E3 06: Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz hands-on

One of the Wii games that's been attracting a lot of attention from the E3 attendees is Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, but not for the main platform-tilting puzzle game. Instead it's the superb minigames that people have been trying to get their hands on.

We managed to do just that and discovered several ways in which the Wii-mote can be used:

Drumming
Keep the beat by using the nunchaku and remote as virtual drumsticks to drum out a rhythm.

Darts
Hold down the A button on the side of the remote, then hold the controller as you would do a dart and execute the classic dart throwing motion.

Whack-a-mole
Slam the remote downward when any one of the critters has the nerve to show its face.

Hammer toss
Twirl the remote in the air as though you are using a lasso or an old noisemaker, then hit a button to release the hammer forward.

These are very simple games but show the flexibility of the Wii remote as it adapts to several different types of action.

May 10, 2006

Ben Richardson is a former Staff Writer for Official PlayStation 2 magazine and a former Content Editor of GamesRadar+. In the years since Ben left GR, he has worked as a columnist, communications officer, charity coach, and podcast host – but we still look back to his news stories from time to time, they are a window into a different era of video games.