey Bowling's okay, and Monkey Golf is a relaxing time. so if the main game's turning you off, you always have the party games to go back to.
okay but can I talk about this game's aesthetic though? this game screams late 90's/early 2000's SEGA and I love it! the visuals for the levels are down right beautiful, the music is complete earworm material, and the game just has SOUL like A LOT OF SOUL MY GOODNESS AAAAAAAAAA
okay I'm being too positive so I'll briefly go over some negatives. the game's difficulty curve is WACK. one minute you'll complete an otherwise easy level, then the next minute you'll be up against EXPERT FLOOR 7. basically hard levels just pop out of nowhere not matter how early you are into the difficulty and that's kinda stinky. another stinky thing is that each difficulty has a set of Extra levels, which you can only access by clearing the difficulty without losing a life (or without a continue in Expert's case). listen I love this game, but that's downright brutal. you only get three lives at the beginning, so trying to make sure you don't use a continue in Expert or lose a SINGLE life for the other two difficulties....yeah I know this is technically an arcade game, but come on. besides that though, those are really the only major problems I have.
my god I got carried away, I feel like I've been typing for hours but I can't help it I love this game!!! anyway, please play this game at least ONCE in your lifetime, you may not enjoy it as much as I did, but you will certainly have a great time :^)
okay I'll go in further detail
I have tons of nostalgia for this very specific game so maybe five stars is a little too generous, but god this game has so much charm and soul that I don't care. there's only four characters in this entire game: AiAi, MeeMee, Baby, and GonGon. that kinda seems underwhelming, but it really doesn't need any more characters than that, all four monkeys are extremely charming thanks to their excellent character designs and voice clips.
the story is pretty weak I'll admit, it's not even explained to you in-game, you'll have to resort to the Japanese manual for that (not even the English manual lol). basically AiAi, MeeMee and Baby want to reach the Banana Island, basically a banana sanctuary. the road to get there is pretty dangerous though, as there's obstacles/floors/stages/etc. they will need to go through. thanks to a magical spell, the monkeys are able to go inside these balls that will protect them from danger on the way (yes there's actually a reason why they're in the balls). however GonGon of the Gorilla Tribe is after the island for himself and his tribe, so it's kind of a race to see who gets there first.
but you're not playing this for the story, you're here for the gameplay, and it is just complete arcade goodness. there's three difficulties: Beginner, Advanced, and Expert. each difficulty has it's own set of levels, so I'd recommend going through all of them in order. each level has a starting point and ending point, your goal is to get through the level and enter the goal without falling off or running out of time. it eases you in with the Beginner levels and the early Advanced ones, but beyond that the game stops holding your hand and has you go through these crazy levels using your own skill and precision. this game gets HARD man, but it is so satisfying to see yourself getting farther and farther with each attempt until you eventually complete the level and feel like a king. so many of these levels are filled with intentional and unintentional shortcuts, which makes this one of the most fun games to speedrun. you have not become a true gamer god until you've 1CC Expert (I am not a gamer god :^( ). thankfully this game blesses you with a Practice Mode, where you can practice any level you reached in the main game and play them as much as you want, truly an underappreciated mode.
if the main game's getting old for you, you can use the Play Points you've earned to unlock Party Games and Mini Games. each of these six games are a blast to go through, and you can even play them with your friends. Monkey Race is a neat racing minigame, Monkey Fight is probably the best unofficial Mario Party minigame, Monkey Target can be considered even better than the main game to some fans, Monkey Billiards has jazz and piano music so that's an automatic win, Monkey Bowling's okay, and Monkey Golf is a relaxing time. so if the main game's turning you off, you always have the party games to go back to.
okay but can I talk about this game's aesthetic though? this game screams late 90's/early 2000's SEGA and I love it! the visuals for the levels are down right beautiful, the music is complete earworm material, and the game just has SOUL like A LOT OF SOUL MY GOODNESS AAAAAAAAAA
okay I'm being too positive so I'll briefly go over some negatives. the game's difficulty curve is WACK. one minute you'll complete an otherwise easy level, then the next minute you'll be up against EXPERT FLOOR 7. basically hard levels just pop out of nowhere not matter how early you are into the difficulty and that's kinda stinky. another stinky thing is that each difficulty has a set of Extra levels, which you can only access by clearing the difficulty without losing a life (or without a continue in Expert's case). listen I love this game, but that's downright brutal. you only get three lives at the beginning, so trying to make sure you don't use a continue in Expert or lose a SINGLE life for the other two difficulties....yeah I know this is technically an arcade game, but come on. besides that though, those are really the only major problems I have.
my god I got carried away, I feel like I've been typing for hours but I can't help it I love this game!!! anyway, please play this game at least ONCE in your lifetime, you may not enjoy it as much as I did, but you will certainly have a great time :^)
NOWITSREYNTIME17
2 months ago