Scream Arena is set after the end of Monsters, Inc. Scream energy is out and now it’s all about laugh energy (so the name of the game becomes a lie in the opening cutscene). While filming a commercial, someone throws a ball at Sully and apparently that’s the funniest thing ever. So instead of trying to make kids laugh, the monsters just throw balls at each other. I’ve seen this described as a dodgeball game, but it’s just an arena fighter where your only attack is throwing stuff.
You have a low throw and a large throw, both of which can be charged up to throw further. Large red balls can also be used to block high or low. But don’t bother with any of this, as any attempt to aim will result in a failure. Instead, just mash A to quickly grab balls and throw them and you’ll win. You do this for five times on the same map then move onto the next level. The AI is utterly useless, and is especially notable on the missions where you have to hold a glowing ball for the longest time. Here, you just zig zag back and forth and the CPU players will stand around, fight each other or just run at you without a ball. In one, I just stopped playing and it took them over 15 seconds to get the ball off me.
Scream Arena introduces different kinds of balls which have slightly different effects. There’s a goo ball that makes people stuck when hit, a bubble ball which makes people stuck when hit and a disco ball which makes people stuck when hit. But none of this matters, as the only tactic you need is just grab whatever and throw it quickly.
In terms of variety, you have two modes where you hit others, one where you hold a ball for a while and one where you throw balls at stationary targets. Every minigame in Super Monkey Ball has more depth than this, and it feels like it could have been a demo on a DVD – after all, this is just a cheap cash-in to advertise the DVD release of the film (and was exclusive to the one console that doesn’t play DVDs). Once you get through everything, you have one bonus mission where Sully is reunited with Boo…and then pummels her to death with balls.