Review

What do you get when you cross a giant 6-foot-tall monkey, a kidnapped girl, and an endless supply of watermelons? Monkey Menace.

Just when you thought plots couldn't get any crazier, enter Monkey Menace, brought to you by Afzane.com.  Plot summary: Jon the Adventurer and his assistant Maia try to recover an ancient treasure, which is supposedly stolen by a 6-foot-tall monkey. This monkey kidnaps Maia, and you must save her. How? 

Gameplay: Jump over watermelons, bang on the drums, jump on the vine, shoot the monkey repeatedly with the "plunger gun", and cut the ropes off of Maia. Lather, Rinse, Repeat. Gameplay gets sort of stale after a while, but is still fun nonetheless.  The controls are simple to learn, if you read the help in-game.  So do yourself a favor and read the in-game help!  By the way, if you think they have "Get ready for some thumb-bashing action!" on their website for nothing, you are TERRIBLY mistaken!

Controlling Jon in Monkey Menace is where this game is made (or lost).  Some people may not like that you have to push AND release the up-button in order for Jon to jump.  Going from side to side is not too terribly difficult, however. All in all, pretty simple to get used to.

One issue I did run into that made me not want to continue playing was the fact that my games would not save.  I tried using both slots and different ways of continuing, but I was unsuccessful.

Installation: Installation for Monkey Menace itself is not difficult, but it is worthwhile to note that Macromedia Flash Player v5.0 or higher is required to play Monkey Menace. This increases the overhead memory required to play Monkey Menace.

Graphics:   Tapping into graphical crispness is what Monkey Menace is all about.  Edges are clear, colors are brilliant, and colors fade in and out flawlessly.  Very nice.

Sound:   Monkey Menace sounds like it would if the story were real.  Shoot the monkey with the plunger gun and the monkey screams.  Get killed by a flying bat and listen as the bat pecks your brain out.  Watermelons bump and slosh down the levels.

Overall: Monkey Menace is an excellent gaming choice if you are into arcade games, like having fun, or have ever played Donkey Kong.  This game is well worth the money and will provide you endless amounts of entertainment, despite being rather difficult for me.

Monkey Menace is available for PocketPC devices for $4.99

Visit the official Monkey Menace website, or pick up it up at Handango…