Tag Archives: super monkey ball 2

GameCube, Random Games

Random Game #11 – R: Racing Evolution [GameCube]

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R Racing EvolutionWhen you have a video game collection like mine, it can be hard to play all of the games. This is especially true when additions are made on an almost weekly basis. Still, I appreciate nearly every game I’ve accumulated for this reason or that. In the hopes of improving my writing through continuous effort and promoting ongoing learning of these games, I’m going to compose brief, descriptive articles.

Like Super Monkey Ball 2, R: Racing Evolution was another game that I acquired through the local Sam’s Club bargain bin. It’s a simulation racing game from Namco and is a spin-off from their Ridge Racer series. Compared to the more hardcore console simulation games from the generation in question, this game is a little lacking. At the time, Gran Turismo 4 and Forza Motorsport hadn’t released yet, but Gran Turismo 3 was the de facto standard. For owners of the Xbox or GameCube though, this was arguably the next best example. This game had something neither of those series did though and that’s a story. It followed the unexpected racing career of Rena Hayami and I can still remember how cool it was to hear the team manager patch in to her during the races.

The game was developed and published by Namco. It was released in North America on December 9, 2003 (nearly 11 years to the date!) and was available for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube. The Player’s Choice rerelease on the GameCube includes Pac-Man Vs. so that’s cool.

GameCube, Random Games

Random Game #6 – Super Monkey Ball 2 [GameCube]

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Super Monkey Ball 2When you have a video game collection like mine, it can be hard to play all of the games. This is especially true when additions are made on an almost weekly basis. Still, I appreciate nearly every game I’ve accumulated for this reason or that. In the hopes of improving my writing through continuous effort and promoting ongoing learning of these games, I’m going to compose brief, descriptive articles.

During the sixth generation of video game consoles, the Sam’s Club in my town gave budget games a good name. Every time my family made a shopping trip there, I tagged along in the hopes of picking up a GameCube game for about $13. One of those games was Super Monkey Ball 2. It’s a weird game from a unique series. Most of the games task players with tilting stages, aiming to navigate monkeys in Wayne Coyne styled hamster balls to an end goal. The game had a fast pace to it, in part because nearly every stage needed to be completed within a minute – a holdover of the series’ arcade origins. I played much of it back in the day, but it grew too difficult for me at the time. Yet another game I need to return to.

Super Monkey Ball 2 was developed by Amusement Vision. It was published by Sega on August 25, 2002 exclusively on the GameCube. Like its predecessor, it was headed up by Toshihiro Nagoshi – a man with an impressive resume at Sega, one that offered him the opportunity of becoming their chief creative officer and a member of the board of directors.