After a long absence, the Super Monkey Ball series returned in 2019 and 2021 with remasters and remakes of previous games, but it’s been over a decade since fans received a new Super Monkey Ball title. That will change in June, as the sequel to Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble is set to deliver longtime players pine. But with some recent mixed results, massive changes in game design best practices since the series’ heyday, and the possibility of the entire cobwebs shaking for developer Ryu Ga Gotoku’s studio, I was skeptical of the new Super’s viability. Monkey Ball in 2024. Fortunately, after spending an hour playing Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble, that fear has completely subsided.
Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble brings a ton of content and changes to the series, but still definitely remains Monkey Ball. Banana Rumble Apes is its fresh new take on Sega’s flagship franchise, Sonic the Hedgehog. In previous Super Monkey Ball games, you could jump, but that ability was replaced by the Spin Dash, a technique in Sonic’s moveset since Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in 1992. At first, I wasn’t sure about this change, but as soon as I got my hands on it through the tutorial, all my worries went away.
Spin Dash fits incredibly well into the Super Monkey Ball formula, giving you great flow through levels but also letting you peel and blast off ramps and lips to find shortcuts. During my hands-on session, my most thrilling moments came when I lined up and blasted through a level using Spin Dash. It’s useful for cutting corners in levels, but it’s also essential to hit the tasks each level gives you, especially when combined with refreshed physics that make the series better than ever.
As you play through 200 new levels in Adventure Mode of Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble, you can simply make it your goal to reach the end of the stage. However, if you want to be a completionist, each level has three side missions: to collect a set number of bananas, to catch a golden banana, and to complete the level in a set time. You don’t have to get them all at once, but I tried to do so during my demo. It quickly became clear that while I could complete banana-centric missions during a normal playthrough of a level, I needed to maneuver to finish certain levels under the time target. That’s where Spin Dash and creative thinking come into play.
At one point, I was waiting for a moving platform to lift, giving me enough airtime if I dashed into it at the right time to send me flying over the other platforms and toward the target. On the other hand, to get back to games like Super Mario 64 in a good way, I had to drop down at the right point in the level to reach the goal faster, skipping huge levels of levels. I loved tackling these head-scratching levels and having only played through the first two worlds, I still can’t wait to see how the challenges escalate in the upcoming levels. If you get stuck on any level, you can turn on various help options, including ghosts that show you the best routes and checkpoints that allow you to continue the level if you fall off the platforms. As you complete these worlds, you’ll earn trophies to display on your island, as well as in-game currency to buy cosmetics in the shop.
Outside of Adventure Mode, I had the opportunity to participate in Battle Modes, which allow up to 16 players online or 2 players locally. Since the game isn’t out yet, I’ll be playing against 15 bots, an option in the final match if you want to add a total of 16 competitors with your real players.
Battle modes give me a lot of hope for the multiplayer aspect of Banana Rumble. Whether it’s a Mario Kart-style race game, a collecton banana hunt, or the fun risk/reward game of Goal Rush, where you players roll down the hill at high speeds and attempt high-scoring goals to contribute to your team. Overall, Banana Rumble offers a variety of experiences in this suite. However, my two favorites are Ba-Boom, which is basically a game of tag where you have to pass a bomb before the timer reaches zero and eliminate the bomb holder, and Robot Smash, where you use momentum and spin dash. Become robots in the arena and earn points for your team. I can’t wait to actually get into these mods with real-world players, because they feel like they have a surprising amount of depth for side mods.
And that was my main takeaway from my time with Banana Rumble in general: I came away impressed with how much the game feels like more than surface pleasures and lighthearted fun. The puzzle-solving fan in me can’t wait to find the best routes through the various adventure mode levels, while the party-game lover is itching to play more rounds of battle mode titles.
I had an absolute blast with Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble, and what I played was just a sample of what awaits players. Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble arrives exclusively on Switch on June 25.