If there was one game to bring to a late night gaming party, or any party for that matter, it'd be Super Monkey Ball Deluxe. It's supposed to be a game for the younger audiences, and by day, it sure is. However, young-hearted adults have accepted this game too. It's addictive, simple fun that any age guy or gal can enjoy and it's open for innuendos when people start getting tipsy. I've been a Super Monkey Ball fan from the start and playing the deluxe version has only reminded me of the fun I once had on the Cube. This one is fun in its purest form, so fun you might stay up late trying to get past that hard part. It'll make a change to play a different type of ball game late at night, let me tell you!

In case you don't know what Super Monkey Ball is, I'll give you a quick refresher course. Some crazy Japanese fella thought it'd be clever to stick monkeys in balls (but I'm sure we can find a more scientific term for that). The basic principle is that you're controlling spherically encapsulated simians, rolling them through an insane 300 courses! The twist? You're controlling the 3D landscapes, not the ball itself; by tilting the landscape, you cause the ball to roll faster or slower, in any direction you like (and often not quite in the direction you like, on those very narrow bridges that are little more than a tightrope).

While the first couple of courses are stupidly easy, they soon get very hard - with various hills, moving objects that require precise timing to get past, switches that change the environment and more holes than there are in a bullet-ridden block of swiss cheese. Chuck in the fact that there is a time limit and you've got fast gameplay, which is one of the most feel-good, rewarding games when something goes right and simultaneously one of the most nightmarish, scream-inducing games when something goes wrong. You might say, "I hate this game" when you're caught up in the moment, but you'll never really mean it!

While that sounds fun, the most enjoyment lies in the multiplayer - and the deluxe version comes with all the mini-games unlocked and ready to go. There are twelve games in total, six of them underwent a DX revamp and the other six are ports from Monkey Ball one and two. I might call them mini-games, but they aren't. They stand much taller than your average mini-game - each has a great set of rules, sports some cracking enjoyment and surprisingly allows you to customise the games on a great level. Monkey Race DX, for example, allows you to pick between single races, time trials, or a fully fledged Mario Kart Rival Grand Prix mode, where you have to collect points and the person with the most points wins. Then you can choose whether or not to have weapons and items, if the computer plays and if there are handicaps. There are loads of options - so it's probably best to use an antonym for mini game.

Aside from racing, the other DX games include Monkey Fight DX, Monkey Target DX, Billiard, Bowling and Golf. Games that are just ports from the older Monkey Balls with maybe the odd extra map here and there are Monkey Boat, Monkey Shot, Monkey Dogfight, Soccer, Baseball and Tennis. Everybody has their favourites; I myself love Monkey Target and Monkey Tennis. The beauty is, when you have loads of friends over, you can all cast vocal votes to see what to play next. Monkey Target is a lot of fun - you use your ball (opened up and split into two halves) as wings to fly and reach one of the targets across the way. Then you have to land on one of the many scores, and if you get a low score, which was inches away from a large score, expect to be laughed at. Monkey Target is a DX (deluxe) mini game, which means that it's had things added from the previous Monkey Ball games. There is a whole new version here, that sees a roulette wheel come up before each go, which has loads of nasty modifiers on like clouds and such. Laughs galore!

I'm not going to go through all the games on offer, as most are self-explanatory anyway, but just know that each of the twelve games has been made with an immense level of care, indeed standing up against the best budget releases as full games in their own right, sky rocketing the value of this Deluxe package. They are fun to play and they feel polished. Unfortunately, I would have said that all those years ago. Six revamps as opposed to twelve revamps is a little bit of a kick in the teeth. I would have liked to see half a dozen new mini-games added too. As it stands though, you've got pure fun here with some Soccer fun, button bashing laughter in Monkey Boat, Toy Commander resemblance in Monkey Dogfight and Monkey Billiards is a gem in its own right.

Between the Xbox version and the PS2 version - well, Xbox wins hands down. Firstly the Xbox has four controller ports without investing in a multi-tap. Even if you have one of those taps, the Xbox has much better graphics, similar to the Cube. The PS2 version on single player hurt my eyes at some points, because the game couldn't keep up with the frame rate and the tiled floor passing at high speeds provoked a sense of nausea. The last nail in the coffin for the PS2 version is the loading times. 300 courses, with a six second load between them, really throws a wet blanket onto the fast-paced nature of the game. There are even loading times in the single player menu, where it shows you a thumbnail of the course, spinning around. A couple of seconds here and there can mount up to be a lot of time, you know!

The missed opportunity, the unforgivable mistake for both versions, is the lack of online play. I'm having a good time just thinking about the possibilities of Super Monkey Ball online - rankings online so people could compete for the best times in both the single player and the mini games. People coming all over the world, bashing balls together in Monkey Fight or going doubles with a friend against other players in Monkey Tennis. I feel empty for the fact that this game isn't online and those possibilities could be years away. Monkey Ball games have always been full of replay value for offline fun but this one could have been more than just a revamped port with 46 new courses over the old Monkey games and six redone mini-games. I can't simply forgive and forget. If you want an appropriate ball related joke, let's just say that Sega dropped one here!

For the most part, the visuals are great. The PS2 version suffers from frame rate and loading time issues, whereas the Xbox just glides though it like a jeep rides over rocks. Balls look shiny and the menu interface looks clean if not a little dated. I've seen this type of menu three times now, for the deluxe version it would have been nice to have a new deluxe menu interface. All of the courses are imaginative, even though I've played the majority before, the great thing is that you can play on the same course time and time again and not get bored in the slightest. The new courses are well designed and fit in nicely with the rest of the game. Mini games stick closely to the game's quirky Japanese style graphics, even though some games are a drastic change from rolling along. The monkeys look cute enough to win the affection of anyone - everything looks just how we've come to expect Sega games to look these days. Which is great.

The sound is very jolly and extremely upbeat. The various music tracks really do suit the differently themed levels; some are a little bit mellow because the theme is really calm, while other music is jolly because of the jolly layouts and some even have a dark sound to them. It's nice to look at a level and listen to music that suits it perfectly. The music goes hand and hand with the mini games too; tense, cheerful or tranquil. The monkeys don't have voices but they really don't need voices - just expressions! Quirky sounds, never a dull moment.

Super Monkey Ball Deluxe is puzzling fun at its best and now it's available for the PS2 and Xbox, with little incentive to buy it if you've already had the Gamecube instalments. Nearly fifty extra levels and some revamped mini games isn't enough, especially not when you're going onto the online-enabled consoles. It would have been grand to play this game online and if those options were open, you'd be reading a different review altogether. Ultimately, if you've not had the pleasure of playing this on the Cube and you have a couple of mates to enjoy this title with, then it's definitely worth the money. Better yet, wait for this one to drop ten pounds in price and pick up a bargain worth rolling home with.

Reviewed by Dexter Pearson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).