Monkey Pirates review

You need friends for this one

Review written by
Matt Clewley

June 29th, 2014

Monkeys have been an important part of video gaming culture since its early steps into the industry. We have our big oaf of Donkey Kong, throwing barrels at plumbers, as you do, and we have other titles like Super Monkey Ball and the Bloons games that keep us entertained with cuteness and challenging gameplay.

However, pirate ships are now brought to the monkey world. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag gave us a tasty insight into being a pirate, and don't forget the cel-shaded Zelda games too. Monkey Pirates gives off that aura straight away with the character drawings and the visuals. The game greets you with four settings and also some nice, catchy music.

The first menu choice is the How To Play section. This section is pretty much your instruction manual to the game, even though it does offer a Tutorial, it's ideal for those kind of gamers who just want to get stuck into the action rather than read through the book. It's a good option to have as it explains all the controls and mechanics a lot better than the tutorial does. Having gave How To Play a read, you learn that the control of your ship is heavily reliant on the direction of the wind.

You have the choice of using either the GamePad or Wii Remote. The little tricky technique to master is drifting, especially as you discover more obstacles to make you sink like a brick. It's the same button as the anchor, in which you have to hold down the B button in order to make a turn or stop the ship completely. These controls are quite annoying at first, but they have their unique flair to them, it just takes a little while to get into it. The tutorial shows you how to collect item power ups and also shows you how to attack enemies.

On Challenge Mode you are greeted and commanded by no other than Giburt Lancaster. He gives you the first challenge of collecting as much treasure as you can, which after a few goes is quite easy. Even though the challenges that are on offer will keep you happily entertained, they don't keep you occupied for that long.

To begin with they feel like you're playing the tutorial again, there is the warm up section right at the start to get you going and then it starts to get serious. It can be challenging, but once you have mastered the controls then this shouldn't be too difficult. It is a lackluster section in the game and that is what sadly brings it down a bit for me. Versus mode is a highlight, as multiplayer is the best thing about Monkey Pirates.

The A.I. isn't up to scratch in this game, but having other people who offer a challenge is great fun. Being with fellow human primates blasting each other with cannons is a delight. The sea king part in versus mode hands out important things to different players.

Now I have been given word that this game is strictly meant for multiplayer action, which makes a single player option on the Versus mode oddly confusing. Graphically this game is cute and colorful, which makes it perfectly ideal for young gamers who are craving explosions in their video games.

The items used are enjoyable, especially the bouncing cannonballs. It's fun watching them fly around the area taking out enemy ships. The music to this game is well composed and performed, it's not annoyingly cheesy or dull, it's perfectly suitable for the game. The controls are unique, as I said before, which makes playing the game more fun.

I wouldn't expect too much if you're a single player, this isn't for the hardcore gamers who are expecting plot twists and story progression. If anything, at least have your family to play this game with you.

Henchmen Studio are correct as this game is delightful when you're against opposition that isn't dull A.I.. I think this game had the chance to be a darn good single player game, with at least some quests, I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

Monkey Pirates does offer a decent multiplayer system with fun items and great controls. It's a shame that other aspects are a bit of a let down, especially the lack of story and challenges.