Manic Monkey Mayhem Review (PS3, PSP)

Mania in its most monotonous form

It feels somewhat ironic that, as I play Manic Monkey Mayhem, there’s an overwhelming feeling of being sucked back down the evolution chain to the old PS1 days. Days where you’d be stuck without a multi-tap or even a friend, and would still be able to suck dry the goodness from party titles. This ‘sucking’ survival instinct acts as the second lung in Manic Monkey Mayhem’s lifespan, the first of which is clogged up by basic production values and a somewhat stubborn refusal to get interesting over time.

A bargain title from the Playstation Minis range, the rules are simple. Pick a monkey, throw bananas at other monkeys, repeat. If that sentence is too complex, then a ten stage tutorial will gladly teach you the delicate procedures of throwing, turning and jumping in order to chuck fruit from a different angle. Those arrogant enough to feel the need to skip the basics of movement cannot, as all of the games features are locked until the process is complete, and even when they do unlock, nothing picks up for excitement from your lessons in fruit lobbing.

Although Manic Monkey Mayhem offers a range of modes spanning from ‘Deathmatch’ to ‘One on One’ matches, the dull concept of chucking and dodging never feels the need to evolve or adapt over time. As monkeys can only jump to isolated platforms rather than move freely, dodging the attacks of dim witted opponents is simple and the lack of movement makes gameplay feel incredibly linear and constrained.

Though graphics are respectable on the PSP, playing this through the PS3 Minis emulator will make the apes look so blocky that you’ll think you’re playing Lego Jungle Book. Environments look respectfully lush no matter where your monkey is randomly generated, and though all are rather generic locations, none of them ever seem to feel stale.

The need to kick the concept in the rear occurs far too soon

It’s hard to get excited about Manic Monkey Mayhem, and yet it feels wrong to not be enthusiastic. Originally a title of WiiWare, it’s received enough praise on the platform with good use of the motion controls and a decent multi-player mode. Yet with these stripped from the Minis edition, it makes the port feel worthless, almost rushed out. Trying to drain the fun out of this game all on your own is hard enough without its best bits hacked off and hidden in a ditch somewhere.

Though the Playstation Minis range is known for producing budget titles, Manic Monkey Mayhem feels too basic to warrant even the small asking price. It’s slow start doesn’t raise hopes for what’s too come, and although it doesn’t necessarily do anything wrong, it has no flair or ingenuity to really make it stand out. Though it offers a lot in the way of modes, the need to kick the concept in the rear occurs far too soon for anyone to truly go into any depth with them, and taking away what was clearly needed for the title to at least build on some selling point with proves to be the final nail in these primates coffin.