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StarTopic Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania |ST| Return to Monkey Ball

frog

frog

Spin it, boys!
♪ Hello Banana!! - Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania OST ♪

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Game: Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania
Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
Publisher: SEGA
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC (Steam)
Price: $39.99 USD/£34.99 ($49.99 USD/£44.99 digital deluxe)
Release date: October 5, 2021 (Oct. 1 for digital deluxe version)
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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 as you take down Dr. Bad-Boon and steal back your beloved bananas!
  • The ultimate Super Monkey Ball 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 the top banana on the online leaderboards!
  • Immerse yourself in the Super Monkey Ball world with creative comic-book-style storytelling in Story Mode.
  • Want to be the coolest monkey on the block? Customize your character and Super Monkey Ball to make it your own!
Super Monkey Ball Banana Digital Deluxe Edition includes: 4 Day Early Access (October 1st 2021), Classic Character Pack, Golden Banana Mode, SEGA Legends Pack, Classic Soundtrack and Customization Pack.
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Digital purchase links:
PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4
Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One
Nintendo Switch
PC (Steam)
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Trailers:












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Cooking With AiAi:









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Downloadable content:
Classic Soundtrack ($4.99 USD or regional equivalent)
Customization Pack ($4.99 USD or regional equivalent)
SEGA Legends Pack ($4.99 USD or regional equivalent)
Classic Character Pack ($4.99 USD or regional equivalent)
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Guest characters
Beat (Jet Set Radio) - Unlockable through normal progression
Sonic & Tails (Sonic The Hedgehog) - Unlockable through normal progression
Kazuma Kiryu (Yakuza) - Unlockable through normal progression
Morgana (Persona 5) - Paid DLC ($4.99 USD or regional equivalent)
Hello Kitty (Hello Kitty) - Paid DLC ($4.99 USD or regional equivalent)
Suezo (Monster Rancher) - Paid DLC ($4.99 USD or regional equivalent)
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Metacritic (Nintendo Switch): 80
Opencritic: 79 (83% critics recommend)
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It’s so good! I had to take some time off to play Life is Strange: Wavelengths for review, but I’ll definitely get back on Banana Mania this weekend. What a game…
 
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That IGN review has me a bit worried. Their biggest complaint was the difficulty spike. Anyone that’s played it got thoughts on that?
 
Quoted by: GJ
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Red Monster said:
That IGN review has me a bit worried. Their biggest complaint was the difficulty spike. Anyone that’s played it got thoughts on that?
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I played it for review, so if you have specific questions feel free to ask.

About the difficulty, I’d say it’s about the same as the original games. Not sure if you’ve played those. I don’t think there’s a spike as the game eases you in the harder stuff really well, but it definitely gets really difficult when you get to the later stages.

If you’re not familiar with the original games; the main game is broken up in 2 types of modes. There’s story mode, which are 100 levels of increasing difficulty divided over 10 worlds. The first world is extremely easy, the second is a little harder and so on. Basic stuff. You can stop whenever you want and when you return to the game you’ll be exactly where you left off.

Then there’s challenge mode, which is there for both SMB 1 and SMB 2 levels. Challenge mode is divided in different difficulties, so there’s Challenge Mode Casual (13 stages), Challenge Mode Normal (35 stages) and so on. These also range from very easy to very hard. The downside to this mode is that you have to finish them all in order. Closing the game at stage 30 of 35 means you’d have to do all 30 again next time. All in all the game features over 300 unique stages (all from the old games), as well as some new modes that repurpose old levels in new ways. They also made some stages (23 iirc) that felt unfair in the original games a little easier, but the old versions are still in.

Sega included a couple accessibility options for people who are new to the game or just aren’t that good at it (yet). You can skip stages that you failed 5 times, you can slow down time to make sharp turns or balance more easily etc. This is something the IGN review didn’t mention at all.
 
I appreciate the in-depth response! I like the sound of options to help players who find themselves stuck on a particular level. With 300 levels, there’s bound to be some that’s tough as nails - maybe the ign reviewer was complaining about one of those?

In any case I’m looking forward to getting my hands on a copy next week and playing as much as I can before dread.
 
Quoted by: GJ
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Red Monster said:
I appreciate the in-depth response! I like the sound of options to help players who find themselves stuck on a particular level. With 300 levels, there’s bound to be some that’s tough as nails - maybe the ign reviewer was complaining about one of those?

In any case I’m looking forward to getting my hands on a copy next week and playing as much as I can before dread.
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I don’t wanna bash someone else’s review, but to me it feels like this just isn’t a game for them. They complain about bizarre things like “too much content” for example while the old Monkey Ball games have been praised for almost 20 years now for having the best level design in the series, and all those levels are here. There’s also some footage in the review of them just rolling off the stages right at the start with no hazards in sight, so I feel like they gave the game to someone who’s just not that into Monkey Ball. Which is fine of course, but that review isn’t representative of the game at all imo.

And yes, “some” is an understatement there, haha. I’d say at least half are tough as nails, but you’ll learn how to play them soon enough. Practice makes perfect, and once you figure out the right balance/momentum/whatever you need to pass a certain level you’re golden. I absolutely suck at the game and I can make it through most the stages just fine with some practice.

Physical copies come out on the 5th, but if you don’t mind digital that version gives you access to the game today.
 
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I'm so incredibly excited for this to show up on the 5th. Watching my friends play review copies and Digital Deluxe copies is killing meeeeee
 
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Something about this game feels a tad off after first impressions. It's been a long time since I played the Gamecube games but was the camera always this jerky in those? Kind of feels like I'm fighting it more than I ever remember. Maybe I just need to readjust.
 
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Played this tonight and had a total blast. Most of it really just feels like an updated version of what I loved back on the GameCube. It’s a stellar package and I’m glad I bought it. I do have three negatives though:

  • I was hoping previewers/reviewers were just being dramatic about Monkey Target, but I can confirm that it just feels… not good. The sky is barren and the physics just don’t feel right.
  • The cutscenes being gone make the story feel kind of pointless. Not that the story of a bunch of monkeys in balls played that big of a role, but the way they replaced it with freeze-frames of the character art is just really weird.
  • Anyone outside the core cast (AiAi, MeeMee, Baby, GonGon, YanYan, and Doc) is not playable in multiplayer which is a giant bummer. Would have loved the big cast of characters in this game to be playable in all modes.
… that being said, all of the mini games I’ve played besides Monkey Target still feel amazing and the regular levels feel like a 1:1 recreation which is pretty incredible. Even with the issues I noted this is still a great package.
 
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Having a blast playing this! The games are just as difficult as I remember. Getting through the end of a challenge run is a marathon at 35 stages, can't imagine what it will be like at the highest difficulty. 😱
 
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This is on my radar. Not played any of this before. Jon Cartwright seemed to have issues with it. Maybe gives me pause?
 
Glom said:
This is on my radar. Not played any of this before. Jon Cartwright seemed to have issues with it. Maybe gives me pause?
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If this is your first Monkey Ball you probably won't have any issues as most of those are related to changes from the original games and you won't have that point of comparison.

Roll out.
 
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I was on the fence about buying this game, but you’ve convinced me @GJ. One of my best friends always talks about how much she enjoyed playing Super Monkey Ball 2 growing up, and this seemed like the golden opportunity for me to finally try the series out myself. But my biggest worry was that there may not be enough content to justify the price ($53 CAD), and the fact that I don’t have anyone I can couch co-op with. But by the sounds of it, I should have a lot of content to keep me occupied on my own, and I really like that it progressively gets harder and encourages you to hone your skills.

This should provide some fun, more casual breaks between Dread sessions.
 
Tanooki said:
I was on the fence about buying this game, but you’ve convinced me @GJ. One of my best friends always talks about how much she enjoyed playing Super Monkey Ball 2 growing up, and this seemed like the golden opportunity for me to finally try the series out myself. But my biggest worry was that there may not be enough content to justify the price ($53 CAD), and the fact that I don’t have anyone I can couch co-op with. But by the sounds of it, I should have a lot of content to keep me occupied on my own, and I really like that it progressively gets harder and encourages you to hone your skills.

This should provide some fun, more casual breaks between Dread sessions.
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You haven’t played Monkey Ball before? Then you’ll have a blast with this, definitely. Beating the levels is one thing (and already really hard for the Master and Expert stages), but finding ways to break the levels to beat them even faster will keep you busy for a long time.
 
Removing lives really fucks up SMB1's core arcade design with the Extra/Master levels. That, and the fucked up physics/controls/minigames, have really tempered my expectations. Still got the game pre-ordered since the physics don't seem unplayable and I want to support the series. But I really wish they took more care with this. Gamesack's reviews sums up all these issues. He's a big fan of the original games so he's got a good perspective

Day 1 DLC for the classic soundtrack and costumes is really disappointing too. Sad egregious practices like these have been so normalized
 
Quoted by: GJ
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TheDok said:
Removing lives really fucks up SMB1's core arcade design with the Extra/Master levels.
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Lives are still kinda in if you go for the missions. There's stuff like "Clear SMB 1 Normal within 100 fall outs/time outs".
 
GJ said:
Lives are still kinda in if you go for the missions. There's stuff like "Clear SMB 1 Normal within 100 fall outs/time outs".
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Better than nothing but seems like a bandaid solution at best.
 
Quoted by: GJ
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TheDok said:
Better than nothing but seems like a bandaid solution at best.
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Yeah, true. I like the removal of lives, but it definitely should've been there for fans of the original. Kinda like how Crash 4 did it.
 
GJ said:
Yeah, true. I like the removal of lives, but it definitely should've been there for fans of the original. Kinda like how Crash 4 did it.
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Yeah they should've had the main mode function the same way with lives and then maybe add a Freeplay more with all the stages unlocked.
 
Beautiful trailer! Tyson Hesse is a beast. Happy launch day!
 
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Monke acquired, might need to wait a few days to play though.
 
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Got into World 3 of the Story Mode. None of the new tracks are that bad, really. I do like the originals, too. I'm annoyed you have to quit to the Main Menu to change back and forth, though.
 
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I've been talking about this game lots over on the Discord but damn am I happy to finally have it, it will be in my rotation for a long time to come.

Now, how do i split time between this and Dread....
 
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I’m not planning to buy this game anytime soon, but just wanted to say that the thread title made me chuckle.

Carry on.

… roll on?

We’ll go with roll on.
 
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Pre-loaded and currently at 3-7. Having lots of fun and I've already "perfected" a few levels, but I've also encountered some evil stuff already lol.
 
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Anyone have tips for the Baseball game? Whenever I hit the ball I don’t seem to get no speed on it so it just rolls a little then stops before getting anywhere near the score points. I don’t remember having issues with it back in the day so wonder if these are physics changes as well.

Kinda getting used to Monkey Target now though
 
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The banana counter being there in story mode even on stages where it’s literally impossible to collect them all is driving me nuts ☠️
 
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I finally cleared Launchers. I spent almost an hour on it the first day, then marked it as cleared and moved on. I come back to it this evening and beat it in three tries. Go figure.

It’s still a shitty fucking stage
 
Red Monster said:
I finally cleared Launchers. I spent almost an hour on it the first day, then marked it as cleared and moved on. I come back to it this evening and beat it in three tries. Go figure.

It’s still a shitty fucking stage
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That's exactly where I'm currently stuck. I got very close to finally finish it twice, but I'm still stuck ._.
 
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Finally got the game today, and I had a lot of fun! The camera sucks hard though. Getting it to orientate itself towards the direction I'm trying to move is a hard unless I'm moving with speed. Also feels a bit too low? I had problems telling where the end of long straight platforms were without running off the edge.
 
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^Listening to these as I type. Now on the modern soundtrack after having listened to the classic one! :D
This is awesome!
 
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It's 25% off right now on the eShop btw.

I know it's gonna get lower and I'm not in a rush to play it, so I'll wait longer.
 
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