This action platform title has plenty of basic monkey business based on the movie of the same name plus some new characters and 13 new enemies. Players travel to the planet Malgor where they must battle king Zartog. The battle begins immediately as the heroic trio, including Ham the Third and voice work from actual stars Patrick Warburton (Titan) and Cheryl Hines (Luna), maneuver through the large planet, first on a large mobile rock monster. A deeper explanation/storyline would be nice here, especially since it’s confusing at times. Developers put most focus on the action which includes a nice mix of stealth, battle and puzzle.
Players get good monkey movements as Ham the Third and Luna, but the linear levels might create more difficulty for younger players. Ham is a close contact fighter while Luna gets a blaster to dispatch enemies from afar. She also has fluttering eye wings that help her maneuver to special spots and a special creature that latches to Luna's wrist, shooting goo at enemies. Players can also fly on the backs of alien fluvians. Strong movement controls, improved with some decent camera options, mix pretty well with the action elements including the basic B button attacks (multiple hits create combination attacks). The levels also include a nice mix of environments. Overall, the levels could have used more originality as the level don’t quite outweigh familiar scenarios seen before in other games. Developers often give players a helping hand with colorful motions icons directing towards the next necessary actions to advance through the levels. Little tykes will appreciate the reward for their "try and try again" efforts when they reach the next area after several tries.
The three single-player game modes include Classic (start with three lives), Survival, and Time Attack (5 minutes for single players and 10 minutes for 2 players) where players score as many points as possible. Getting hurt in this last level doesn’t reduce life; it just depletes the time. Two player co-op or competitive options also include a one-player game with an AI-controlled character and an unlockable multiplayer cooperative arena.
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