One mission we saw from the PS2 versionhad AiAi rounding up a horde of angry bees that had escaped their keeper. By hitting launch pads and flying into the air, smashing the hives, you attract the bees to your ball - then you just roll back to the keeper, who puts them back where they belong. Poof, you're on your way to making the world a better place.
You won't have to beat every single mission (or classic puzzle level) to chew through the game, however. This is still meant to grab new gamers as well as fans of the series, so most of the goals are pretty simple and easy to grasp.
But no Monkey Ball is complete without multiplayer party games. Advancing the solo game will unlock more multiplayer goodness, such as the three new party games: Tag, Bounce and Castle. We tried out a four-way Castle match and managed to reach a stalemate with the developers - not too shabby.
It's just a matter of laying down bricks in a defensive pattern around your tiny island. Once the construction phase is over, everyone takes to a cannon and starts blasting their monkey balls in an attempt to knock down the just-built castle. Three people can team up on one, or you can just go every man for himself and let the monkeys fly. Classic party games, such as Race, Target and Boxing, all return.
