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Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is basically a repackaging of GameCube’s Super Monkey Ball 1 and 2 (including a handful of extra steps from the PS2 / Xbox Super Monkey Ball Deluxe title) with a fresh lick of paint. Gameplay and stage layouts, with a few exceptions, remain the same as 20 years ago, but now in crisp and brilliant high resolution. And, really, that would be nice in itself, as the engaging and fun charm of rolling a cartoon monkey around various imaginative challenges remains just as fun now as it was two decades ago.
However, Sega has also seen fit to update elements of the gameplay to broaden the already broad appeal of Super Monkey Ball. Gone is the life and continuity of previous Super Monkey Ball games, removing a source of pressure and frustration. Instead, you have endless tries to work through each level, although you’ll always have to start over from the beginning if your monkey goes out of bounds. You also have the option of using an assist mode system, which doubles your time, shows you an ideal path through the level, and activates a slow motion feature if you choose to activate it. It’s a nice form of “training wheels” for mastering some of the more difficult stages that don’t go completely overboard when holding your hand – although the game nags you to activate assist mode every time. step you fall off. more than a few times ages very quickly.
There is a problem with using Helper mode. In older games, you had to complete a set of stages without using continue to unlock hidden EX levels. Since lives and continuations are gone, Banana Mania instead rewards you with EX levels for completing a Glove of Stages without using Help Mode, encouraging you to complete those difficult stages without additional help. Activating assist mode also disqualifies you from the online leaderboard and prevents the game from recording your score. This is a good way to keep things from getting too frustrating while also encouraging players to try a more difficult challenge later.
Besides Help Mode, Banana Mania also gives players other options to overcome some of Super Monkey Ball’s more insidious challenges. An unlockable jump feature gives you valuable additional control over your character, although activating it also disqualifies you from online leaderboards. An arrow slider shows you which direction you tilt the analog stick, letting you know if that stroke you’re doing isn’t as straight as you think it is. Finally, if there is a level that is preventing you from progressing, no matter how many assistive features you activate, you can choose to ignore it and continue, although you will lose rewards in the process. . Hard, but sometimes it’s better to go ahead and come back later when you’re not tilted.
Along with the visual overhaul and quality of life improvements, Banana Mania also comes with a handful of unlockable goodies. Collecting bananas and completing stages and challenges will earn you points which you can spend to unlock game modes, characters, cosmetic adornments, and other add-ons. New modes include reverse scene mode, where you have to jump back to the start of the scene from the end point, a “Dark Banana” mode where you have to go through stages while avoiding rotten fruit, and a “Golden Banana” mode. Where you all collect bananas in a set of levels. The unlockable character mix includes more monkeys and the main cast of simians in wacky costumes, but also features a fun selection of Sega cameos like Sonic and Tails, Jet Set Radio’s Beat, and even Yakuza’s Kazuma Kiryu.
Party minigames have featured a lot in previous Super Monkey Ball titles as well, and all of the Super Monkey Ball 2 favorites have been there from the start, including Monkey Target, Monkey Billiards, Monkey Dogfight, and Monkey Tennis – among many others. These board games can be played with up to four people, and each includes a variety of options and game modes to enjoy. These aren’t just fleeting twists of the main game, either – many board games are surprisingly robust and replayable while still retaining the simplistic, easy-to-learn charm of the main mode. These are all great crowd pleasers that don’t take long to set up or play and have a really wide appeal – although unfortunately they can’t be played online.
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Between the hundreds of stages, mini-games, and unlockable modes, there’s a lot to do in Banana Mania. Unfortunately, it feels like corners have been cut in some places. Super Monkey Ball 2’s story mode, which was told through cutscenes in the original games engine, has been replaced with gruesome, cheap animations of stationary character cutouts. SMB2’s story wasn’t exactly a narrative triumph, but the Banana Mania approach sucks all the silly charm the story once had. The Sega character cameos are also a bit of a letdown; While it is cute that the bananas are repainted to match the characters (Sonic collects rings, Beat collects spray cans, Kiryu collects Staminan bottles), they do not significantly affect gameplay, nor do they have a lot of impact. unique animation or voiceover discomfort. And once you’ve unlocked all of the extra game modes and characters – which you’ll probably do pretty quickly – you end up with some pretty un-exciting options like clothing colors and ball patterns to spend your bananas on.
Banana Mania doesn’t reinvent the wheel (ball?), But it doesn’t have to. Having the ability to play classic Super Monkey Ball levels and mini-games without having to take your old consoles and CRT TV out of storage would be a sufficient selling point, but the additional gameplay tweaks and lovely extras sweeten it up a bit. the case . If you’re a lifelong rollerblading roller who missed AiAi and her jungle buddies – or you’re a newcomer looking for an easy-to-learn action / puzzle game that’ll keep you busy for quite a while – you will want to take a look at Banana Mania.
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