Wednesday 1 March 2017

Video Game Character of the Month - March 2017 - AiAi - Super Monkey Ball

Video Game Character of the Month
March 2017
AiAi
Super Monkey Ball
Overview:
Super Monkey Ball is a game which involves you tilting the world around a ball with a monkey inside so that it rolls around and collects bananas. The monkey in question is AiAi and he takes his role very seriously. You could say he is bananas for it. You could not. He is, however, our next recipient of the prestigious Video Game Character Of The Month Award. No, it's not a banana AiAi.
Anyway, now for a bit of information on AiAi:

He's a monkey
He travels via a ball
The world seems to be created for obstacle courses
He likes bananas
His world moves via some mysterious force
He has friends called MeeMee, Baby and GonGon to name but a few
MeeMee is his wife and Baby is his, well, baby while GonGon is his rival turn friend
He has dabbled in kart racing
He has met lots of other Sega characters
He has dabbled in tennis
He's in an Archie Comic
Bowling, golf and billiards are also some of his hobbies
He's popular with a group called Speedrunners
He wears a yellow top
He seems to fly off when reaching the goal
He has been known to fight when he has too, as well as participate in dog fights
He has over the course of the years gained skills in many, many minigames
He has recently moved onto the Peggle genre of games


Origin of AiAi:
AiAi, MeeMee and Baby were all present in the original arcade version of Super Monkey Ball (known as Monkey Ball), while GonGon was added in the GameCube port. Conceived by Amusement Vision head Toshihiro Nagoshi.

Evolution of AiAi:
AiAi firstly had the simple goal of getting bananas for himself and his family but over time has been tasked with stopping villains such as Dr. Bad Boon and the Space Alien Pirate King. He has also gained a fondness for other sports such as go-karting and tennis.

Games:
Monkey Ball: released (Japan) on June 23rd, 2001 on the Arcade
Super Monkey Ball: released (Japan) on September 14th, 2001/(North America) on November 18th, 2001/(PAL) on May 3rd, 2002 on GameCube
Super Monkey Ball Jr: released (North America) on November 19th, 2002/(PAL) April 4th, 2003 on Gameboy Advance/Nokia N-Gage (as Super Monkey Ball)
Super Monkey Ball 2: released (North America) on August 25th, 2002/(Japan) on November 21st, 2002/(PAL) on March 14th, 2003 on GameCube
Super Monkey Ball Deluxe: released (North America) on March 15th, 2005/(Japan) on March 24th, 2005/(Europe) on August 26th, 2005 on PlayStation 2/Xbox
Super Monkey Ball Touch: released (Japan) on December 1st, 2005/(PAL) on February 17th, 2006/(North America) on February 21st, 2006 on Nintendo DS
Super Monkey Ball Adventure: released (PAL) on June 30th, 2006/(North America) on August 1st, 2006 on PlayStation 2/released (PAL) on June 30th, 2006/(North America) on August 29th, 2006 on PlayStation Portable/released (PAL) on July 14th, 2006/(North America) on August 1st, 2006 on GameCube
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz: released (North America) on November 19th, 2006/(Japan) on December 2nd, 2006/(Australia) on December 7th, 2006/(Europe) on December 8th, 2006 on Nintendo Wii
Super Monkey Ball: Tip 'n Tilt: released (World Wide) on January 30th, 2007 on J2ME
Super Monkey Ball: released (World Wide) in 2008 on iOS
Super Monkey Ball: Tip 'n Tilt 2: released (World Wide) in 2008 on J2ME
Super Monkey Ball 2: released (World Wide) in 2009 on iOS
Super Monkey Ball 2: Sakura Edition: released (World Wide) on April 2nd, 2010 on iOS/Windows Phone/Android
Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll: released (North America) on February 9th, 2010/(Australia) on February 11th, 2010/(Europe) on February 12th, 2010/(Japan) on February 25th, 2010 on Nintendo Wii
Super Monkey Ball: Ticket Blitz: released (World Wide) on October, 2009 on the Arcade
Super Monkey Ball 3D: released (Japan) on March 3rd, 2011/(Europe) on March 25th, 2011/(North America) on March 27th,2011/(Australia) on March 31st, 2011 on Nintendo 3DS/released (World Wide) on April 3rd, 2014 on Nintendo eShop
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz: released (Japan) on June 14th, 2012/(North America) on October 23rd, 2012/(Europe) on October 24th, 2012/(Australia) on October 26th, 2012 on PlayStation Vita
Super Monkey Ball Bounce: released (World Wide) in 2014 on iOS


Well, that's all on AiAi but, as always, if I've missed something/made a mistake then please don't hesitate to comment! Also, if you have a suggestion for a future winner of the prestigious VGCOTM award then please comment that as well!

Thanks for reading, Satamer.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Monkey_Ball_(video_game)
http://supermonkeyball.wikia.com/wiki/AiAi
http://www.giantbomb.com/super-monkey-ball-ticket-blitz/3030-40809/
And other pages from Wikipedia and the Wiki for release dates



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