Every once in a while a game like Super Waifu Ball crosses my inbox, and though they really aren’t the sort of game I’m generally down for, I continue to have hope that they can manage to redeem themselves. In a couple of cases I’ve at least encountered games with a pretty pervy edge to them that legitimately have played well, but more often than not they seem to be using the promise of something a little inappropriate to try to compensate for middling-to-poor play. Unfortunately, Super Waifu Ball pretty well falls into this trap, looking to capitalize on the style of play popularized by the Super Monkey Ball series, but failing pretty miserably in the process… and not delivering much in the way of scandalous anime babe content to boot.

Starting with the gameplay side of the coin, in the very first few levels you’re able to have at least a minimal sense of hope that the game could be decent. While the stage design is nothing special, it’s at least a decent warm-up for what’s to come, but once things get rolling everything gets to be quite uneven. Honestly, the difficulty even early on veers pretty wildly from easier to tougher, and without any real introduction to more complex elements you’ll likely spend quite a bit of time just failing. Trying to get a feel for critical elements like how to manage your speed in certain areas, and how to try to maintain enough momentum to be able to fly off of platforms, and successfully get to the finish line can be a real challenge. One particular gripe I have is your inability to control the camera though, and how it will pull in when you get slower. In spots where you’re needing to move between platforms, trying to minimize bounce and keep yourself from flying off the edge, the viewing angles do you absolutely no favors. While manual camera controls would have allowed you to compensate, trying to simply deal with the implementation of it as-is can be quite aggravating, and this feels like an unnecessary problem.

On the topic of the whole waifu of it all, though scantily-clad anime gals really aren’t my thing, I’ll speak for the prospective people who’d likely look to pick this up and say that it’s all quite underwhelming. You’ll be able to unlock some figures in a gacha game setup, as well as unlock new gals to play as, but it’s all quite tame and that seems to really clash with how a game like this could ensure a little more success. A lack of alternative outfits or anything a little more revealing really leaves you with the gameplay trying to be the savior of the experience, and that simply isn’t happening. Even with all of the struggles the Monkey Ball series has had over the years, they’ve never been so uneven and shown such a lack of planning in progression and building a great experience overall. This, more often than not, just feels like something that’s been cobbled together without a great deal of nuance or care, making it tough to recommend for pretty well anyone.