Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is the newest entry in the Monkey Ball series, and was made to celebrate its 20th anniversary. The game, releasing on October 1, is advertised as being "the ultimate Super Monkey Ball experience," featuring select levels from across the series, as well as new additions. The series is known for its unique approach to platformer gameplay, where players tilt the stage to roll their character, collecting bananas while trying to reach the end within a time limit.
Fans of previous games will have a lot to love with this new entry, especially when it comes to the returning game modes, levels and worlds. CBR was able to take an early look at the Nintendo Switch version of Banana Mania ahead of its official release date. We found it to be a tough platformer, but one fans of the series will love that's also a solid place for newcomers to jump into the series.
Starting out, Banana Mania lets players jump into whatever mode feels most comfortable. While there is a story mode that certainly eases players into the game, there are also several challenge options that take players through levels from previous Super Monkey Ball entries. Those new to the series should start with either the Story Mode or Practice mode, as both help to ease newcomers into the game.
Experienced players can always try their luck at the Challenge Mode, which is where a majority of the legacy content is located. Each classic Super Monkey Ball game featured has several sets of stages to select, each themed around a different tier of difficulty. That being said, even some of the novice stages can be a real challenge to figure out, with some later ones requiring serious mastery of the game's controls.
Speaking of its controls, Banana Mania feels right at home on the Switch, though curiously, the game doesn't take advantage of the console's motion controls. Players rotate the stage with the left stick and control the camera with the right. The game can also be played with a Joy-Con, in which case the joystick is used for movement and the shoulder buttons are utilized for camera controls.
The controls can take some getting used to. The fact that players are controlling the stage rather than the character is naturally odd, but even then, Banana Mania's controls can sometimes feel a little loose on Switch. There are even a few stages where it's incredibly easy to get a lot of speed, but going too fast makes the level way too difficult to control. While this could very well just be a problem for new players, it could turn people away from an otherwise enjoyable love letter to Super Monkey Ball.
While the game doesn't use the Switch's motion controls, it does take advantage of the pick-up-and-play qualities of the system. The game runs relatively well, even in handheld mode, though load times are noticeable. Graphics aren't really the focus of Banana Mania but the bright and cartoony art style certainly fits the game's tone. On the topic of aesthetics, a surprising positive to Banana Mania is how stylish its menus and UI are.
Even with only a few hours clocked into the game, it's clear that there's a ton of content and replayability in Banana Mania. For new players, returning to previous Challenge Mode levels and replaying the story to try and get every banana on the stage is a serious undertaking -- one that's rewarded with points and leaderboard rankings. Points can be spent to unlock characters, outfit parts, unique game mode modifiers and even photo mode options.
The game mode modifiers bring even more replayability to the game, and the unlockable characters range from returning Super Monkey Ball characters to crossover options from other Sega titles. Sonic, Tails, Kazuma Kiryu and Jet Set Radio's Beat will all be available at launch, with more set for post-release. The custom outfit parts are fun to mix and match, though players can't customize the crossover characters.
Super Monkey Ball fans are going to get the most out of Banana Mania, especially given how the game celebrates the series as a whole. There are 10 worlds in the story mode of new content to ensure that returning fans won't just be playing the same levels they've played before, all while three games from the series have basically been remastered within this game. Banana Mania feels like the definitive Monkey Ball game for both fans and newcomers.
Developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega, Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania will release October 1 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC. A review copy was provided by the publisher.
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