"Super Monkey Ball Adventure" is a departure from the series in the sense that the puzzle-based gameplay is replaced by a more traditional 3D platform game world. Traveller's Tales has retained some of the mini-games, however, and integrated the features into the gameplay. Some new mini-games are also integrated into the adventure world. The game received mixed to negative reviews from critics, who derided the game's controls, difficulty, and gameplay shift, with some deeming it the worst installment in the series, though the soundtrack was praised.