Super Monkey Ball 2

Dr Bad. Boon has stolen Jungle Island's bananas! And while we're not sure why monkeys rolling all over the shop in transparent balls will foil his nefarious plans, it makes for a quantity of fun bordering on the illegal. If Super Monkey Ball 2 is your first step into the world of ball-dwelling monkeys, you might note the gaudy visuals, anodyne animals and jolly fairground-style backgrounds and think you're dealing with a kids' game. Wrong. Absent-mindedly decide to have "a quick go" and the next thing you know it's 3am and tears are streaming from your eyes after your 575th unsuccessful attempt to roll through the spokes of level 3-2's "Reversible Gear". It all seems so simple: all you need to guide your simian's spherical transport from one end of the level to the other - and maybe rescue a few kidnapped bananas en route - is the Control Stick. Push forward, and monkey trundles forward. Push left, the monkey moves left. Easy. But, my, aren't the cruel minds at Sega adept at making life hair-tearingly difficult. It's not just the way gravity and inertia are realistically deployed, so that even an innocent-looking slope can lead to a Controller with fist-shaped indents. It's the hairpin bends, guitar string-thin bridges, conveyor belts, hovering platforms, treacherous zig-zagging paths with no safety barrier in sight... the pain, the pain. When you're dropped into one level and see the tunnel to the Goal instantly split into 32 segments, each independently spinning at around 80kph, you throw your hands up and head off for a nice cup of tea. But the giddy sense of triumph waiting for you off in the distance where the Goal line lies keeps you pressing on - towards that inevitable 3am bedtime. Fans of the original Super Monkey Ball will be instantly at home in Challenge Mode, where packages of 10, 20 and 30 stages and limited lives test your monkey-moving skills to the limit. Newcomers can try the new Story Mode, where retries are unlimited. Either way, Super Monkey Ball 2 is much bigger than its prequel on obstacles and hazards - from gigantic oval guillotines to sections of path that coil up like concertinas - that make timing and position absolutely crucial. The fabled minigames return, too, with old favourites like Monkey Bowling and the calming paragliding of Monkey Target joined by six new ones. Monkey Soccer, Monkey Tennis, Monkey Baseball... all are brilliant in single-player, and utterly compulsive in multiplayer, so all your friends can share the bleary eyes and muddled mind of a 3am session. Whether you're struggling with a level you've been stuck on for days, figuring out a spectacular free-falling shortcut that shaves 30s off your best time, or just paddling for your life in Monkey Boat, Super Monkey Ball 2 is like a TV magnet for your eyes. You'd be a monkey to miss it.