Gather around y’all, it’s time for experience some marvelous monkey magic in the upcoming Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania! And it’s indeed magical because this release is the HD remaster of not only the first Super Monkey Ball, but also Super Monkey Ball 2 AND Super Monkey Ball Deluxe. With this year being the 20th anniversary of the Super Monkey Ball series, it’s the perfect time for some monkey mayhem!
If you’ve yet to experience the world of Super Monkey Ball and have no idea what I’m talking about, here’s what SEGA has to say about this upcoming title:
Roll through wondrous worlds with AiAi and friends as you race to stop monkey mad scientist Dr. Bad-Boon from blowing up Jungle Island! Join the all-star monkey team of AiAi, MeeMee, GonGon, Baby, YanYan and Doctor as you bounce, tilt, and roll your way across hundreds of delightfully crafted levels and mazes. It’s monkey business for the gang – play solo or with friends as you take down Dr. Bad-Boon and steal back your beloved bananas!
• Experience more than 300 stages from Super Monkey Ball, Super Monkey Ball 2 and Super Monkey Ball Deluxe.
• Go Bananas with 12 fun minigames including Monkey Racing, Monkey Soccer, Monkey Bowling, Monkey Baseball and much more!
• Challenge your friends as you compete for top monkey on the online leaderboards!
• Customize your character and Super Monkey Ball to make it your own!
• Immerse yourself in the Super Monkey Ball world with creative comic book-style story telling in Story Mode.
The Super Monkey Ball games are pretty easy to pick up with the simple objective of rolling to the goal as fast as possible, while collecting as many bananas you can grab. That being said, as you move on from stage to stage, the difficulty REALLY ramps up, giving you a bigger and wilder challenge than the previous one. Also, get ready to fight your friends in the multiplayer mode, because things will probably get real heated!
But enough about why you should pick up this game, there’s something real important to discuss here. It’s time to address the monkey in the room.
I’m getting increasingly more and MORE hype for this game to be released due to their character reveal trailers.
Yes, you read right: CHARACTER REVEAL TRAILERS. Why does this feel like an unveiling for a fighting game with each reveal they do?! What is going on here?!
Ah, of course Sonic would be included as a guest character, that makes sense. But what makes this especially appealing is that he’s not the only one joining in to do some monkey business—Tails is also here, which is sure to make a lot of fans happy! To wrap up this guest appearance in a nice package, instead of collecting bananas, you’ll be speeding through the stages to collect as many rings as you can. The neat thing here is that you’ll be able to unlock the Blue Blur and his two-tailed sidekick while playing through the game; it won’t be a paid DLC sort of deal.
Wonder who else they’re going to include in the game…
Woah, a nod to Jet Set Radio?! Okay, did not expect to see this at all! Beat joins the gang as he skates through the stages, collecting spray paint cans (how cute are those?!). I sure hope there’ll be some of the music we all know and love playable in this game, so we can jam out while skating our way to sweet victory. Just like Sonic and Tails, Beat will be unlockable through normal gameplay.
Okay, so we had someone we didn’t expect, who could be next…?
I…
I’m sweating, I’m not gonna lie here. Just look at him. Look at him collect those Staminan X bottles. Look at those tiny little legs. Look at him go. OhmyGOD.
Kazuma Kiryu is in Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania. This isn’t a fever dream, it’s REAL. Alright, so this was the feeling I was talking about earlier when I said that this really feels like a fighting game character reveal, with each announcement being MORE out there than the last one! As soon as this was announced, I thought of the time I got to interview Masao Shirosaki and I asked him about the possibility of adding some of the Yakuza characters in a future Super Monkey Ball game:
I wonder if this was planned from even back then! But wait, why not also add Majima?! Sonic will be in the game with Tails, so where’s Majima? Alright, alright, I’m already being treated to a good time with this game, given that Kiryu’s gonna be in it, so I won’t be too greedy… for NOW. Oh yeah, Kiryu will also be an unlockable character in the game. He’ll be the first one I’ll choose to unlock, that’s for sure!
Alright, there’s a lot of SEGA love going on with these character reveals. Who’s gonna be next?
There’s that ATLUS representation I was expecting! Morgana makes his entrance to loot treasure chests in the world of Super Monkey Ball!
I can’t stop looking at Morgana’s running animation as he stares into space.
Unlike the previous characters revealed, this is where the paid DLC characters come in. Morgana will be available on November 2nd for $4.99. Will Morgana tell us to go to sleep when a stage is finished? Please, NO.
Okay, this being the first DLC character, there has to be more SEGA or ATLUS characters they can put in the game, right?
WHAT IS GOING ON HERE???
How does Hello Kitty even fit into all of this?! Is it because the Yakuza 0 actor for Awano once gently cradled a giant Hello Kitty plush in his arms? You know what? I’m not even gonna question it; I’m going to EMBRACE IT. After all, I’ve loved Hello Kitty and Sanrio since I was a kid, so I totally WELCOME the iconic QUEEN that is Hello Kitty. She’s also going to be one of the DLC characters, but she’ll be available when the game launches on October 5th for the price of $4.99.
Okay, at this point, I don’t know what else SEGA is going to throw our way. I just can’t seem to figure it out anymore. Will the next character be just as surprising as freakin’ HELLO KITTY???
Apparently the answer is a big “YES!”
I would’ve never thought that Suezo from Monster Rancher would be making their appearance in this game! And they collect little CDs too instead of the bananas! Must part of Monster Rancher‘s 25th anniversary celebration, which by the way, did you know we’re getting re-releases of Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX this December? What a wild time for gaming, huh? Anyway, Suezo will be another DLC character available on October 19th for the price of $4.99.
You know, I thought there would be a bit more SEGA representation with the guest characters. Surely, there will be more SEGA-related characters making their way in, right?
…Well, I mean, I guess I wasn’t wrong! But I didn’t think it would be like THIS!
Now you too can be legendary, when you play as the systems loved by the whole world over: the Game Gear, the SEGA Saturn and the Dreamcast. I will say, though, that not having the systems move while in the ball is kiiinda lazy? Or at least have the SEGA Saturn and Dreamcast open their disc trays when they reach the goal. Or have the Game Gear collect batteries. This DLC set is humorous, but it could’ve been even MORE humorous, you know? That being said, this trio will be available on October 5th for the price of $4.99.
There’s still a bit before Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania releases, so who even knows if more characters will be announced? As you can expect, I’ve got a few suggestions of my own for future DLC guest characters (besides Majima, of course).
We’re already getting to play as the SEGA Saturn, so why not put the legend himself in the game? Just imagine: Segata Sanshiro could be running around collecting SEGA Saturns while the theme beloved by all plays in the background. It would be AMAZING!
But let’s think of a character that might actually be a possibility, so here’s one who’s been on folks’ minds since the character reveal trailers began to drop:
Hatsune Miku being in Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania would be a no-brainer. She would be an excellent addition to helping celebrate Monkey Ball‘s anniversary as she runs collecting leeks from stage to stage! With who’s been announced so far, I have a gut feeling that Miku might be in the game as well. I just hope I’m right, fingers crossed!
Whether SEGA announces more characters or not, I’m definitely looking to pick up a copy of Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania. The game’s gonna be ridiculously fun, and I’m very much looking forward to playing it on my Switch! If you’re looking for a fun monkey magic time, you can get Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania on the following systems:
- Nintendo Switch
- PlayStation 4 & 5
- Digital Deluxe
- Digital Standard
- Physical Anniversary Launch Edition (PS4 / PS5)
- Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S
- Steam
Keep up with all the monkey madness by following the official Super Monkey Ball social channels over at Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitch.
Until next time! ✨
Are you going to be picking up Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania? Who do think will be announced next? Who do you want to be in the game? Let me know in the comments below!
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