Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania

I am playing this game early through non-Sega-sponsored means. This review is my own personal opinion.

This game has been on my wishlist ever since I saw it announced. While I did not grow up with the Super Monkey Ball series, I have had a general interest in it since playing SMB2 in 2012 at a friend's place.

I invited a friend over last night to give this game a go, and I have some good and bad news.

Good news is, it's VERY feature dense. Single player could easily entertain you for a couple dozen hours, not just completing every stage, but revisiting them in the different modes and special modes. Besides the standard story mode, we have the challenge modes from SMB1 and SMB2 (Beginner, Advanced, Expert, etc.), practice modes to try any stage you have beaten quickly, and 5 special modes that mix up the game a bit. These special modes must be purchased in the shop using in-game currency, which you gain by completing stages in single player.

I also like the large roster of characters, not that it truly matters. Still, seeing Sonic, Tails, and a fucking Sega Dreamcast rolling around in balls is quite humorous. The main six characters can also be customized by dressing them up in clothing purchased from the shop.

There is a long list of missions to work at, about half of which an average player will get through simple play. The others primarily concern you with grabbing bananas in stages, completing those challenge and special modes I talked about, and playing party games.

Oh yeah, bad news. Party games.

Multiplayer is god-awful in this game. Not only did they remove multiplayer in standard courses (you used to at least be able to trade off and see who could get the furthest with the limited lives), but the party games, which used to be a strong suit, have been nerfed into throwaway distractions. The controls are unresponsive (ESPECIALLY in Monkey Baseball, where swinging your bat takes like a full second between hitting the button and it registering), the graphics are super basic, and some games are badly balanced (in Monkey Race, for example, items are WAY too strong and will essentially always send you off the track if you get hit).

Another complaint I have is with the physics engine. It feels sort of like you're moving through syrup, I guess? Lots of momentum (more than the originals) and it takes a long time to get up to speed. It feels somewhat unsatisfying from the quick and tight gameplay of the originals.

This is obviously a low-budget release, but it does not suffer heavily from it. I think that 30 bucks is a fair asking price, but some people may want to wait for it to drop to 20. If you are nostalgic towards the originals, this is an easy buy.

7/10.

Overall, this is a solid remake of the first 2 monkey ball games. I’ve been a fan of the series (well, mainly just the first two games) for a long time and I was always hoping deluxe would get the HD remaster/remake treatment.

This isn’t quite what I was thinking when it was announced, but I still enjoyed it a lot. The entire game has been remade in unity, so the physics are not the same, and frankly not as good, as the originals. However, they do a serviceable job, despite not being quite as precise. The addition of a movable camera is a welcome addition. While I wish there was an option to play with lives, their removal was probably for the better.

The main game is the bulk of what you’ll be playing here, and you can tell a lot of effort went into trying to make this the definitive monkey ball experience. While I don’t think it lives up to that goal, it does a commendable job, with several additional challenges that’ll keep you playing.

Unfortunately, the multiplayer kinda sucks in this versions. At their best, the minigames are ok, at their worst, they are a broken, unplayable mess like monkey target. IMO they’re not even worth checking out and feel like a waste of time. The main game no longer has multiplayer options either, which, while not a deal breaker, is slightly disappointing. The original soundtrack and aesthetic being dlc is also kind of an eye roller.

Overall, this is a good-not-great remake of a couple amazing games. I think newcomers will enjoy this one as well as series veterans, though it might not live up to the older games for some. For me, I love the addition of a movable camera, however the original physics still make deluxe the definitive edition for me.

7/10