Super Monkey Ball, Nintendo GameCube

Super Monkey Ball is the first Sega game to appear on the GameCube and it shines as one of the best party games available on any system. The twist with Super Monkey is that you don't control your monkey in a ball, you control the environments. Think of Marble Madness with moveable backgrounds, add lots of party and mini-games and that's what Super Monkey Ball is like. The main game of Monkey Ball involves reaching the goal at the end of the level. This is easy at first but soon it becomes increasingly difficult. Negotiating tightrope-like pathways is one thing, but when the levels start moving, flipping, twisting and distorting, it doesn't seem so easy anymore. Beginner Mode offers 10 levels, Advanced is 30 levels and 50 levels make up the Expert challenge. And you don't want to know about the hidden master levels! Earning points in the main mode will unlock the mini-games of Monkey Bowling, Monkey Billiards and Monkey Golf. The name of these mini-games identifies what kind of games they are. Each game is good enough to be a stand-alone product. The party games are one of the best features of Super Monkey Ball. They include Monkey Racing, Monkey Fight and Monkey Target. Monkey Racing is similar to Nintendo's Mario Kart, with its turbos and weapon power-ups. Monkey Fight is where each player has a extendable boxing glove attached to their ball, and points are scored by knocking the other contestants off the platform. Finally, Monkey Target is a hang-gliding game where you must land on platforms that float on the sea. The graphics in Monkey Ball are impressive: the smoothness of the game engine, the procedural textures, they all look great. This game is cute, original and fun. Be sure to buy additional controllers when you buy your GameCube and this infuriatingly addictive game.

Buy Super Monkey Ball for 9.99 GBP

Spartan: Total Warrior
Corporate takeovers aren't all bad. Creative Assembly, the British developers behind the Total War series of games were bought up by SEGA not so long ago. As well as the undoubtedly powerful market presence of the Total War engine and IP, there was one other, rather more SEGA-ish game in development that caught the eye of their would-be Japanese overlords. That game was Spartan: Total Warrior. The...
The Polar Express
While films based upon games rarely turn out to be anything more than a low-budget mediocre flick, games based upon films can be a different story altogether. And next up in the ongoing movie-cum-game line up is THQ's Polar Express, released the very same day as the film itself. Unlike its handheld counterpart, the console rendition of Polar Express is a fully 3D and much more convincing offering ...
Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc
Since Super Mario 64 was released back in 1997, the precedent it set for the 3D-platform genre has seldom been achieved. One title that came awfully close however was Rayman 2, maybe not in terms of depth but definitely with regard to the game's atmosphere, its imaginative level design and the wealth of innovative gameplay features found within. It is for this reason that we should have been waiti...
True Crime: New York City
The first True Crime, set in LA, differed from other sprawling, free roaming, gritty urban adventure games in that it gave the player the opportunity to stay on the right side of the law, playing as a martial arts trained maverick cop. In the sequel, True Crime: New York City, Activision has tried to give you the best of both worlds. The hero is Marcus Reed, who grew up on the streets of NYC, the ...
Virtua Striker 3 Ver.2002
Virtua Striker 2002 is the long-awaited debut on GameCube for the brand which made its first console appearance on Sega's doomed Dreamcast. Virtua Striker was very good then...and now, well, it's a Sega game for Nintendo's brilliant little box. What do you think? Gamers in the know should be getting all excited about Virtua Striker 2002 on GameCube. If you're merely curious, let us try to tell you...
Beach Spikers: Virtua Beach Volleyball
Volleyball's a great way to pass the time on a beach, but unless you're one of those lucky types who has sand on the doorstep, Beach Spikers, thanks to its top-notch gameplay, lush graphics and numerous game options and modes (not to mention the lovely ladies in bikinis, fellas) is the ideal substitute. In volleyball, your team must send the ball over the net to the opponent's side of the court so...