Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania
Developer & Publisher Sega
Genre: Party
Nintendo Switch
The Super Monkey Ball series hasn’t been in a remarkable place over the last decade. Outside of handheld and mobile entries, the series has only seen a couple of releases, and the only noteworthy one was a remake of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz. Still looking to the past but embracing a little bit of innovation now is Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania. The new release is a remaster of the first three Super Monkey Ball games as the franchise celebrates its 20th anniversary. While this is entry reuses tons of old stages and content, it also implements some new modes to keep the experience feeling fresh.
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania is a game that aims to bring the series back to the reverence that it once had. With over 300 stages across some of Monkey Ball‘s best games, it’s definitely full of enjoyable content. The stages have some small changes for the better, and does well at balancing nostalgia with good level design. Some new quality of life features make these stages even better. This includes some accessibility features and new camera controls.
This entry has over ten characters with tons of guest stars from series like Sonic The Hedgehog, Hello Kitty, and even Yakuza. The main story levels can be played with any character in the game, which is nice. The main draw for most will be the minigames. These fun party games are great with a crowd, and mostly all have the same charm that longtime players will expect. Monkey Racing, Monkey Soccer, Monkey Bowling, Monkey Baseball are all a part of the game’s 12 minigames. Thanks to the game’s solid controls, all of the game’s modes feel good to play. I will note that this game is much more enjoyable with a controller of some sort that isn’t the Joy-Cons. They aren’t a bad choice, but the game just doesn’t feel as good or precise with them.
While the controls and party modes all come together well enough, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania is still missing something to push the series forward. It doesn’t necessarily do anything wrong, but there isn’t anything in this entry to keep player coming back for more. All of the modes are entertaining enough for a few afternoons, but that’s about it. Fortunately, there are online leaderboards that will attract a certain crowd and keep them around. For casual players, this series just seems to lack staying power.
Graphically, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania is about what you would expect. It’s not particularly gorgeous, but the bright colors and creative stages make the game fun to look at. The music in this game are fun and catchy. Players will find themselves humming the game’s themes longer after turning it off.
It’s not an innovative entry, but Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania is enough to make it worth the visit for anyone who has been itching for this series. It doesn’t have the staying power of some of the other greats, but this is another solid party game for the Nintendo Switch.
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania
Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz is the most entertaining entry in well over a decade. It's multitude of modes and addicting gameplay is a reminder of how fun it can be to party with Ai and friends.
-
Gameplay
-
Presentation
-
Enjoyment