Super Monkey Ball Deluxe is a platform video game developed and published by Sega. It was released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2005. The game compiles all stages from Super Monkey Ball and Super Monkey Ball 2, as well as adding original levels.
Super Monkey Ball Deluxe was well received, with critics praising the gameplay, but criticizing its audio and graphics. The game is notable for its large number of customizable party mini-games, also returning from the previous titles. It is also notable for the stages it had restored, which were previously cut from the originals.
Super Monkey Ball Deluxe's exclusive stages were remade as a part of Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania.
Gameplay
The gameplay is largely the same as the first two in the series. Much like the classic arcade game Marble Madness, the player must navigate a ball across many puzzling courses within a time limit, usually 60 seconds. The controls are very simple: the player uses the directional analog stick to move the entire floor in order to guide one of four anthropomorphic monkeys (encased in a large clear ball) towards the goal, while avoiding hazards and obstacles (for example, moving platforms, mazes, and ramps). Collecting bananas scattered throughout the stage raises the player's score, and awards extra lives. If the monkey ball falls off the edge of a platform or the time runs out, the player loses a life. If the player reaches the arch-shaped goal, the player finishes the stage and the player advances to the next stage. Higher levels have a greater challenge and complexity: most of the levels in Story Mode are characterised as Beginner, Advanced and Expert.
Main modes
The game has several game modes to play. The game's Story Mode is one player only, and features the same story mode featured in Super Monkey Ball 2. The plot involves the game's four protagonists, AiAi, MeeMee, Baby, and GonGon, who embark on a quest to stop the antagonist, Dr. Bad-Boon from stealing all the bananas on Jungle Island. It consists of ten worlds, each of which contains 20 levels, though only ten levels are required to be completed in order to advance to the next world. Players are allowed to select and complete levels in a world in any order they wish. A story cut-scene is played upon completion of a world. Unlike in Challenge Mode, the player has infinite lives.
Challenge Mode consists of 300 levels separated into sections based on difficulty level. Beginner difficulty has 40 stages, Advanced difficulty has 70 stages, Expert difficulty has 100 stages, and Master difficulty has 20 stages. Each difficulty level also has 20 extra stages (with the exception of Master difficulty, which only has 10). There's also an exclusive mode known as Ultimate, which tests the player's skill through every stage through the Beginner, Advanced, Expert and Master difficulties (if the player goes through the stages without continuing). Players are given three lives and six continues with which to complete every level in their chosen difficulty. This mode can also be played with up to four players. The game also features a multiplayer mode known as Competition Mode, which allows up to four players to compete against each other on any of the maps unlocked in Challenge Mode. The same rules from the single-player Story Mode apply. The number of bananas a player collects determines which player is victorious.
Lastly, Practice Mode allows players to practice any of the unlocked levels from Story Mode or Challenge Mode. Whether failed or completed, the stage will replay indefinitely until the player quits.
Party games
Players can compete in a selection of mini-games known as "party games". All games are up to four players (which may include CPU controlled characters) and the player(s) may choose any of the four main monkey characters to play. All 12 party games from Super Monkey Ball 2 return in Deluxe, unlocked and available to play from the start. Available party games are listed below:
Monkey Race DX
In Monkey Race DX, the monkeys race around a course in their monkey balls and collect power ups to disrupt the opposition. The player wins by being the first to cross the finish line. This game mode can be played to up to four players. You can race on a single course on One Course Race Mode and you can enter a series races in the Grand Prix Mode. The player can also try to get the best time on a track in Time Attack Mode.