Paperball

Paperball very clearly wants to be the spiritual successor to Super Monkey Ball, but it has a few problems. After you get past the first fifty or so enjoyable levels, the difficulty ramps up to the point where you will most likely pass levels not by learning their tricks, but by throwing yourself at them enough times to just catch a lucky bounce. The controls seem to get slipperier the more you play, and the camera feels as though it personally despises you. The catchy music, colourful backgrounds and and happy "Ready? Go!" "Goal!" sounds only make the experience more grating as you struggle through levels that even the most experienced Dark Souls player would consider unreasonably hard. In other words, it's 100% Super Monkey Ball. Gotta give the devs credit for succeeding at what they set out to do.

Every level in Paperball is a masterclass of level design (except 4-7). They teach the player to control their ball with precision while using stage gimmicks to gain a boost of speed/height to beat the clock. Obstacles that will be avoided on the first few attempts can be used creatively to reach those elusive Platinum medals. You cannot beat any stage--not even the first stage acting as the safe tutorial-- by simply holding forward. This game was engaging enough for me to achieve every last Gold medal on all of the stages (including DLC). And why wouldn't you buy the full game package at this great of a deal? Plus, this game's soundtrack is amazing. This title truly is the real follow-up to Super Monkey Ball 2 from decades past. Paperball deserves more attention than it has received.