Super Monkey Ball 2: Beginner Mode FAQ v1.0 Jeff Dimapasoc aka GForce9x gforce9x@aol.com September 23, 2002 This FAQ is to provide tips and strategies for the 10 floors in Challenge Mode's beginner level. ----------------------------- General Info and Symbol Guide ----------------------------- Throughout this guide you might see an asterik(*) on some of the floors' walkthroughs. These indicate a warp, shortcut, or alternate route to the goal. If you see an (s) symbol next to a floor, it means that you will need to pay close attention to your speed on the said floor. ----------- Walkthrough ----------- 1 - SIMPLE - Nothing to this floor. Just head straight forward to the goal. 2 - HOLLOW - For this one, just follow track around and make a sharp right at the wall. Head straight to the goal from there. *Optional: Straight forward and start to veer right as you hit the edge. Keep yourself going forward and right while you are in mid-air, but not too much because you do not want to overshoot your landing. It may take a couple of tries to get it right, but it can save you a lot of time if you are going for a high score. 3 - BUMPY - All you really have to do on this one is just hold forward and go straight until you get near the end. The bumps will cause you to jump as you roll over them. Slow it down a little toward the end so that you're not out of control as you reach the goal. 4 - SWITCHES - Hit the switch in front of you to raise the bridge ahead. Skip the second switch and head across the second bridge to the goal. *Warp: Hit the second switch to raise the second bridge. The goal is on the underside of the bridge and you may get a glimpse of it as the bridge is turning. It will be below you and out of view. The goal is nearly vertical, but angled a little to the right so you'll want to stand a bit left of center and drop down into it. Your positioning depends on your speed as you drop down. Be very careful not to hit the wall as it can throw off your trajectory. This one is mainly a trial-and-error goal. It may not be worth going for if you only have a few lives to work with as it only skips the bonus level. It'll give you big points though if you are going for a high score. Jump to floor 6. 5 - BOWL - This is beginner mode's only bonus stage. The bananas are located at the upper inside edge of the bowl. You'll need to maintain a high speed if you want to grab a bunch at a time. You may have to make a few runs to get all of them because the slope of the bowl is too steep to stay on the upper edge. Or, if you are going for points, just head forward to the goal. 6 - FLOATERS - Treat this like the simple stage, but with alternating sections of the floor floating up and down. It's pretty easy though. Just zig-zag your way around the floaters and keep a forward path to the goal. 7 - SLOPES - Maneuver your way around the small jump ramps and work your way forward to the bottom of the main ramp. Turn right and head up. Then make a u-turn to the left and head up to the second level. Make one more u-turn to the right and head up to the third level where the goal is located. *Optional: Go forward at full speed to right jump ramp in 2nd row and hit it head on. Angle yourself a little to the right and hit the larger jump ramp behind it, staying at full speed. You should land on the front side of the jump ramp and launch yourself up to the first platform. This should save you a few seconds compared to going the normal route. 8 - SLIDERS - (s) This floor is pretty much a straight-forward path to end. Take the turns on outside edge so that you don't have to brake so hard to keep yourself from falling over the side. The slope gets steeper with each turn, so watch your speed on curves, especially the last few as steep drop will cause you to bounce out of control and possibly over the edge. 9 - SPINNING TOP - There isn't too much to this level. Just go up either side ramp around to the back. Turn around to face the front of the level and go underneath the top along the outer edge of the platform around to the goal. 10 - CURVE BRIDGE - As with most of the beginner floors, it's a simple path to the goal. Watch your speed as you're going around the corners because it is very easy to misjudge them and fall over the side if you're trying to power your way through. The end ramp at the end of the path and the ramp containing the goal alternate moving up and down. You can see the relative positions of the two as you round the next to last corner. When the goal platform drops down lower than the main platform, head straight toward the goal. Just be careful of your speed as you drop down so that you don't bounce out of control. ----------------------- Copyright/Contact Info. ----------------------- I am only allowing this FAQ to be hosted by GameFAQS. If you have any questions about this FAQ or its content, or if you notice any errors, feel free to write me at gforce9x@aol.com. Please be sure that the subject line of your e-mail is easily noticeable as being related to this FAQ. E-mail that is titled something like, "Hey GForce9x" or "Hey Jeff" will get deleted as it will look like a lot of the spam that I get. Also, please let me know if you see any other site besides www.gamefaqs.com hosting this FAQ. Happy Gaming This document Copyright 2002 Jeff Dimapasoc