• Hey everyone, staff have documented a list of banned content and subject matter that we feel are not consistent with site values, and don't make sense to host discussion of on Famiboards. This list (and the relevant reasoning per item) is viewable here.
  • Do you have audio editing experience and want to help out with the Famiboards Discussion Club Podcast? If so, we're looking for help and would love to have you on the team! Just let us know in the Podcast Thread if you are interested!

Pre-Release Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble — Pre-release Discussion Thread (UPDATE: new Multiplayer trailer + previews, see threadmarks)

Reader mode
Regulus Tera said:
Would you guys recommend getting Bananamania or Banana Blitz HD first?
Click to expand...
Banana Mania's a fun time. I've seen people complain about the physics being off but it seemed fine to me when I played through it a few years ago (besides the Monkey Target minigame; they definitely borked the physics there)

Would recommend giving it a shot if it goes on sale sometime soon
 
I'm a hater of modern Monkey Ball. The physics and controls feel off, and the minigames are a lot worse in the remakes. That being said I'll still buy this out of pure hopium and curiosity since the first two are some of my favorite games ever.
 
Not feeling this one. The physics, level design, and aesthetic looks like Banana Blitz-era Monkey Ball. They really need to go back to the style and design of 1-2.
 
Ricimer said:
The physics, level design, and aesthetic looks like Banana Blitz-era Monkey Ball.
Click to expand...
Banana Blitz had a hard speed cap and it looks like they're working off of Banana Mania. Level design isn't incredibly long platforming challenges, it's a lot of small levels that ask you to find skips with help from the spin dash, and precision in later worlds.
I don't think I could disagree more about this looking like Banana Blitz. Aesthetically it reminds me more of Touch & Roll anyways cause it's the first Monkey Ball game in forever to not use Banana Blitz models lol.
 
I loved SMB1 on the GameCube but the remakes fell kind of flat for me physics wise. I think I'll give Banana Mania another go before this comes out but I'm really happy this exists and I wouldn't mind picking this up later down the line. I feel like it will be better having levels especially designed for the new physics/spin-dash move.
 
0
Ricimer said:
Not feeling this one. The physics, level design, and aesthetic looks like Banana Blitz-era Monkey Ball. They really need to go back to the style and design of 1-2.
Click to expand...
If they are still using unity I wouldn't count on that happening haha
 
0
I feel like now's as good of a time as any to mention that a new Monkey Ball doesn't have to control exactly like SMB1/2/Deluxe to be good. A lot of Banana Mania's control shortcomings were more about having to be in levels not designed around those physics. Touch & Roll and Banana Splitz are still great despite not having the original physics.
 
Graystripe2000 said:
Haven’t played Banana Splitz, but I really like Touch and Roll.
Click to expand...
It's genuinely a miracle that Touch & Roll plays as well as it does on a dpad, for a series largely about analog precision. Plus a soundtrack that was so good, Banana Blitz decided to remix most of it!
 
0
I always curious to try this series someday, and every time a new game is announced, most people say is the first 2 games are best in series, and every sequel since got mixed reception, even recent Banana Mania. Similar case with Katamari series, where the firsts 2 games are praised, then every sequel got mixed reception.
 
MrGab said:
I always curious to try this series someday, and every time a new game is announced, most people say is the first 2 games are best in series, and every sequel since got mixed reception, even recent Banana Mania. Similar case with Katamari series, where the firsts 2 games are praised, then every sequel got mixed reception.
Click to expand...
If you have a PC at least, I would say Banana Mania is worth it as it regularly goes on sale for quite cheap and there's mods or tweaks that can only be done on the PC version that fix most of the issues with that remake (at least, aside from the Party Games). It's still a great entry point personally, but it was a little bit rushed and sadly never got a patch.
 
0
MrGab said:
I always curious to try this series someday, and every time a new game is announced, most people say is the first 2 games are best in series, and every sequel since got mixed reception, even recent Banana Mania. Similar case with Katamari series, where the firsts 2 games are praised, then every sequel got mixed reception.
Click to expand...
I started with the 3DS game and Banana Blitz a few years ago. Those two seem to have poor reputations but I liked both. Since then I've played a few more Monkey Ball games, including the first two, and I enjoyed them all. In my experience it's a fan base that's very particular. Maybe it's because the games require precise controls and slight changes irritate people. I just enjoy marble games and they're fun for me. I say give them a try.
 
0
MrGab said:
I always curious to try this series someday, and every time a new game is announced, most people say is the first 2 games are best in series, and every sequel since got mixed reception, even recent Banana Mania. Similar case with Katamari series, where the firsts 2 games are praised, then every sequel got mixed reception.
Click to expand...

Banana Mania is great, it's a faithful remake of the originals. The complaints come mostly from purists, and I doubt the average person would ever notice any difference in the physics. One of the more popular minigames did have its physics heavily altered and is kinda bad now, but like, it's just a minigame, it's side content. The main game is amazing.
 
9-Volt said:
Direct didn't say "launching first on Switch" as they say most timed exclusives. Just "exclusive to Nintendo Switch". But yes, this is Sega. They might port this AND Samba de Amigo to other consoles eventually.
Click to expand...



Sounds like it’ll be exactly as I expected as was with samba

Same game on a modified sku and different name, both announced following the primary Nintendo direct announcement
 
0
The new trailer is kinda like the reveal trailer.

Idk, I'm really looking forward to this. This is definitely looking like my June game :D
 
0
I wish I liked Monkey Ball more than I do. The concept is so fun, but I bounced off of Banana Mania pretty hard.

I know I’m gonna cave and buy this eventually anyway (I already bought Banana Blitz, and I wanna give Banana Mania another chance) so hopefully it clicks for me this time around.
 
0
I'm probably gonna get roasted for this, but I hope this game is on the easier side. I really enjoyed most of my time with Banana Mania, but it was really frustrating having to drop the game before finishing all the levels because a good portion of them are simply prohibitively hard.
 
Leo said:
I'm probably gonna get roasted for this, but I hope this game is on the easier side. I really enjoyed most of my time with Banana Mania, but it was really frustrating having to drop the game before finishing all the levels because a good portion of them are simply prohibitively hard.
Click to expand...
Easier difficulty?

You better banana split out of here with that outrageous concept.

Just kidding. I just wanted to make the pun.
 
Leo said:
I'm probably gonna get roasted for this, but I hope this game is on the easier side. I really enjoyed most of my time with Banana Mania, but it was really frustrating having to drop the game before finishing all the levels because a good portion of them are simply prohibitively hard.
Click to expand...
Now see, as a Monkey Ball fan, I do agree that the series is deceptively hard and requires a ton of practice (it even has a practice mode for this reason), but honestly that's it's appeal. It feels great learning how to do hard stages optimally and learning cool skips. We've had some very easy Monkey Ball games and they're some of the worst games in the series because they don't allow for those at all.

From what we've seen it looks like it's difficulty will probably be on par with the fan favourites. I would imagine Banana Mania's assist mode will probably return though, and the lack of lives will help this game not be as unforgiving as the classics and Splitz.
 
Sega Japan recently did a stream where they had people play through World 2 of this game, so if you wanted to get a better look at it being played kinda poorly, or how co op multiplayer works, there's about 12 minutes of footage of that.


Level design looks good! Somewhere between 2 and Splitz is what I would say the level design vibe is. It's a little hard to hear cause the game is mixed really quiet and the personalities are loud, but it seems World 2's music has lyrics, something previously only done in Step & Roll for it's credits themes (and 3D, if you want to count Hideki Naganuma's usage of vocal samples).
 
This is looking sooo cute. I absolutely loved Super Monkey Ball 2, especially the multiplayer, and have been kind of let down ever since. Really hoping this one hits for me - multiplayer campaign is definitely a big draw.
 
0
Co-op campaign is awesome.

The real question is are they going to take another stab at the party games? The party games in SMB Banana Mania were not great, especially monkey target.
 
Rick Bruiser said:
Co-op campaign is awesome.

The real question is are they going to take another stab at the party games? The party games in SMB Banana Mania were not great, especially monkey target.
Click to expand...
We already know that Monkey Race is back, and then there's 2 new ones with Banana Hunt and Robot Fight, with the direct saying "and more!" after revealing those. So the party games will probably all be using the main game's physics, but yes, party games will exist, with online.
 
0
Love the new characters in this trailer! Game continues to look great, which is very exciting for Monkey Ball, this is looking quite high budget compared to... well, most games in the series. They're really not skimping on story mode this time, which was the most disappointing thing about Banana Mania. Full cutscenes for each world, a bunch of new characters, and a complete asset refresh can't be cheap, and I'm very happy that level design is looking as great as it does in all the footage and screenshots. Very excited for this game.
 
This game is looking rather good! I appreciate that the levels don't seem to fall into the arcade-y style "traps" of the original Super Monkey Ball & Super Monkey Ball 2. Might have to get this in June.
 
0
Also, is anyone else in agreement that these designs are really good? I especially love Baby's, YanYan's, MeeMee's and the new character Palette's. I think them being smaller is a bit weird, but still definite improvements over the Banana Blitz designs they've been using since 2006.
 
Mer.Saloon said:
I just realized, wearing trousers but still has a hole open for his butt to stick out. Some monkey business there.
Click to expand...

Cheetah6442 said:
I thought so at first, but looking closer that's a stitched pattern so that's part of the overalls design.
Click to expand...

b80b690ddb0e5f038ac3b58a623b5e0e0db0a934_498_373_2663918.gif
 
JazzyFuture said:
Now see, as a Monkey Ball fan, I do agree that the series is deceptively hard and requires a ton of practice (it even has a practice mode for this reason), but honestly that's it's appeal. It feels great learning how to do hard stages optimally and learning cool skips. We've had some very easy Monkey Ball games and they're some of the worst games in the series because they don't allow for those at all.

From what we've seen it looks like it's difficulty will probably be on par with the fan favourites. I would imagine Banana Mania's assist mode will probably return though, and the lack of lives will help this game not be as unforgiving as the classics and Splitz.
Click to expand...

I love the classic SMB games and the remake. But some levels in there seem to be mostly luck, especially in SMB2. They need a better way to increase the difficulty as you progress.
 
Lucifer said:
I love the classic SMB games and the remake. But some levels in there seem to be mostly luck, especially in SMB2. They need a better way to increase the difficulty as you progress.
Click to expand...
Well, we haven't seen an equivalent to literally random nonsense like Switch Inferno or massive mazes that can't be skipped like Chaos, so that'll probably be fine.
 
0
MrGab said:
I always curious to try this series someday, and every time a new game is announced, most people say is the first 2 games are best in series, and every sequel since got mixed reception, even recent Banana Mania. Similar case with Katamari series, where the firsts 2 games are praised, then every sequel got mixed reception.
Click to expand...
And both are very reductive views on their game series, yeah the first two are the best but the rest are still a good time.

Especially katamari forever
 
0
Lucifer said:
I love the classic SMB games and the remake. But some levels in there seem to be mostly luck, especially in SMB2. They need a better way to increase the difficulty as you progress.
Click to expand...
SMB2 has a lot more "gimmick" stages because of the Story Mode imo where you can just replay them endlessly until you get them / figure out a setup. For Challenge Mode SMB1 is better.
 
Everytime I enter this thread I do a double take to remember people aren't talking about Super Mario Bros 1 and 2. Even if I know I'm in a Monkey Ball thread. Very embarassing.
 
Reader mode
You must log in or register to reply here.


Back
Top Bottom